In the majority of cases,
oncogene expression triggers activation of tumor suppressors, resulting in a phenomenon called oncogene-induced cell senescence (N.
MAP involves mining a proprietary algorithm for allosteric
oncogenes, validating their oncogenicity, elucidating the precise mechanism by which a given
oncogene is allosterically activated, and designing drugs specific for these groups of allosteric mutations.
The results published in our Cell report, in collaboration with David Brown's group at Ambion, showed for the first time that miRNAs could regulate cellular
oncogene mRNAs.
He is renowned for his genetic work isolating the first
oncogene in his studies of retroviruses.
Zhong and colleagues at the Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) in California and Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in New York successfully converted human skin cells into brain cells by suppressing the expression of p53, a protein encoded by a widely studied
oncogene. This suggests that p53 mutation helps determine cell fate--good or bad--rather than only the outcome of cancer.
In addition to decreasing the expression of certain
oncogenes such as HER-2/neu, E1A also has been shown to increase the expression of genes that lead to cell death.
Amplification of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene and
oncogenes in human gastric carcinomas.
Five days later, all three cell lines examined showed increases of 30% to 46% in growth, a proliferation rate similar to that seen in tumor cells expressing
oncogenes.
[1]
Oncogenes such as the ras nuclear
oncogene and the p53 tumor suppressor gene have also been studied in soft tissue sarcomas, although none has been approved for diagnostic use.
Let-7 is an miRNA that suppresses the translation of
oncogenes in cells, and low levels of this miRNA are correlated with greater cancer aggressiveness.
In addition, the company said the primary objectives of the study are to assess correlation of mutation frequencies in BRAF, KRAS and PIK3CA
oncogenes with tumor load, to monitor disease progression and to assess genomic changes as a patient undergoes therapy.