Unit III Flashcards
Anchorage Independence
The ability to grow without attachment to solid substrate.
A property of cancer cells.
Five different properties of malignant cancer cells
- Anchorage Independence
- Immortalization - can proliferate indefinitely
- Loss of contact inhibition - ability to grow over one another
- Insensitivity to anti-growth signals
- Tissue invasion and metastasis
Multi-step process for cancer
- Noraml cell
- Inreased proliferation
- Early/ progressive neoplasia
- Carcinoma - tumor developed
- Metastatsis - spreading through the circulatory system
- Turn on oncogene
- Turn off tumor suppressor (both cell cycle regulatory and DNA repair genes).
- Turn off apoptotic genes
What types of genes are usually mutated in tumor initiation?
Oncogenes and Tumor Suppressors
Familial Rb is more prone to what type of tumor?
Bilateral
Sporadic Rb is prone to what type of tumor?
Unilateral.
It’s much more unlikely to have the same two sporadic muations in both eyes.
Rb within the cell cycle
is an inhibitor of cells moving from the G1 to S phase
Inhibitor of Rb?
Cyclin D and E which phosphorylate Rb
How does loss of heterozygosity occur?
- Mutation
- Mitotic recombination
- Chromosome loss
- and/or environmental factors
Explain the Knudson Theory
If you’re heterozygous, you have one strike against you through your genes ( one copy of suppressor gene knocked out in your parents’ passed on DNA). If you have another “strike” (such as UV exposure causing an unrepaired mutation in the other copy), you’re unable to produce that tumor suppressor gene at all - leads to cancer.
Ways to inactivate tumor suppressor
Translocations
Loss of heterozygosity - RB
Examples of dominant inherited cancer
Familial Retinoblastoma (RB) Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP-APC gene) Familial Breat and Ovarian Cancer (BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes) Wilms tumor
Examples of Recessive inherited cancer
Xeroderma Pigmentosa (XP genes)
Aataxia-Telangiectasia (AT gene)
Bloom’s syndrome
Fanconi’s Congenital aplastic anemia (FA genes)
Describe the inheritance pattern of Rb
It is an autosomal dominant disorder (consistent when drawing a family pedigree) however, it is a RECESSIVE disorder in which loss of heterozygosity and removal of both Rb genes in a cell leads to uncheck proliferation of cells
Is Rb an oncogene or tumor suppressor?
tumor suppressor (anti-oncogene)
Function APC gene
encodes a cytoplasmic protein that keeps beta-catenin outside the nucleus; without APC, beta-catenin goes into the nucleus and beings uncontrolled transcription of oncogenes like c-myc.
Function of the BRCA 1 gene
Breast Cancer Gene 1: encodes scaffold protein that checks the cell cycel to make sure that DNA has replicated correctly. When this gene is mutated, this surveillance on the cell cycle is removed.
What type of gene is BRCA1 and 2?
tumor suppressor
What type of gene is p53
Originally thought to be an oncogene because a p53 mutation was dominant to the wild type gene in producing cellular transformation. Now we know that the p53 mutation produces a mutant PROTEIN that binds to the wild type p53 to inactivate it - CLASSIC TUMOR SUPPRESSOR.
What gene is referred to as “spoiler” or “monkey wrench”?
p53
Why is p53 considered the “guardian of the genome”?
- Acts as a transcription factor which prevents cells from replicating damaged or foreign DNA
- It is required for cell apoptosis, cells with damaged DNA commit suicide
- Interferes with the life cycle of human viruses including Adenovirus and HPV
What genes does HPV try to inactivate?
Rb and p53
What are the three genes found in a viral RNA?
- gag gene
- env gene
- poly gene
Function the gag gene?
Found in viral RNA
codes for internal virion protein
Function of the env gene?
Found in viral RNA
codes for viral membrane glycoproteins
Function of the pol gene?
Found in viral RNA
codes for a virus polymerase
What gene is needed to produce sarcoma?
v-onc gene segment
HPV E6
protein that inhibits p53
HPV E7
protein that binds to and inhibits Rb
function of pp60v-src
A protein coded by the v-src oncogene and is a membrane-bound protein kinase that phosphorylates tyrosine residues. Changes the properties of cells by affecting gene expression
function of the v-erb-B
Oncogene that codes for a protein that is similar in structure to the cell surface receptor for epidermal growth factor (EGFR).
v-abl
oncogene that codes for a protein kinase that phosphorylates tyrosine residues on other proteins.
v-src
oncogene of Rous Sarcoma Virus causing fibrosarcomas in birds
v-myc
oncogene usually fused with portion of the gag gene. Capable of eliciting neoplastic transformation of cells
How are oncogenes used as molecular markers in prognosis?
The level of expression of oncogenes tends to correlate with the rapidity of the progress of the cancer
Example of oncogenes used for prognosis?
- The level of expression of the N-myc gene used in prognosis analysis for neuroblastoma
If you have greater than 10 copies of n-myc death is accelerated
- HER/neu oncogene encodes integral membrane protein kinase and is amplified in 20% of breast cancers
Targeting oncogenes
Herceptin - drug antibody therapy agains the HER2/erb2 oncogene product
Gleevec - inhibits ABL tyrosine kinase specific to the ATP binding site
Targeting tumor repressors
Inject RB directly into Rb-negative tumors
Use drug that only kills cells with p53 deficiencies
Use a drug that corrects the mutant conformation of the dominant-negative p53 proteins
Diagnostic Criteria for LFS
I. Proband with sarcoma diagnosed before 45 years of age AND
II. A first-degree relative with any cancer under 45 years of age AND
III. A first or second-degree relative with any cancer under 45 years of age or a sarcoma at any age
Diagnostic Criteria for Li Fraumeni Like Syndrome
I. Proband with any childhood cancer or sarcoma, brain tumor, or adrenal cortical tumor diagnosed before 45 years of age AND
II. A first- or second-degree relative wit ha typical LFS cancer (sarcoma, breast cancer, brain tumor, adrenal cortical tumor, or leukemia) at any age AND
III. A first- or second-degree relative with any cancer under the age of 60 years
What is Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome?
Formation of cystic and vascularized tumors in many organs
What is the pattern of inheritance for Von-Hippel Lindau syndrome?
Autosomal dominant
What are the major causes of death in patients with Von Hippel-Lindau?
Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma
CNS hemangioblastomas
Percent of VHL cases caused by sporadic mutations?
20%
What type of gene is the VHL gene?
tumor suppressor gene
clinical manifestations of Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease.
Cerebellar and spinal cord hemangioblastomas
Retinal hemangioblastomas
Bilateral kidney cysts and clear cell renal cell carcinomas (RCC)
Pheochromocytomas
Pancreatic cysts and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors
Endolymphatic sac (inner ear) tumors (ELST)
Cystadenomas of the genitourinary tract (epididymal, broad ligament)
Type 1 VHL
Type 1: Hemangioblastoma + clear cell renal cell carcinoma
low risk of pheochromocytomas
due to total loss or partial loss of VHL
Type 2a VHL
Hemangioblastoma and pheochromocytoma
low risk of renal cell carcinoma
high risk for pheochromocytoma
due to VHL missense
Type 2b VHL
hemangioblastoma, clear cell renal cell carninoma, pheochromocytoma (high risk)
due to VHL missense
Type 2c VHL
pheochromocytoma only
due to VHL missense