Virus-fighting genes linked to mutations in cancer

Genetic evidence supports role of gene family in cancer development

2014-04-13

(Press-News.org) Researchers have found a major piece of genetic evidence that confirms the role of a group of virus-fighting genes in cancer development.

Our understanding of the biological processes that cause cancer is limited. UV light and smoking are two well-understood cancer-causing processes. Exposure to either of these processes causes distinguishable patterns of genetic damage, or 'signatures', on the genome that can lead to cancer. All cancer-causing processes leave their own distinct imprint or signature, on the genomes of cancer cells.

The APOBEC family of genes control enzymes that are believed to have evolved in humans to fight off viral infections. Scientists have speculated that these enzymes are responsible for a very distinct signature of mutations that is present in approximately half of all cancer types. Therefore, understanding the cancer-causing process behind this common genetic signature is pivotal for disease control and prevention.

The team studied the genomes of breast cancers in patients with a specific inherited deletion in two of these APOBEC genes. They found that these cancer genomes had a much greater prevalence of the distinct mutational signature that is thought to be driven by the APOBEC family of genes.

"The increased frequency of this common cancer signature in breast cancer patients with APOBEC gene abnormalities supports our theory that these enzymes play a role in generating this mutational signature," says Dr Serena Nik-Zainal, first author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

This genetic deletion is found on chromosome 22 where the APOBEC genes, APOBEC3A and APOBEC3B, sit next to each other. Women with this genetic deletion have previously been reported to be more susceptible to breast cancer.

The team examined 923 samples of breast cancer from women from across the world and found more than 140 people with either one or two copies of the deletion on each chromosome. Breast cancer in women with the deletion had a much greater quantity of mutations of this particular genetic signature.

However, the mutational activity of the APOBEC genes appears to be a double-edged sword. This genetic deletion is much more prevalent in some populations than others: it is found in only 8 per cent of Europeans, but is present in 93 per cent of the population of Oceania. Although this deletion increases risk of cancer development, it also seems to provide a currently unknown advantage in populations where it is more common.

"In addition to this APOBEC mediated process, there appear to be many more cancer-causing mutational processes, the underlying nature of which has yet to be understood," says Professor Sir Mike Stratton, lead author and Director of the Sanger Institute. "Working out what these mutational processes are will have profound implications in the future for how we prevent and treat cancer."

INFORMATION: Notes to Editors

Publication Details

Serena Nik-Zainal et al (2014). 'Association of a common germline copy number polymorphism of APOBEC3A/3B with burden of putative APOBEC-dependent mutations in breast cancer'

Advanced online publication in Nature Genetics. DOI: 10.1038/ng.2955

Funding

A full list of funding can be found on the paper.

Participating Centres

Cancer Genome Project, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, CB10 1SA Department of Medical Genetics, Box 134, Addenbrooke's Hospital NHS Trust, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QQ Section of Oncology, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Norway Department of Oncology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada. Regional Genetics Laboratories, Box 143, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 2XY, UK

Selected Websites

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome centres. Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally. Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease. http://www.sanger.ac.uk

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. We support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. Our breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. We are independent of both political and commercial interests. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk

Contact details Don Powell Media Manager
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK
Tel +44 (0)1223 496 928
Mobile +44 (0)7753 7753 97
Email press.office@sanger.ac.uk END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Tiny particles could help verify goods

2014-04-13

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Some 2 to 5 percent of all international trade involves counterfeit goods, according to a 2013 United Nations report. These illicit products — which include electronics, automotive and aircraft parts, pharmaceuticals, and food — can pose safety risks and cost governments and private companies hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Many strategies have been developed to try to label legitimate products and prevent illegal trade — but these tags are often too easy to fake, are unreliable, or cost too much to implement, according to MIT researchers who ...

New mouse model could revolutionize research in Alzheimer's disease

2014-04-13

Alzheimer's disease, the primary cause of dementia in the elderly, imposes a tremendous social and economic burden on modern society. In Japan, the burden of the disease in 2050 is estimated to be a half a trillion US dollars, a figure equivalent to the government's annual revenues. Unfortunately, it has proven very difficult to develop drugs capable of ameliorating the disease. After a tremendous burst of progress in the 1990s, the pace of discoveries has slowed. Dr. Saido believes that part of the difficulty is the inadequacy of current mouse models to replicate the ...

New technique takes cues from astronomy and ophthalmology to sharpen microscope images

2014-04-13

The complexity of biology can befuddle even the most sophisticated light microscopes. Biological samples bend light in unpredictable ways, returning difficult-to-interpret information to the microscope and distorting the resulting image. New imaging technology developed at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus rapidly corrects for these distortions and sharpens high-resolution images over large volumes of tissue. The approach, a form of adaptive optics, works in tissues that do not scatter light, making it well suited to imaging the transparent ...

Finding the switch: Researchers create roadmap for gene expression

2014-04-13

In a new study, researchers from North Carolina State University, UNC-Chapel Hill and other institutions have taken the first steps toward creating a roadmap that may help scientists narrow down the genetic cause of numerous diseases. Their work also sheds new light on how heredity and environment can affect gene expression. Pinpointing the genetic causes of common diseases is not easy, as multiple genes may be involved with a disease. Moreover, disease-causing variants in DNA often do not act directly, but by activating nearby genes. To add to the complexity, genetic ...

Hop into Easter with Bunny Costumes from iLoveSexy

2014-04-13

With Easter less than two weeks away there is no time to waste. It's time to gather up all the candy, paint all the eggs, and perhaps find a festive bunny costume to wear for fun. At iLoveSexy, an online retailer for women's lingerie and costume, there is wide selection of costumes from popular brands like Leg Avenue, Roma Costume, Be Wicked, and more. Finding that bunny costume won't be a problem, and although they do not provide the conventional onesie type bunny outfit, the alternatives certainly do not disappoint. There can be many different approaches to a bunny ...

Global Storm Adds Restaurant Table App to its Line of Restaurant Software Tools

2014-04-13

Global Storm is excited to announce an addition to its lineup of restaurant software tools, the Global Storm Table App! Global Storm has created a line of grocery, retail and restaurant apps to ease business stress, streamline communication, provide customer outreach and more. Global Storm is excited to add this new app to our line of products, which will help attract and maintain restaurant patrons. The Table App is a relatively simple app that is mounted to the tables of a restaurant. While this app was built for iPads, it also works great and saves space and money ...

Hillsborough County SBIC Provides Business Plan Development Workshop April 12, Winner Receives $1,000 Grant from University Area CDC

2014-04-13

The Small Business Information Center (SBIC) of Hillsborough County is hosting its complimentary, two-part Developing a Business Plan workshop at the University Area Community Center on Saturday, April 12 from 9 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. Attendees not only learn everything involved in developing a business plan, but also have the chance to receive a $1,000 grant to launch their entrepreneurial dream. After the workshop, attendees are encouraged to develop their complete business plan and submit it by May 1 to be eligible for the $1,000 grant provided by the University Area ...

New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera and Bergen Performing Arts Center Announce Partnership

2014-04-13

The New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera (Verismo Opera) and Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC) announce Verismo Opera is the theatre's House Opera Company. Now in its 25th anniversary season, Verismo Opera produces grand, professional productions twice a year, along with an international vocal competition, concerts, master classes, and workshops. The new partnership will allow Verismo Opera to expand the number of production performances to three this year in Bergen County, New Jersey at bergenPAC and continue its mission of sharing grand, traditional opera ...

Blu Girls Featured In New York Times

2014-04-13

Durango, CO - April 11, 2014 - With a growing global presence, the Colorado based Blu Girls Tribe is further establishing itself with its latest feature in New York Times. New York Times columnist, Cindy Hirschfield, joined the Blu Girls on a heli-skiing trip in the rugged snowy terrain of Alaska, and experienced what being a Blu Girl is all about. Hirschfield's New York Times piece highlighted a heli-skiing trip with nine skier and snowboarder Blu Girls from around the country who gathered to conquer the Alaskan backcountry slopes. Along with fostering a close-knit ...

Woodbury University Graphic Design Students Embark on Branding Campaign for Midnight Mission's Family Housing Program

2014-04-13

It's one thing to brand a widget; it's another to employ the tools of branding to address the issue of homelessness. That indeed is the charge for third year graphic design students at Woodbury University. Working with The Midnight Mission in downtown Los Angeles, students are tapping their creativity to brand The Mission's Family Housing Program. Overseen by Associate Professor Cate Roman, M.F.A., the required course provides students with an opportunity to work directly with a non-profit client from the Los Angeles community. The Midnight Mission offers a path to ...

Virus-fighting genes linked to mutations in cancer

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: