Title: Altered HOX gene expression in Breast Cancer Introduction It is a very fascinating thought that a single cell zygote contains all information required for the development of an organism. HOX genes called Homeobox are family of 39 transcription factors divided into 4 clusters A, B, C and D and are located on different chromosomes 7p15, 17q21.2, 12q13 and 2q31 (De Souza et al., 2010). HOX genes control the body plan of embryo along anterior-posterior axis and are expressed during embryonic development in highly coordinated manner and continue to express in virtually all tissues and organ throughout adult life (Terence et al., 2006). In addition of its role in development and subsequently in stem cell differentiation the HOX genes are …show more content…
Ninety percent of deaths from tumor are due to metastasis making the pathophysiology of this process and study of genes involved regulating metastasis central to understand the mechanism of this disease (Boimel et al., 2011). Breast cancer seems to originate from changes in the architectural breast tissue organization consequent to interaction between cell genome and extracellular environment. Thus basic cellular processes and their molecular regulation play an important role on the onset of breast cancer. Various transcription factors are involved in regulation and expression of specific genes crucial for cellular mechanism; any alteration in these mechanisms may give rise to series of malignancies including breast cancer (Cantilte et al., …show more content…
Conversely overexpression of HOXB2 ORF in MDA-MB-231 and MTLn3-ErB1 breast cancer lines reduced primary tumor growth with increased percentage of cells in mitosis in HOXB2 shRNA tumors and decreased mitosis in HOXB2 ORF tumors compared to empty vector control. However the effects on in vitro growth properties were not significantly different from control with no significant difference in in vitro survival with HOXB2 knockdown, indicating an in vivo specific effect that may be dependent on the tumor microenvironment. A small increase in invasiveness of cells suppressed in expression of HOXB2 contributed to the possibility that increase in invasion may contribute to increase in vivo growth rate (Boimel et al.,
Breast cancer is one of the most common and important diseases that affect women and ovarian cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer mortality in American women1. These cancers are triggered by germline mutations on the C-terminal of a gene called BRCA1 (or “Breast Cancer 1, Early Onset Gene”) tumor suppressor. The BRCA1 gene is located on the long (q) arm of chromosome 17 at region 2 band 1, consists of 24 exons and encodes a multidomain protein of 1863 amino acid residues in human2. The BRCA1 proteins produced from BRCA1 gene help preventing cells from growing and dividing too rapidly or in an uncontrolled way3. The family of BRCA1 genes is called RING-type zinc fingers or RNF. The BRCA1 protein is characterized within the superfamily of Rad9-like proteins which consist of C-terminal BRCT repeats that assist in the binding of phosphorylated proteins in the DNA damage response and DNA repair4. Like many other genes involved in familial cancer, BRCA1 appears to encode a tumor suppressor, a protein that acts as a negative regulator of tumor growth1. BRCA1 proteins are important in genomic stability so loss of their function can cause genetic instability which lead to tumourigenesis. Thus, the sequence of BRCA1 protein is analyzed to the understanding the protein’s function in the development of the cancers.
Over the past decade breast cancer has become one of the most predominant diseases in the United States. Breast cancer starts out as a malignant tumor in the tissues of the breast which is formed from the uncontrolled growth of abnormal breast cells. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, but it can also appear in men. (Stephan, 2010)
Breast cancer is most commonly diagnosed in Stage I and Stage II, where the size of the tumor is less than five centimeters in diameter. In these situations, surgery is often the second treatment option after chemotherapy and radiation therapy, both of which are used to shrink the tumor to a manageable size first. If the patient chooses to, the ...
The Hox genes are a set of related genes that code for transcription factors involved in determining the general body plan of an organism along the anterior to posterior axis. One unique feature of the hox gene is that its function and presence is highly conserved in a wide range of species, including the model organism Drosophila, amphibians, and mammals. Because of such a high level of homology amongst species where this gene cluster exists, conducting research using model organisms containing the hox gene cluster can lead to relevant discoveries in higher organisms and help to better understand evolutionary diversity. Another notable conserved feature of the hox genes is that they display colinearity, meaning that are they expressed along the anterior-posterior axis in the same order that they are organized within the chromosome. It is ultimately the HOX protein distribution that dictates the varying body architecture within a wide range of organisms that rely on the hox gene expression.
The importance of embryonic stem cells rests in their lack of specialization. These basic cells are present in the earliest stages of developing embryos and are able to develop into virtually any type of cell and tissue in the body. Being self-renewing, they offer a potentially limitless source of cells and tissue. (Tucker)
Nikitina, E. G., Urazova, L. N., & Stegny, V. N. (2012). MicroRNAs and Human Cancer.Experimental Oncology, 34(1), 2-8. Retrieved from http://archive.nbuv.gov.ua/portal/chem_biol/eol/2012_1/002.pdf
Breast cancer is a type of cancer originates from breast tissue, generally from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas whereas from ducts are called ductal carcinomas. (Ref: Breast Cancer, National Cancer Institute) Invasive breast cancer is breast cancer that has spread from the point of origin in the breast ducts/lobules to the surrounding normal tissue cells. In exceptional cases, breast cancer can start in at other sites in breast. Breast cancer occurs in both women and men, though male breast cancer is uncommon.
About 12% of women in the United States will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, more than any other type of cancer (www.breastcancer.org, 2015). Many people lack the knowledge of how breast cancer is developed. Some people think they will not get cancer because they do not smoke cigarettes, but this is not the only cause of cancer developing in the breast. Anyone can get cancer. Everyone is potentially at risk for developing some form of Cancer (American Cancer Society, 2015).
In life we come across many struggles and hardships. Some have more struggles then others but we all have them. Breast cancer could be one of those struggles whether male or female. Breast cancer is not just something that a woman can get like most people believe. Anyone can get it. In this essay you will about what breast cancer is, some symptoms, how it is treated, and my personal experience with it. Most people do not know what breast cancer is they just know that it is cancer in the breast.
Healthy cells grow and divide in a way to keep your body functioning properly. But when a cell is damaged and becomes cancerous, cells continue to divide, even when new cells aren't...
The adult zebrafish pectoral fin is comprised of endochondral and dermal bone, forming the proximal and distal radials, and the fin rays, respectively. The transgenic Tg(fli1a:eGFP) line can drive eGFP expression in blood vessels during embryogenesis. In addition, eGFP is expressed in the pectoral endoskeletal disc (ED) but absent in distal posterior chondrocytes. An enhancer within the mouse Hoxa11 intron, m-Inta11 that drives reporter expression in a subpopulation of hoxa13/hoxd13a-expressing cells in the larval pectoral fin has recently been identified. Beginning at 52hpf, the activity of m-Inta11 correlates with the absence of fli1a reporter expression in the distal posterior ED. This complementary expression pattern persists throughout
Breast Cancer As defined by Majure, breast cancer is an “uncontrolled growth of abnormal breast cells” (Majure: 110). It is also one of the cancers that women fear the most. Not only do women get diagnosed with breast cancer, men do too. However, it isn't as bad, or as common, in men as it is in women, so doctors don’t recommend screening for men.
Tumors are formed by the alteration of the body’s own cells. This can be caused by environmental factors such as radiation, like UV exposure, chemicals or viruses 1. These can disrupt genes that control growth and cause an increase in cell division and proliferation. Proto-oncogenes are those genes that control normal but essential cell processes that keep cell growth and death in check. Two important categories are apoptosis genes, which regulate cell death, and tumor suppressor genes, which decrease cell propagation 1 . If these genes were mutated to the point where they cannot produce a functioning protein, cell division would continue far past what it was supposed to and unhealthy cells would be allowed to live and continue to multiply. This is what creates a malignant tumor. Certain conditions in the body can also promote the growth of cancer cells. One of these is a deficiency of natural killer (NK) cells, which are able to kill cancer cells by creating a pore in the cell membrane with perforin and releasing granzymes into the cell. Low levels of perforin allow for tumor growth 1. Chronic inflammation can also ...
Evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) was instituted in the early 1980s as a distinctive field of study to characterise the new synthesis of evolution hypothesis (Müller, 2007). Evo-devo is regarded as a new rule in evolutionary biology and a complement to neo-Darwinian theories. It has formed from the combination of molecular developmental biology and evolutionary molecular genetics; their integration has helped greatly to understand both of these fields. Evo-devo as a discipline has been exploring the role of the process of individual development and the changes in evolutionary phenotype, meaning the developmental procedure by which single-celled zygotes grow to be multicellular organisms. Alterations in the developmental program frequently cause differences in adult morphology.
Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rare but rapidly developing form of breast cancer which blocks cells of the lymphatic system covering the breast (Institute.). This leads to inflammation of the breast, redness, swollen, nipple retraction, persistent itching around the tumor site. Sometimes the skin covering the tumor might look like that of an orange, which is commonly refer to as peau d’orange (Fouad, Kogawa and Reuben). The breast might become tender with not palatable tumor making traditional diagnosis methods like mammography and ultra sound not a used to treat IBC (Komen).