Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
Subscribe

Sci. Signal., 12 October 2010
Vol. 3, Issue 143, p. ec317
[DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.3143ec317]

EDITORS' CHOICE

Cancer Genetics Remodeling Gone Awry

Paula A. Kiberstis

Science, AAAS, Washington, DC 20005, USA

The identification of genes that are mutated at high frequency in human tumors can provide important clues to the molecular pathways that drive tumor growth, which in turn can potentially lead to more effective therapies. Jones et al. looked for such mutations in ovarian clear cell carcinoma, a rare but particularly lethal form of ovarian cancer. Of 42 tumors examined, 57% were found to harbor inactivating mutations in ARID1A, a gene coding for a subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, which functions as a master regulator of transcription factor action and gene expression. Thus, proteins associated with the epigenetic control of gene expression can contribute to the development of human cancer.

S. Jones, T.-L. Wang, I.-M. Shih, T.-L. Mao, K. Nakayama, R. Roden, R. Glas, D. Slamon, L. A. Diaz Jr., B. Vogelstein, K. W. Kinzler, V. E. Velculescu, N. Papadopoulos, Frequent mutations of chromatin remodeling gene ARID1A in ovarian clear cell carcinoma. Science 330, 228–231 (2010). [Abstract] [Full Text]

Citation: P. A. Kiberstis, Remodeling Gone Awry. Sci. Signal. 3, ec317 (2010).

To Advertise     Find Products

Science Signaling. ISSN 1937-9145 (online), 1945-0877 (print). Pre-2008: Science's STKE. ISSN 1525-8882