Cellular oncogenes and cancer.
Human oncogenes have been identified either by the ability of normal or tumor DNAs to induce transformation of cells in culture or as the targets of chromosome translocations or DNA amplification in neoplasms. By the combination of these approaches, approximately 40 different genes have been implicated as potential contributors to the development of human neoplasms. The proteins which are encoded by these potential human oncogenes include plasma membrane proteins with tyrosine kinase activity, plasma membrane guanine nucleotide binding proteins, cytoplasmic proteins with serine/threonine kinase activity and nuclear proteins. In many tumors, more than 1 potential oncogene has been activated, suggesting that multiple genes may contribute to neoplasm pathogenesis. I will discuss the identification of these genes, their modes of activation, the diversity of their protein products and their potential roles in both neoplastic and normal cells.
D000818:Animals; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D009857:Oncogenes
D004273:DNA, Neoplasm