title: Oncogene regulation of endonuclease activation in apoptosis.
abstract: Recent work has demonstrated that oncogenes and tumor suppressor proteins regulate apoptotic cell death. Current efforts are therefore directed at determining how they exert their effects. It appears that oncogenes can control activation of the apoptosis endonuclease(s) either by regulating the signal(s) that trigger the process or via effects on expression and/or activation of key components of the effector machinery, including the endogenous endonuclease itself. This article summarizes the available information on the biochemical mechanisms underlying the effects of oncogenes on endogenous endonuclease activation and presents models to explain the observation that they also regulate alternative cell fates such as cell proliferation and differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston 77030, USA.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: McConkey
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Trent
authors.forename: H N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Ananthaswamy
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology; D002455:Cell Division; D004720:Endonucleases / Q000378:metabolism*; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D005544:Forecasting; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D016259:Genes, myc / Q000502:physiology; D011905:Genes, ras / Q000502:physiology; D008274:Magnesium / Q000502:physiology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D009857:Oncogenes / Q000502:physiology*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D004720:Endonucleases; D008274:Magnesium; D002118:Calcium