Make WARTS, not cancer!
The WARTS gene encodes a kinase that localizes to the mitotic apparatus of a dividing cell. Named WARTS after the growths that develop in the eyes of Drosophila in which the gene is deleted. WARTS is also implicated as a tumor suppressor in mice and humans. In this issue of Oncogene, Iida et al. describe experiments suggesting that, in addition to a role in regulating mitosis, WARTS functions to prevent further rounds of DNA synthesis and mitosis in tetraploid cells. As well as opening up new possibilities of exploring the as yet ill-defined mechanistic basis of the tetraploidy checkpoint, the involvement of a tumor-suppressor gene in this checkpoint supports its importance as a safeguard against the acquisition of genomic instability, a key event in the progression to cancer.
Edwards
Kirsten M
KM
Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115-5727, USA.
Münger
Karl
K
D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000096:biosynthesis; D018450:Disease Progression; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D016147:Genes, Tumor Suppressor; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008938:Mitosis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D011494:Protein Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004247:DNA; D011494:Protein Kinases; C092745:LATS1 protein, human; C490501:Lats1 protein, mouse; C093503:wts protein, Drosophila; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases