title: Deciphering the molecular genetic basis of NPC through functional approaches.
abstract: The identification of cancer genes in sporadic cancers has been recognized as a major challenge in the field. It is clear that deletion mapping, genomic sequencing, comparative genomic hybridization, or global gene expression profiling alone would not have easily identified candidate tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) from the huge array of lost regions or genes observed in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). In addition, the epigenetically silenced genes would not have been recognized by the mapping of deleted regions. In this review, we describe how functional approaches using monochromosome transfer may be used to circumvent the above problems and identify TSGs in NPC. A few examples of selected NPC TSGs and their functional roles are reviewed. They regulate a variety of gene functions including cell growth and proliferation, adhesion, migration, invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, metastasis, and angiogenesis. These studies show the advantages of using functional approaches for identification of TSGs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Oncology and Center for Cancer Research, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong (SAR), People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hong Lok
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Lung
authors.forename: Arthur Kwok Leung
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: Josephine Mun Yee
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Stanbridge
authors.forename: Maria Li
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Lung
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002277:Carcinoma; D002459:Cell Fusion / Q000379:methods; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000235:genetics; D002874:Chromosome Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D006822:Hybrid Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins