Editor's Summary

26 January 2006

An indirect route to cancer

A common feature in human cancer cells is the inactivation of tumour-suppressor genes via modifications to histones and DNA methylation. To fully understand the cancer-producing process it is important to establish how these 'epigenetic' changes occur. A study in the Drosophila eye shows that two nuclear proteins, Pipsqueak and Lola, act as epigenetic silencers when coupled with overexpression of the growth regulator Delta, to produce metastatic tumours. This process requires the presence of histone-modifying enzymes and the chromodomain protein Polycomb. Expression of Retinoblastoma-family protein gene was also downregulated in these tumours. This labyrinthine mechanism therefore unites Notch–Delta signalling, epigenetic silencing and cell-cycle control in one tumour-producing process. This discovery will not only help to clarify aspects of normal and tumour growth, but may also lead to new tests for cancer.

Article: Epigenetic silencers and Notch collaborate to promote malignant tumours by Rb silencing

Dolors Ferres-Marco, Irene Gutierrez-Garcia, Diana M. Vallejo, Jorge Bolivar, Francisco J. Gutierrez-Aviño & Maria Dominguez

doi:10.1038/nature04376

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (454K) | Supplementary information