A cancer gene alters the three-dimensional structure of chromosomes, which could in turn affect the expression of other genes in ways that promote cancer development.

Mark Rubin at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York and his team mapped chromosomal interactions and changes in gene expression in healthy prostate cells that overexpress a cancer gene called ERG. The researchers found that ERG overexpression correlated with remodelling of the structure of chromatin — the protein–DNA package that constitutes chromosomes. ERG overexpression was linked with an exchange of material between chromosomes 13 and 15. This suggests that ERG overactivation might lead to secondary changes in genomic structure.

Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1112570109 (2012)