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Tumorigenesis

Cut here for differentiation

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 12, pages 320–321 (2012)Cite this article

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Cut expression defines a specific subset of cells (filzkörper cells) that form part of the Drosophila melanogaster respiratory system. Deletion of ct results in the absence of filzkörper cells in developing larvae, however, given that Cut is also involved in the regulation of apoptosis, the authors set out to determine whether loss of these cells was due to a lack of differentiation or to the induction of apoptosis. They found that expression of the pro-apoptotic gene reaper (rpr) was increased in ct-deficient filzkörper precursor cells in early embryos, and that this correlated with the induction of apoptosis in these cells. Using computational and in vitro methods, the authors identified a highly conserved Cut-binding site close to the rpr-coding region to which Cut can bind and directly repress rpr transcription.

the ability of cells to differentiate could be hard wired into the suppression of apoptosis and ... disruption of this circuit could promote tumour development.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Zhai, Z. et al. Antagonistic regulation of apoptosis and differentiation by the Cut transcription factor represents a tumour suppressing mechanism in Drosophila. PLoS Genet. 8, e1002582 (2012)Article

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  1. Nicola McCarthy
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McCarthy, N. Cut here for differentiation. Nat Rev Cancer 12, 320–321 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3259

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