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| any gene whse presence can lead to cancer; some oncogenes are introduced by viruses, but in human cancers, most arise by mutation from normal cellular genes called proto-oncogenes. |
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| normal cellular gene that can be converted into an oncogene by point mutation, gene amplification, chromosomal translocation, local DNA rearrangement, or insertional mutagenesis. |
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| transfer of foreign DNA into cells under artificial conditions. |
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| oncogene that arises form a normal cellular proto-oncogene by point mutation, gene amplification, chromosomal translocation, insertional mutagenesis, or DNA rearrangement. |
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| normal cellular gene coding for the Ras protein, which is involoved in the Ras-MAPK patheway that activates cell proliferation. |
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| mechanism for creating extra copies of individual genes by selectively replicating specific DNA sequences numerous times in succession, thereby creating dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of copies of the same stretch of DNA. |
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| independent, chromosome-like bodies that are much smaller than typical chromosomes, often appearing as spherical, paired structures; contain amplified DNA consisting of several dozens to several hundred copies of one or more genes. |
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| gene that is amplified in about 25% of all breast and ovarian cancers; codes for the ErbB2 growth factor receptor, which is targeted by the anticancer drug Herceptin. |
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| fragment of chromosome 22 found in the cancer cells of about 90% of the people with chronic myelogenous leukemia; generated by a reciprocal exchange of DNA (translocation) between chromosomes 9 and 22. |
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| oncogene created by a reciprocal translocation between chromosomes 9 and 22 that leads to the fusion of portions of the BCR and ABL genes; codes for an abnormal intracellular tyrosine kinase that contributes to the development of chronic myelogenous leukemia and is targeted by the anticancer drug Gleevec. |
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| change in DNA sequence organization caused by deletion, insertion, transposition, or inversion. |
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| chromosomal abnormality involving the addition of nucleotides to a DNA molecule; can range in size from a single nucleotide to large stretches of DNA containing many genes. |
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| chromosomal abnormality in which a DNA segment is excised and then reinserted backwards in the same location. |
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| change in gene activity or structure caused by the chromosomal intergration of DNA derived from another source, usually a virus. |
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| class of extracellular signaling proteins that stimulate (or in some cases inhibit) the proliferation of particular cell types by binding to specific receptor proteins located on the outer cell surface. |
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| epidermal growth factor (EGF) |
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| protein that stimulates the growth and division of a wide variety of epithelial cell types. |
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| any of numerous enzymes that catalyze protein phosphorylation-that is, the addition of phosphate groups to protein molecules. |
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| phosphorylation of a receptor molecule by a receptor molecule of the same type. |
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| signalling pathway in which receptors that do not possess their own tyrosine kinase activity stimulate that activity of an independent tyrosine kinase, Jak, which in turn catalyzes the phosphorylation of cytoplasmic proteins called STATs; phosphorylated STATs trigger changes in gene expression that can stimulate cell proliferation. |
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| GTP-binding protein associated with the inner surface of the plasma membrane; central component of the Ras-MAPK pathway, a signaling mechanism for stimulating cell proliferation. |
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| guanine-nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) |
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| protein that triggers the release of GDP from the Ras protein, thereby permitting Ras to acquire a molecule of GTP. |
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| intracellular protein kinase that plays a key role in the Ras-MAPK pathway, entering the nucleus and phosphorylating several different transcription factors. |
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| oncogene that codes for mutant forms of the Raf protein; occurs in roughly 2/3 of human melanomas and at a lower frequency in a variety of other cancers. |
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| tyrosine kinase produced by the SRC proto-oncogene; an abnormal version of this protein is produced by the v-src oncogene of the Rous sarcoma virus. |
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| tyrosine kinase that function in the cell nucleus as part of a singaling pathway that causes cells with damaged DNA to self-destruct by apoptosis. |
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| protein that inhibits apoptosis. |
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