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Biomedical subjects

S Staddon

Publications and source records attributed to S Staddon.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Cooperating oncogenes converge to regulate cyclin/cdk complexes.

The cooperation of oncogenes in the transformation of primary rat Schwann cells is a strikingly synergistic process. We have explored the molecular mechanisms involved. Activation of an inducible Raf kinase results in morphologically transformed cells that are arrested in G1 via the induction of p21(CiP1) and subsequent inhibition of cyclin/cdk activity. In contrast, coexpression of SV40 large T (LT) or a dominant-negative mutant of p53 abolishes p21(CiP1) induction and alleviates the growth arrest. Moreover in this scenario, Raf activation results in an increase in the specific activity of cyclin/cdk complexes with Raf and LT cooperating to superinduce cyclin A/cdk2 activity and stimulate proliferation in the absence of mitogens. Thus, signaling by Raf and its cooperating partners converges at the regulation of cyclin/cdk complexes, with the cellular responses to Raf modulated by p53.

Animals↗

Partial transformation of human thyroid epithelial cells by mutant Ha-ras oncogene.

We have previously shown that activation of ras oncogenes by mutation is a frequent early event in human thyroid neoplasia. Using amphotropic retroviral vectors to achieve gene transfer, we demonstrate here that human primary thyroid epithelial cells can be partially transformed by an activated cellular or viral Ha-ras oncogene, in the absence of a cooperating oncogene. The transformation event induced by ras involves temporary rescue from senescence for up to 20 rounds of cell division together with morphological alteration, growth factor independence and anchorage independence. It has therefore been possible to reconstruct in vitro a key early event in the genesis of human epithelial neoplasia.

Cell Transformation, Neoplastic↗

Absence of activating transmembrane mutations in the c-erbB-2 proto-oncogene in human breast cancer.

The rat neu proto-oncogene, which is a putative growth factor receptor closely related to the epidermal growth factor receptor, can be activated in vivo by a single point mutation in the sequence encoding its transmembrane region. The human homologue of neu, c-erbB-2, can be activated in vitro to an oncogenic form by point mutations in the same relative position in the gene. We have sought the presence of such activating mutations in a series of 100 cases of human breast cancer by polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequence-specific oligonucleotide hybridization, and also by a designed restriction fragment length polymorphism strategy in cases with Southern blot evidence of c-erbB-2 amplification. No evidence of activating point mutations in the c-erbB-2 protooncogene was found in any of these cases.

Base Sequence↗