"Dumb" mutations are dangerous
A significant part of the human genome (according to some data, up to 98%) consists of non-coding DNA. These are so-called "dumb" genes that are not involved in the synthesis of proteins or RNA. The overwhelming number of mutations leading to the development of cancer occurs in this part of the genome. It remains a mystery exactly how mutations in non-coding DNA regions affect tumor growth and development.
A group of researchers from the University of California Medical School and the Moores Cancer Center in San Diego, led by Professor Trey Ideker, compared samples of 930 tumors with healthy tissue sites of the same patients. The purpose of the comparison was to evaluate gene expression.
The researchers found about 200 mutations in non-coding DNA involved in the development of cancer. Each of them can be a potential target for the creation of new methods of antitumor treatment.
Previously, only one such mutation was known to alter the expression of the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene.
Three of the newly discovered mutations were studied in the laboratory: non-coding mutations were replicated and changes occurring in the cell were observed. The effect of mutations in non-coding DNA regions on the expression of the DAAM1 gene was most clearly manifested: cancer cells at the same time became more aggressive and more easily penetrated into surrounding tissues.
Now the researchers intend to combine non-coding mutations with coding ones and determine whether this combination is the cause of the development of different subtypes of the same tumor, for example, breast cancer, which carries the properties of both coding and non-coding mutations.
Article by W. Zhang et al. A global transcriptional network connecting noncoding mutations to changes in tumor gene expression is published in the journal Nature Genetics.
Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru according to UC San Diego News Center: Even DNA that Doesn't Encode Genes Can Drive Cancer.