Cancer Prevalence across Vertebrates.

Cancer is pervasive across multicellular species, but what explains the differences in cancer prevalence across species? Using 16,049 necropsy records for 292 species spanning three clades of tetrapods (amphibians, sauropsids, and mammals), we found that neoplasia and malignancy prevalence increases with adult mass (contrary to Peto's paradox) and somatic mutation rate but decreases with gestation time. The relationship between adult mass and malignancy prevalence was only apparent when we controlled for gestation time. Evolution of cancer susceptibility appears to have undergone sudden shifts followed by stabilizing selection.

Cancer Prevalence Across Vertebrates.

Cancer is pervasive across multicellular species, but what explains differences in cancer prevalence across species? Using 16,049 necropsy records for 292 species spanning three clades (amphibians, sauropsids and mammals) we found that neoplasia and malignancy prevalence increases with adult weight (contrary to Petos Paradox) and somatic mutation rate, but decreases with gestation time. Evolution of cancer susceptibility appears to have undergone sudden shifts followed by stabilizing selection. Outliers for neoplasia prevalence include the common porpoise (<1.

Elephant TP53-RETROGENE 9 induces transcription-independent apoptosis at the mitochondria.

Approximately 20 TP53 retrogenes exist in the African and Asian elephant genomes (Loxodonta Africana, Elephas Maximus) in addition to a conserved TP53 gene that encodes a full-length protein. Elephant TP53-RETROGENE 9 (TP53-R9) encodes a p53 protein (p53-R9) that is truncated in the middle of the canonical DNA binding domain. This C-terminally truncated p53 retrogene protein lacks the nuclear localization signals and oligomerization domain of its full-length counterpart.

High OCT4A levels drive tumorigenicity and metastatic potential of medulloblastoma cells.

Medulloblastoma is a highly aggressive pediatric brain tumor, in which sporadic expression of the pluripotency factor OCT4 has been recently correlated with poor patient survival. However the contribution of specific OCT4 isoforms to tumor aggressiveness is still poorly understood. Here, we report that medulloblastoma cells stably overexpressing the OCT4A isoform displayed enhanced clonogenic, tumorsphere generation, and invasion capabilities.

Embryonic Stem Cell-Related Protein L1TD1 Is Required for Cell Viability, Neurosphere Formation, and Chemoresistance in Medulloblastoma.

Misexpression of stem cell-related genes may occur in some cancer cells, influencing patient's prognosis. This is the case of medulloblastoma, a common and clinically challenging malignant tumor of the central nervous system, where expression of the pluripotency factor, OCT4, is correlated with poor survival. A downstream target of OCT4, L1TD1 (LINE-1 type transposase domain-containing protein 1 family member), encodes a novel embryonic stem cell (ESC)-related protein involved in pluripotency and self-renewal of ESCs.