Subnuclear domain proteins in cancer cells support the functions of RUNX2 in the DNA damage response.

Cancer cells exhibit modifications in nuclear architecture and transcriptional control. Tumor growth and metastasis are supported by RUNX family transcriptional scaffolding proteins, which mediate the assembly of nuclear-matrix-associated gene-regulatory hubs. We used proteomic analysis to identify RUNX2-dependent protein-protein interactions associated with the nuclear matrix in bone, breast and prostate tumor cell types and found that RUNX2 interacts with three distinct proteins that respond to DNA damage - RUVBL2, INTS3 and BAZ1B.

Could lncRNAs be the missing links in control of mesenchymal stem cell differentiation?

Long suspected, recently recognized, and increasingly studied, non protein-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are emerging as key drivers of biological control and pathology. Since their discovery in 1993, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been the subject of intense research focus and investigations have revealed striking findings, establishing that these molecules can exert a substantial level of biological control in numerous tissues. More recently, long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), the lesser-studied siblings of miRNA, have been suggested to have a similar robust role in developmental and adult tissue regulation.

microRNA-mediated survivin control of pluripotency.

Understanding the mechanisms that sustain pluripotency in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) is an active area of research that may prove useful in regenerative medicine and will provide fundamental information relevant to development and cancer. hESCs and cancer cells share the unique ability to proliferate indefinitely and rapidly. Because the protein survivin is uniquely overexpressed in virtually all human cancers and in hESCs, we sought to investigate its role in supporting the distinctive capabilities of these cell types.