Publications by authors named "Sara Walesch"

Article Synopsis
  • SIAH3, a member of the SIAH family in humans, is often silenced in various cancers like melanoma and lung adenocarcinoma, leading to worse survival for patients.
  • Inducing SIAH3 expression can decrease cancer cell growth and trigger cell death, as it shifts cellular energy production from aerobic metabolism to glycolysis.
  • SIAH3 is found in mitochondria and interacts with proteins related to mitochondrial function and other ubiquitin ligases, suggesting it plays a role as a tumor suppressor by regulating metabolism.
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Kidney cancer incidences are rising globally, thereby fueling the demand for targeted therapies and precision medicine. In our previous work, we have identified and characterized the Ras-Association Domain Family encoding ten members that are often aberrantly expressed in human cancers. In this study, we created and analyzed the Rassf10 knockout mice.

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The (RASSF) encodes members of tumor suppressor genes which are frequently inactivated in human cancers. Here, the function and the regulation of RASSF10, that contains a RA (Ras-association) and two coiled domains, was investigated. We utilized mass spectrometry and immuno-precipitation to identify interaction partners of RASSF10.

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Background: Cancer still is one of the leading causes of death and its death toll is predicted to rise further. We identified earlier the potential tumour suppressor zygote arrest 1 (ZAR1) to play a role in lung carcinogenesis through its epigenetic inactivation.

Results: We are the first to report that ZAR1 is epigenetically inactivated not only in lung cancer but also across cancer types, and ZAR1 methylation occurs across its complete CpG island.

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Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, with 1.7 million new cases each year. As early diagnosis and prognosis are crucial factors in cancer treatment, we investigated potential DNA methylation biomarkers of the tumour suppressor family Ras-association domain family (RASSF).

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Epigenetic inactivation of tumor-related genes is an important characteristic in the pathology of human cancers, including melanomagenesis. We analyzed the epigenetic inactivation of Claudin 11 (CLDN11) in malignant melanoma (MM) of the skin, including six melanoma cell lines, 39 primary melanoma, 41 metastases of MM and 52 nevus cell nevi (NCN). CLDN11 promoter hypermethylation was found in 19 out of 39 (49%) of the primary MM and in 21 out of 41 (51%) of the MM metastases, but only in eight out of 52 (15%) of NCN (p = 0.

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Pheochromocytomas (PCCs) are rare neuroendocrine tumors that arise from the medulla of the adrenal gland or the sympathetic ganglia and are characterized by the secretion of catecholamines. In 30-40% of patients, PCCs are genetically determined by susceptibility genes as various as RET, VHL, and NF1. We have analyzed the Ras-association domain family members (RASSFs) in PCCs regarding their inactivating promoter hypermethylation status.

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Epigenetic gene inactivation through promoter hypermethylation is an important aberration involved in the silencing of tumor-associated genes in cancer. Here we identified the apoptosis associated tyrosine kinase (AATK) as an epigenetically downregulated tumor related gene. We analyzed the epigenetic regulation of AATK in several human cancer cell lines and normal tissues by methylation and expression analysis.

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Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is one of the most aggressive cancers of the skin. RASSFs are a family of tumor suppressors that are frequently inactivated by promoter hypermethylation in various cancers. We studied CpG island promoter hypermethylation in MCC of RASSF2, RASSF5A, RASSF5C and RASSF10 by combined bisulfite restriction analysis (COBRA) in MCC samples and control tissue.

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The Ras association domain family (RASSF) consists of several tumor suppressor genes, which are frequently silenced in human cancers. We analyzed the epigenetic inactivation of RASSF2 and RASSF10 in malignant melanoma (MM) of the skin, including 5 MM cell lines, 28 primary MM, 33 metastases of MM, 47 nevus cell nevi (NCN), and 22 control tissues. The RASSF2 promoter was epigenetically downregulated in two MM cell lines only, but not in any of the investigated tumor samples.

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