Proto Oncogene Case Study

Words: 446

Pages: 2

Open Document

1. How does a proto-oncogene become converted to an oncogene? Explain how each underlying genetic mechanism contributes to an oncogenic effect.
Oncogenes are cancerous cells that develop from proto-oncogenes. Proto-oncogenes are normal genes and under certain conditions, such as mutation, can become cancerous. Furthermore proto-oncogenes also encode for cell growth to be maintained at a normal level whereas oncogenes are at a state of abnormal rapid growth. To limit abnormal rapid growth of cells BRCA-1 and BRCA-1 come into play, BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 are tumor suppressor genes which normally prevent the cancer from developing through repairing of DNA but a mutation in these genes can causes them to facilitate cancer instead of inhibiting it. Moreover the mutation in BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 genes in some cases can be hereditary (King. 2003).

3. How does the chemotherapy drug Taxol inhibit the growth of cancer? …show more content…
Since cancer cells lose the ability known as contact inhibition, this is when normal cells stop to divide when they come into contact with like cells. The effectiveness of chemotherapy depends on inhibition of cell division instead of killing cancer cells. Taxol works in way to damage the RNA and DNA and prompt apoptosis (cell suicide). By either killing cells or stopping them from replicating, Taxol reduces the size of the tumor but, the turmoil of Taxol consists of the drug not being able to identify whether the cell is cancerous or normal. With the loss of specific normal cells (such as blood cells, cells in the mouth, stomach and hair follicles) side effects follow and these include mouth sores, nausea, and diarrhea and/or hair loss. Taxol belongs in a class of plant alkaloids (anti-microtubule agents) which arise from the bark of Pacific Yew tree or periwinkle plant

Essay on Amolinaro Casestudymelanoma 011714

Module 02 Case Study: Integumentary System Part I—"Soaking Up the Sun" Questions 1. What are some differences between Judy and Mariah that might make Judy more "at risk" for skin cancer than Mariah? (2 points) Some differences between Judy and Mariah are, for one, Mariah has a darker complexion, therefore, more melanin to protect her from the UV rays of the sun. Mariah also has darker hair where as Judy has red, which again means Mariah has more melanin in her skin/hair. Usually individuals with…

Words 1041 - Pages 5

Essay on Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (case study) Question 1 -10 marks (300 words) Describe the pathogenesis of Brian’s colorectal cancer from the initial cellular mutation to the diagnosis of stage IIA colorectal cancer (Learning outcome 5). Cells have a control centre called a nucleus. Inside the nucleus are chromosomes made up of long strings of DNA. DNA contains thousands of gene, which are coded messages that tell the cell how to behave. It starts with epigenetic alterations, it alter the physical structure…

Words 1012 - Pages 5

What Is The Role Of Infectious Agents In Cancer Essay

to a host proto-oncogene, for example c-myc, and this may leads to over-expression of that oncogene, in this case it causes chicken leukaemia. Instead, the virus may carry an oncogene itself and during its replication, the virus expresses them at high levels, for example Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) which causes Rous sarcoma in chicken due to insertion and over-expression of Src oncogene, an intracellular signalling protein, tyrosine kinase. Also, the virus can acquire host genes, an oncogene in this case…

Words 1299 - Pages 6

Lung Cancer Essay

lung cancers are due to smoking, yet 10% of men and 20% of women who develop the disease have never smoked. On the other side of the equation, many people who smoke do not develop lung cancer. Causes of lung cancer may be additive, or in certain cases, more than additive. Individuals who are exposed to asbestos and smoke, or exposed to radon and smoke, have a higher risk of developing lung cancer than can be…

Words 1674 - Pages 7

Essay on Is the Epigenetic Roadmap Project worth our time

Epigenetics. What is it and how can we use it for good? Alexandra Close Year 1 Life Sciences 9460750 Epigenetics. What is it and how can we use it for good? Epigenetics is the study of modifications and additions distributed across genome, which effect gene expression without changing the core genomic sequence of DNA (Handel et al, 2009). The NIH has set up the ‘Epigenetic Roadmap’ project which is being used to sequence Epigenetic maps which will show the variation of epigenetic…

Words 1951 - Pages 8

Steroid Hormones And Risk Of Breast Cancer

1111 Steroid Hormones and Risk of Breast Cancer Barbara S. Hulka, M.D., M.P.H.,* Edison T. Liu, M.D.,t and Ruth A. Lininger, M.D., M.P.H.$ Background. More than three decades of epidemiologic studies have identified numerous risk factors for breast cancer. These factors have been estimated to account for only 20-25% of disease occurrence. However, among these factors, several are related to sex steroid hormones: sex of the affected individuals [women), early age of menarche and late…

Words 9804 - Pages 40

Breast Cancer on the Cellular Level Essay

Breast Cancer at the Cellular Level There are many different diseases that terrorize the human race every day. Of all of these sicknesses, one of the most devastating is breast cancer. Breast cancer touches all types of people all over the world each day. It is actually the second most common cancer amongst women in the United States. One in every eight women in the United States has some form of breast cancer and currently, the death rates are higher than any other cancer with the exception…

Words 2051 - Pages 9

Sleeping Beauty: a candidate for safer hybrid vectors in HIV therapy Essay

of coding mRNA. Insertion of the transposon is largely considered to be random since it only requires a TA site at the target sequence for integration. However a study has shown half the transpositions have preference for 10% of the total TA sites in euchromatin, i.e. in lightly packed chromatin (Geurts et al. 2006). In addition, a study by Liu et al. (2005) showed that particular deformations in the double helix can present TA sites with about 16 fold preference for transposon integration. In this…

Words 6581 - Pages 27

Lyn Is Required For Primary Vematopoietic Cells

and other Src family members are activated by SCF and associate with phosphorylated tyrosine residues in the c-Kit juxtamembrane region. However, studies using c-Kit mutants incapable of directly recruiting Src family members suggest this kinase family plays a minimal role in c-Kit stimulus-response coupling mechanisms. The objective of this study was to speciﬁcally target Lyn and subsequently address its role in SCF-mediated responses of primary hematopoietic progenitor cells and mast cells…

Words 7602 - Pages 31

Essay about Rossi: Psychology and Messenger Molecules

The Deep Psychobiology of Psychotherapy: Towards a Quantum Psychology of Mindbody Healing (2001-2008)1 Ernest Lawrence Rossi, Ph.D. The Milton H. Erickson Foundation of the California Central Coast (MHE CCC) C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles PERSPECTIVE AND DEFINITION The Deep Psychobiology of Psychotherapy may be defined as the exploration of mindbody experience, communication and healing all levels from the cultural and psychosocial to the cellular-genetic-molecular and the quantum.…

Words 8787 - Pages 36