Tag Archives: cshl

How premalignant cells can sense oncogenesis, halt growth

Since the 1980s, scientists have known that mutations in a human gene called RAS are capable of setting cells on a path to cancer. Today, a team at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) publishes experiments showing how cells can respond to an activated RAS gene by entering a quiescent state, called senescence. CSHL Professor Nicholas Tonks and Benoit Boivin, now a University of Montreal Assistant Professor, co-led a team that traced the process in exquisite detail. …

Leukemia cells exploit ‘enhancer’ DNA elements to cause lethal disease

The research, appearing today in Genes & Development and led by CSHL Assistant Professor Chris Vakoc, centers on the way a cancer-promoting gene is controlled. When this oncogene, called Myc, is robustly expressed, it instructs cells to manufacture proteins that contribute to the uncontrolled growth that is cancer’s hallmark. The Myc oncogene is also implicated in many other cancer types, adding to the significance of the new finding…

Cancer cells supported by normal cells in and near tumors

The targeting of interactions between cancer cells and their environment together with the traditional tactic of directly targeting cancer cells with drugs or radiation is an important new front in the fight against cancer. The study was conducted by two CSHL scientists from different disciplines who joined forces in the Laboratory’s tradition of collaborative research. Mikala Egeblad, Ph.D., is an expert in the analysis of interactions between cancer cells and normal cells, and Scott Powers, Ph.D., is an expert in applying genome-wide "big-picture" methods to the study of cancer…