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Oncogenes

A new start for ALK transcription

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 15, page 637 (2015)Cite this article

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Wiesner et al. report a mechanism of oncogene activation that is independent of somatic genetic aberrations. The use of a de novo alternative transcription initiation (ATI) site generated an anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) transcript (ALKATI) comprising only exons 20–29 of wild-type ALK. ALKATI was found in ∼11% of melanomas and sporadically in other cancer types in a set of >5,000 samples but was not present in >1,600 samples from normal tissues. ALKATI expression promoted transformation and growth factor-independent proliferation in cell lines and induced tumour growth in vivo. Furthermore, cells and tumours expressing ALKATI were sensitive to ALK inhibitors.

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References

  1. Wiesner, T. et al. Alternative transcription initiation leads to expression of a novel ALK isoform in cancer. Nature http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature15258 (2015)

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  1. Lydia Shipman
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Shipman, L. A new start for ALK transcription. Nat Rev Cancer 15, 637 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc4038

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