"Human Embryonic Genes Re-Expressed in Cancer Cells".
Marilyn Monk and Cathy Holding
Molecular Embryology Unit, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, UK
Correspondence to: M Monk, Molecular Embryology Unit, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, UK. E-mail: mmonk@ich.ucl.ac.uk
Abstract:
Human preimplantation embryonic cells are similar in phenotype to
cancer cells. Both types of cell undergo deprogramming to a proliferative
stem cell state and become potentially immortal and invasive. To investigate
the hypothesis that embryonic genes are re-expressed in cancer cells, we
prepare amplified cDNA from human individual preimplantation embryos and
isolate embryo-specific sequences. We show that three novel embryonic
genes, and also the known gene, OCT4, are expressed in human
tumours but not expressed in normal somatic tissues. Genes specific to
this unique phase of the human life cycle and not expressed in somatic
cells may have greater potential for targeting in cancer treatment.
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