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On the road to cancer: aneuploidy and the mitotic checkpoint
Geert J P L Kops1, Beth A A Weaver, Don W Cleveland
1Laboratory of Experimental Oncology, Department of Medical Oncology, University Medical Center, Utrecht, 3584 CG, The Netherlands. g.j.p.l.kops@med.uu.nl
Abstract:
Abnormal chromosome content - also known as aneuploidy - is the most common characteristic of human solid tumours. It has therefore been proposed that aneuploidy contributes to, or even drives, tumour development. The mitotic checkpoint guards against chromosome mis-segregation by delaying cell-cycle progression through mitosis until all chromosomes have successfully made spindle-microtubule attachments. Defects in the mitotic checkpoint generate aneuploidy and might facilitate tumorigenesis, but more severe disabling of checkpoint signalling is a possible anticancer strategy.
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