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Paramyxoviruses for Tumor-targeted Immunomodulation: Design and Evaluation Ex Vivo
12:42

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Published on: January 7, 2019

Viral immunoreceptor-associated tyrosine-based activation motifs: potential players in oncogenesis

Shannon M Grande1, Susan R Ross, John G Monroe

  • 1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine & Abramson Family Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. smgrande@mail.med.upenn.edu

Future Oncology (London, England)
|March 28, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Tumor viruses can contribute to cancer by expressing proteins with immunoreceptor-associated tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAMs). Normally found in immune cells, ITAM expression in epithelial cells may drive solid tumor formation.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Virology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Cancer develops from multiple cellular insults, including genetic mutations affecting proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressors.
  • Tumor viruses are implicated in cancer, often through viral proteins that disrupt host cell functions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of viral proteins containing immunoreceptor-associated tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAMs) in epithelial cell oncogenesis.
  • To explore the potential link between ITAM expression in non-hematopoietic cells and solid tumor development.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of viral protein structures and functions.
  • Investigation of signaling pathways modulated by viral ITAM-containing proteins.
  • Examination of ITAM expression in epithelial cells and its oncogenic consequences.

Main Results:

  • Several tumor viruses encode proteins with ITAM signaling motifs.
  • Expression of ITAM-bearing proteins in epithelial cells, normally restricted to hematopoietic cells, is linked to oncogenesis.
  • ITAMs in epithelial cells may contribute to the development of solid tumors.

Conclusions:

  • Viral ITAMs represent a novel mechanism by which tumor viruses can promote cancer.
  • The aberrant expression of ITAMs in epithelial cells is a significant factor in solid tumor formation.
  • Targeting viral ITAMs could offer new therapeutic strategies for virus-associated cancers.

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