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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

MEDUSA for Identifying Death Regulatory Genes in Chemo-genetic Profiling Data
Published on: February 7, 2025
Loss of putative tumor suppressor EI24/PIG8 confers resistance to etoposide
Christina N Mork1, Douglas V Faller, Remco A Spanjaard
1Department of Microbiology, Cancer Research Center, Boston University School of Medicine, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
Abstract:
Expression of p53-target gene EI24/PIG8 is lost in invasive breast cancers, suggesting that EI24/PIG8 is a tumor suppressor that prevents tumor spreading, and partially mediates p53-attributed tumor suppressor activity. EI24/PIG8 also has pro-apoptotic activity indicating that loss of EI24/PIG8 may modulate sensitivity to chemotherapy. Here it is demonstrated that suppression of EI24/PIG8 in fibroblasts and breast cancer cells significantly inhibits the apoptotic response to etoposide treatment. These findings suggest that loss of EI24/PIG8 contributes significantly to resistance of cells to chemotherapeutic agents that function through p53, and identify the EI24/PIG8 status as a potentially new prognostic marker of chemotherapy responsiveness.
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