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Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Induction and Diagnosis of Tumors in Drosophila Imaginal Disc Epithelia
Published on: July 25, 2017
Evolutionary origin of the tumor suppressor hyperplastic discs protein
Leonid V Omelyanchuk1, Julya A Pertseva, John M Saul
1Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia. ome@bionet.nsc.ru
Abstract:
Previous evolutionary study of the tumor suppressor Merlin revealed that this protein family was produced by very early metazoans with the exception of some or all flatworm lineages [Golovnina et al., 2005]. We ask whether other tumor-suppressor proteins had also been in existence in these times and focus our attention on hyperplastic discs (Hyd) protein, a classic tumor suppressor in Drosophila melanogaster which, when mutated, may cause over-proliferation and malignancy. Phylogenetic analysis of the Hyd protein indicates that it was present among metazoa by the time Trichoplax adhaerens had emerged from the common unicellular ancestor of the Animalia.
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