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Updated: Feb 11, 2026
Focus Formation: A Cell-based Assay to Determine the Oncogenic Potential of a Gene
Published on: December 31, 2014
Oncogenes in immune cells as potential therapeutic targets
Gulnur K Zakiryanova1, Sarah Wheeler2, Michael R Shurin2
1Department Biophysics and Biomedicine, Faculty Biology and Biotechnology, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Abstract:
The role of deregulated expression of oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes in tumor development has been intensively investigated for decades. However, expression of oncogenes and their potential role in immune cell defects during carcinogenesis and tumor progression have not been thoroughly assessed. The defects in proto-oncogenes have been well documented and evaluated mostly in tumor cells, despite the fact that proto-oncogenes are expressed in all cells, including cells of the immune system. In this review, key studies from immune-mediated diseases that may be associated with oncogene signaling pathways are refocused to provide groundwork for beginning to understand the effects of oncogenes in and on the cancer-related immune system dysfunction.
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