Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 28, 2025

Engineering Oncogenic Heterozygous Gain-of-Function Mutations in Human Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells
12:04

Engineering Oncogenic Heterozygous Gain-of-Function Mutations in Human Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells

Published on: March 10, 2023

3.7K

Harnessing transposable elements for cancer therapy

Yuan Liu1, Leng Han2

  • 1Center for Epigenetics and Disease Prevention, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Biostatistics and Health Data Science, School of Medicine, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA.

Trends in Cancer
|May 29, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Transposable elements (TEs) can rearrange within the genome and play a role in cancer. Shah et al. found that tumor-specific TE-gene events create novel protein isoforms, acting as potential cancer biomarkers and immunotherapy targets.

Area of Science:

  • Genomics
  • Cancer Biology
  • Immunotherapy

Background:

  • Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile genetic sequences with known roles in genome evolution.
  • Their involvement in cancer development is increasingly recognized, suggesting potential as therapeutic targets.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the regulatory potential of transposable elements in cancer.
  • To identify tumor-specific transposable element-gene chimeric events.
  • To explore the utility of these chimeric events as cancer biomarkers and immunotherapy targets.

Main Methods:

  • Bioinformatic analysis of genomic data to detect transposable element insertions and chimeric transcripts.
  • Proteomic analysis to identify novel protein isoforms resulting from TE-gene fusion events.
  • Validation of identified chimeric events in cancer patient samples.

Main Results:

  • Transposable elements possess significant regulatory functions within the cancer genome.
  • Novel tumor-specific transposable element-gene chimeric events were identified.
  • These chimeric events lead to the production of unique protein isoforms.

Conclusions:

  • Transposable element-gene chimeras represent a new class of cancer-specific molecular alterations.
  • These findings highlight the potential of TEs as a source for universal cancer biomarkers.
  • The identified chimeric events offer promising targets for novel cancer immunotherapies.
Keywords:
cancer therapyepigeneticpan-cancertransposable element

More Related Videos

Transposon Mediated Integration of Plasmid DNA into the Subventricular Zone of Neonatal Mice to Generate Novel Models of Glioblastoma10:58

Transposon Mediated Integration of Plasmid DNA into the Subventricular Zone of Neonatal Mice to Generate Novel Models of Glioblastoma

Published on: February 22, 2015

13.0K
Identification of Sleeping Beauty Transposon Insertions in Solid Tumors using Linker-mediated PCR10:34

Identification of Sleeping Beauty Transposon Insertions in Solid Tumors using Linker-mediated PCR

Published on: February 1, 2013

14.2K

Related Concept Videos

DNA-only Transposons02:57

DNA-only Transposons

DNA-only transposons are called autonomous transposons since they code for the enzyme transposase that is required for the transposition mechanism. Insertion of transposons can alter gene functions in multiple ways. They can mutate the gene, alter gene expression by introducing a novel promoter or insulator sequence, introduce new splice sites, and change the mRNA transcripts produced, or remodel chromatin structure.
The donor site from where the transposon is excised is either degraded or...
14.6K
Non-LTR Retrotransposons03:18

Non-LTR Retrotransposons

As the name suggests, non-LTR retrotransposons lack the long terminal repeats characteristic of the LTR retrotransposons. Additionally, both LTR and non-LTR retrotransposons use distinct mechanisms of mobilization. Non-LTR retrotransposons are further divided into two classes - Long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs) and short interspersed nuclear elements (SINEs), both of which occur abundantly in most mammals, including humans. Some of the active non-LTR retrotransposons in humans are L1...
11.6K
Targeted Cancer Therapies02:57

Targeted Cancer Therapies

The targeted cancer therapies, also known as “molecular targeted therapies,” take advantage of the molecular and genetic differences between the cancer cells and the normal cells. It needs a thorough understanding of the cancer cells to develop drugs that can target specific molecular aspects that drive the growth, progression, and spread of cancer cells without affecting the growth and survival of other normal cells in the body.
There are several types of targeted therapies against...
7.7K
Overview of Transposition and Recombination02:13

Overview of Transposition and Recombination

Transposons make up a significant part of genomes of various organisms. Therefore, it is believed that transposition played a major evolutionary role in speciation by changing genome sizes and modifying gene expression patterns. For example, in bacteria, transposition can lead to conferring antibiotic resistance. Movement of transposable elements within the genetic pool of pathogenic bacteria can aid in transfer of antibiotic-resistant genetic elements. In eukaryotes, transposons can carry out...
15.9K
Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation02:53

Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation

Because the DNA segments are cut and reorganized in a direction-specific manner, site-specific recombination has emerged as an efficient genetic engineering technique. Flippase and Cyclization recombinases or Flp and Cre, respectively, are two members of the tyrosine recombinase family derived from bacteriophages, that are used to mediate site-specific DNA insertions, deletions, and targeted expression of proteins in mammalian cell lines.
The recognition sites for Cre recombinase called LoxP...
6.0K
Gene Therapy00:59

Gene Therapy

Gene therapy is a technique where a gene is inserted into a person’s cells to prevent or treat a serious disease. The added gene may be a healthy version of the gene that is mutated in the patient, or it could be a different gene that inactivates or compensates for the patient’s disease-causing gene. For example, in patients with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) due to a mutation in the gene for the enzyme adenosine deaminase, a functioning version of the gene can be...
25.6K