Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 19, 2026

Transposon Mediated Integration of Plasmid DNA into the Subventricular Zone of Neonatal Mice to Generate Novel Models of Glioblastoma
Published on: February 22, 2015
Transposable Element Activation: A Hallmark of Cancer
Katherine B Chiappinelli1, Kathleen H Burns2
1Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia.
None:
Transposable elements (TE), mobile DNA sequences that can move independently about the genome, make up about half of the human genome and are mostly silenced by epigenetic modifications in healthy differentiated cells. Global epigenetic dysregulation during oncogenic transformation causes TE expression, contributing to transcriptional rewiring and TE activity as insertional mutagens. TE nucleic acids are sensed in the cytoplasm, initiating inflammation that can be therapeutically manipulated to activate antitumor immune responses. In this study, we detail how TEs contribute to six of the classic hallmarks of cancer and propose widespread TE expression and activation as a new hallmark of cancer.
Significance:
TEs are expressed at significantly higher levels in cancer cells compared with normal cells as a consequence of epigenetic dysregulation. These elements contribute to transcriptional rewiring, genomic instability, and innate and adaptive immune responses to cancer. Altered TE expression in cancers is a therapeutic vulnerability that scientists are beginning to harness for novel diagnostics and anticancer therapies. See related commentary by Sun and Greenbaum, p. 1489.
Related Concept Videos
Non-LTR Retrotransposons
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Somatic...
Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes
Overview of Transposition and Recombination
DNA-only Transposons
The donor site from where the transposon is excised is either degraded or...

