Lecture on Oncogenes and Cancer Biology

These flashcards focus on key vocabulary and concepts regarding oncogenes and cancer biology, synthesized from the lecture notes to aid in exam preparation.

Oncogenes

Genes and their products that drive normal survival, growth, and division, activated in cancer.

Tumour Viruses

Viruses that can cause tumors, studied as they were suspected to cause human cancers.

Proto-Oncogenes

Normal cellular genes that can become oncogenes due to mutations or increased expression.

V-Sis

A mutated product similar to the B-chain of platelet-derived growth factor, causing autocrine growth stimulation.

Rous Sarcoma Virus

A retrovirus containing the Src gene, which encodes the Src protein that causes cell transformation.

Insertional Mutagenesis

A process where a virus integrates into host DNA, affecting the expression of adjacent host genes.

Mutated Proto-Oncogenes

Cellular sequences that hybridize with viral oncogenes, involved in the transformation of normal cells.

Ras

An oncogene involved in cell proliferation, often mutated in human tumors.

PI3K Pathway

A signaling pathway frequently altered in cancer, involving the oncogene PIK3CA.

Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML)

A type of cancer driven by the BCR-Abl fusion kinase, resulting from a translocation.

B-Catenin

A protein involved in cell signaling, associated with the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) tumor suppressor gene.

Transduction of Cellular Sequences

The process by which viral oncogenes are accompanied by alterations in the structure of cellular genes.