Month: September 2022

ENHANCER ENRICHED. "Cancer cells acquire super-enhancers to drive high level transcription of oncogenes, and sequence variation associated with other diseases is especially enriched in super-enhancers." https://lnkd.in/e5vj59F View in LinkedIn

TUMOR "acquisition of specific super-enhancers presumably results from chromosomal translocation, gene amplification, increased transcription factor expression, or somatic mutation of noncoding elements, all of which are known to contribute to tumorigenesis. Interestingly, genomic rearrangements can also contribute to tumorigenesis by simultaneous ectopic transcriptional activation and haploinsufficiency during super-enhancers transitions." https://lnkd.in/exFAp7h View in LinkedIn

HOLY GRAIL. "For years cancer scientists have been reporting their discoveries of the mediators responsible for over expression of cancer genes. What makes Dr Young’s work more unique is that it suggests that a few master switches might control this gene at super enhancer regions. There are thousands of cancer gene transcription factors in the literature." https://lnkd.in/eSdUNqN View in LinkedIn

ENHANCER CLUSTERS. "You might say that cancer cells are “fueled” by “super enhancers”, and might suggest inhibiting such a fueling source to cure cancer and you might be correct to be hopeful, albeit with a heavy dose of patience. Last year it was discovered there are a million enhancers in the human genome. Dr Young speculates that some of these enhancers act together in large clusters and function as a unit." https://lnkd.in/eSdUNqN View in LinkedIn

SYROS PHARMACEUTICALS: "blocking of a few master genetic switches associated with “super enhancers” might be a simple cure for cancer, says Dr. Richard Young, of Whitehead research institute" and founder of Syros. They raised $83.1 M in two rounds, https://lnkd.in/eSdUNqN View in LinkedIn

DECODING JUNK DNA. "In a paper published in Nature in 2012, ENCODE researchers concluded that 80% of the human genome is functional. Ever since, commentators have argued over what large swaths of non-coding DNA might be doing. Super-enhancers, which can occupy tens of kilobases, suggest a use for at least some of this DNA. In fact, published ENCODE work foreshadowed the super-enhancer discovery." https://lnkd.in/ezRUFD5 View in LinkedIn

TISSUE MASTER GENES. "Some DNA-binding transcription factors, also called ‘master regulators’, have the ability to determine lineage-specific transcriptional programs. For example, MyoD, PPARγ and Runx2 control the gene programs leading to differentiation into skeletal muscle, adipocytes and osteocytes, respectively." https://lnkd.in/ez4iBiB View in LinkedIn

MYC, A HIGH PROFILE REGULATORY GENE, "is one of the most referenced molecules in biology; since its isolation in the chicken genome in early 1980s, plenty of literature has covered the many aspects of its function. Despite that, the last decade has witnessed its unanticipated appearance in several cellular mechanisms, demonstrating that we are still far from composing a complete picture of its biological potential." A long way to go still. https://lnkd.in/e8xJvuY View in LinkedIn

TRANSCRIPTION HUB. "The complex, which consists of ∼30 polypeptides, shows conservation from yeast to humans and plays an indispensable role in regulating transcription. it soon emerged that multiple pathways responsible for cell growth, differentiation or tissue development were able to converge on one or more of the almost 30 subunits of Mediator through transcriptional regulators, suggesting that Mediator acts as a centralized ‘hub’ or ‘integrator’ for transcriptional regulation." https://lnkd.in/ez4iBiB View in LinkedIn

THE LIST of the top hierarchical genes is considerable. The higher up the strata of control, the smaller the numbers appear to be, although the search is far from over. So far, there does not appear to be a single, or just a few command genes, but rather a group of super-powerful controlling genes that act in concert. View in LinkedIn