What does mutator phenotype mean?
The concept of a mutator phenotype implies that a large number of mutations are produced randomly throughout the genome of cancer cells; only a few of which result in clonal proliferation. This heterogeneity of mutated genes militates against any possibility of reverting cancer cells to wild-type normal cells.
What is a tumor phenotype?
Abstract. The tumor phenotype is associated with the rearrangement of genetic information and the altered expression of many gene products. In this review, genes associated with the tumor phenotype have been arranged on the human gene map and indicate the extent to which the tumor phenotype involves the human genome.
What is a mutator gene?
Mutator genes (genes that elevate the genomic mutation rate) are likely to induce deleterious mutations and thus suffer an indirect selective disadvantage; at the same time, bacteria carrying them can increase in frequency only by generating beneficial mutations at other loci.
What is Hypermutated cancer?
A hypermutated tumor is defined as a tumor with an increased mutation burden (a high rate of somatic mutation). The threshold above which tumors are considered hypermutated, however, depends on the sequencing methodology and type of cancer (Table 1).
What causes Kataegis?
A subfamily of the APOBEC (apolipo-protein B mRNA editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide-like) cytidine deaminases has been implicated as a source of kataegis mutations in part because aberrant expression in yeast generates a similar C > T substitution mutational signature (Roberts et al., 2013; Taylor et al., 2013).
What is a medical phenotype?
Phenotype: An appearance or characteristic of an individual, which results from the interaction of the person’s genetic makeup and his or her environment. By contrast, the genotype is merely the genetic constitution (genome) of an individual.
What is somatic hypermutation B cells?
Definition. Somatic hypermutation is a process that allows B cells to mutate the genes that they use to produce antibodies. This enables the B cells to produce antibodies that are better able to bind to bacteria, viruses and other infections.
What causes somatic hypermutation?
Somatic hypermutation involves a programmed process of mutation affecting the variable regions of immunoglobulin genes. Unlike germline mutation, SHM affects only an organism’s individual immune cells, and the mutations are not transmitted to the organism’s offspring.