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A tumor suppressor gene (TSG), or anti-oncogene, is a gene that regulates a cell during cell division and replication. If the cell grows uncontrollably, it will result in cancer. When a tumor suppressor gene is mutated, it results in a loss or reduction in its function. In combination with other genetic mutations, this could allow the cell to grow abnormally. The loss of function for these genes may be even more significant in the development of human cancers, compared to the activation of oncogenes.
Angiogenesis is the physiological process through which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels, formed in the earlier stage of vasculogenesis. Angiogenesis continues the growth of the vasculature mainly by processes of sprouting and splitting, but processes such as coalescent angiogenesis, vessel elongation and vessel cooption also play a role. Vasculogenesis is the embryonic formation of endothelial cells from mesoderm cell precursors, and from neovascularization, although discussions are not always precise. The first vessels in the developing embryo form through vasculogenesis, after which angiogenesis is responsible for most, if not all, blood vessel growth during development and in disease.
The lymphatic system, or lymphoid system, is an organ system in vertebrates that is part of the immune system, and complementary to the circulatory system. It consists of a large network of lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes, lymphoid organs, lymphatic tissue and lymph. Lymph is a clear fluid carried by the lymphatic vessels back to the heart for re-circulation. The Latin word for lymph, lympha, refers to the deity of fresh water, "Lympha".
In cell biology, extracellular fluid (ECF) denotes all body fluid outside the cells of any multicellular organism. Total body water in healthy adults is about 50–60% of total body weight; women and the obese typically have a lower percentage than lean men. Extracellular fluid makes up about one-third of body fluid, the remaining two-thirds is intracellular fluid within cells. The main component of the extracellular fluid is the interstitial fluid that surrounds cells.
The endothelium is a single layer of squamous endothelial cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels. The endothelium forms an interface between circulating blood or lymph in the lumen and the rest of the vessel wall. Endothelial cells form the barrier between vessels and tissue and control the flow of substances and fluid into and out of a tissue.
Glycolipids are lipids with a carbohydrate attached by a glycosidic (covalent) bond. Their role is to maintain the stability of the cell membrane and to facilitate cellular recognition, which is crucial to the immune response and in the connections that allow cells to connect to one another to form tissues. Glycolipids are found on the surface of all eukaryotic cell membranes, where they extend from the phospholipid bilayer into the extracellular environment.
Carcinogenesis, also called oncogenesis or tumorigenesis, is the formation of a cancer, whereby normal cells are transformed into cancer cells. The process is characterized by changes at the cellular, genetic, and epigenetic levels and abnormal cell division. Cell division is a physiological process that occurs in almost all tissues and under a variety of circumstances. Normally, the balance between proliferation and programmed cell death, in the form of apoptosis, is maintained to ensure the integrity of tissues and organs. According to the prevailing accepted theory of carcinogenesis, the somatic mutation theory, mutations in DNA and epimutations that lead to cancer disrupt these orderly processes by interfering with the programming regulating the processes, upsetting the normal balance between proliferation and cell death. This results in uncontrolled cell division and the evolution of those cells by natural selection in the body. Only certain mutations lead to cancer whereas the majority of mutations do not.
Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) also known as deleted in polyposis 2.5 (DP2.5) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the APC gene. The APC protein is a negative regulator that controls beta-catenin concentrations and interacts with E-cadherin, which are involved in cell adhesion. Mutations in the APC gene may result in colorectal cancer and desmoid tumors.
The Inner Life of the Cell is an 8.5-minute 3D computer graphics animation illustrating the molecular mechanisms that occur when a white blood cell in the blood vessels of the human body is activated by inflammation. It shows how a white blood cell rolls along the inner surface of the capillary, flattens out, and squeezes through the cells of the capillary wall to the site of inflammation where it contributes to the immune reaction.
Enolase 1 (ENO1), more commonly known as alpha-enolase, is a glycolytic enzyme expressed in most tissues, one of the isozymes of enolase. Each isoenzyme is a homodimer composed of 2 alpha, 2 gamma, or 2 beta subunits, and functions as a glycolytic enzyme. Alpha-enolase, in addition, functions as a structural lens protein (tau-crystallin) in the monomeric form. Alternative splicing of this gene results in a shorter isoform that has been shown to bind to the c-myc promoter and function as a tumor suppressor. Several pseudogenes have been identified, including one on the long arm of chromosome 1. Alpha-enolase has also been identified as an autoantigen in Hashimoto encephalopathy.
Wilms tumor protein (WT33) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the WT1 gene on chromosome 11p.
Cellular senescence is a phenomenon characterized by the cessation of cell division. In their experiments during the early 1960s, Leonard Hayflick and Paul Moorhead found that normal human fetal fibroblasts in culture reach a maximum of approximately 50 cell population doublings before becoming senescent. This process is known as "replicative senescence", or the Hayflick limit. Hayflick's discovery of mortal cells paved the path for the discovery and understanding of cellular aging molecular pathways. Cellular senescence can be initiated by a wide variety of stress inducing factors. These stress factors include both environmental and internal damaging events, abnormal cellular growth, oxidative stress, autophagy factors, among many other things.
Kun-Liang Guan, is a Chinese and American biochemist. He won the MacArthur Award in 1998.
Robert Arnold Lue was a Jamaican-born American cellular biologist. He was a professor of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard University, where he was the Richard L. Menschel Faculty Director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching. Lue had been co-editor of the Harvard Data Science Review, and was previously the university's UNESCO Chair on Life Sciences and Social Innovation. Lue led LabXChange, an online learning platform, in partnership with the Amgen Foundation.
Molecular oncology is an interdisciplinary medical specialty at the interface of medicinal chemistry and oncology that refers to the investigation of the chemistry of cancer and tumors at the molecular scale. Also the development and application of molecularly targeted therapies.
David S. Goodsell, is an associate professor at the Scripps Research Institute and research professor at Rutgers University, New Jersey. He is especially known for his watercolor paintings of cell interiors.
The tumor microenvironment is a complex ecosystem surrounding a tumor, composed of cancer cells, stromal tissue and the extracellular matrix. Mutual interaction between cancer cells and the different components of the tumor microenvironment support its growth and invasion in healthy tissues which correlates with tumor resistance to current treatments and poor prognosis. The tumor microenvironment is in constant change because of the tumor's ability to influence the microenvironment by releasing extracellular signals, promoting tumor angiogenesis and inducing peripheral immune tolerance, while the immune cells in the microenvironment can affect the growth and evolution of cancerous cells.
Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are a heterogeneous group of immune cells from the myeloid lineage.
XVIVO Scientific Animation is an American scientific and medical animation studio based in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 2001 by David Bolinsky, former lead medical illustrator at Yale University, and Michael Astrachan. The company is most known for its short film The Inner Life of the Cell, which debuted at the 2006 SIGGRAPH conference in Boston. The project was commissioned by Harvard University’s Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, which currently holds the rights to the piece.
Li Yang is an American biologist researching how inflammation in the premetastatic environment modifies cancer cell colonization. She is a senior investigator and head of the tumor microenvironment section at the National Cancer Institute.
References
- ↑ Instructor Profile: Alain Viel at edX
- ↑ WorldCat item listing
- ↑ "Epernicus, Alain Viel". Archived from the original on 2009-07-03. Retrieved 2015-07-11.
- ↑ "Profile at Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University". Archived from the original on 2015-07-12. Retrieved 2015-07-11.
- ↑ Peter Reuell (10 September 2013). "Summer in the lab, Harvard Gagette". News.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
- ↑ "Macmillan Higher Education". Macmillanhighered.com. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
- ↑ "edX bio". Edx.org. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
- ↑ "Biology: How Life Works". Macmillanhighered.com. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
- ↑ "animation The Inner Life of the Cell". Archived from the original on 2008-12-15. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
- ↑ Marchant, Beth (2006-07-20). "Studio Daily". Studio Daily. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
- ↑ "Lives of a Cell, the 3-D Version". Wired News. March 14, 2007. Retrieved 2015-06-12.