Neochromosomes (green) found in some cancer calls may be up to three times as long as normal chromosomes (magenta).MURDOCH CHILDREN’S RESEARCH INSTITUTE, OWEN MARSHALL
More than half a century ago, scientists noticed a distinctive abnormality in the karyotypes of some soft-tissue cancers: unusually large chromosomes, now referred to as neochromosomes. In a new analysis reported this week (November 10) in Cancer Cell, a team of Australian researchers have uncovered the origins of neochromosomes and revealed mechanisms that could guide therapies to block the chromosomes’ construction.
Using next-generation sequencing and mathematical modeling to investigate the development of neochromosomes, David Thomas of the Garvan Institute in Sydney and his colleagues found that the process appears to begin with the splintering and rearrangement of chromosome 12, followed by breakage-fusion-bridge cycles that lead to the amplification of oncogenes. Notably, neochromosomes often contain dozens of copies of the MDM2 and CDK4 genes, which are ...
