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Szasz A. Peto's "Paradox" and Six Degrees of Cancer Prevalence. Cells 2024; 13:197. [PMID: 38275822 PMCID: PMC10814230 DOI: 10.3390/cells13020197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Peto's paradox and the epidemiologic observation of the average six degrees of tumor prevalence are studied and hypothetically solved. A simple consideration, Petho's paradox challenges our intuitive understanding of cancer risk and prevalence. Our simple consideration is that the more a cell divides, the higher the chance of acquiring cancerous mutations, and so the larger or longer-lived organisms have more cells and undergo more cell divisions over their lifetime, expecting to have a higher risk of developing cancer. Paradoxically, it is not supported by the observations. The allometric scaling of species could answer the Peto paradox. Another paradoxical human epidemiology observation in six average mutations is necessary for cancer prevalence, despite the random expectations of the tumor causes. To solve this challenge, game theory could be applied. The inherited and random DNA mutations in the replication process nonlinearly drive cancer development. The statistical variance concept does not reasonably describe tumor development. Instead, the Darwinian natural selection principle is applied. The mutations in the healthy organism's cellular population can serve the species' evolutionary adaptation by the selective pressure of the circumstances. Still, some cells collect multiple uncorrected mutations, adapt to the extreme stress in the stromal environment, and develop subclinical phases of cancer in the individual. This process needs extensive subsequent DNA replications to heritage and collect additional mutations, which are only marginal alone. Still, together, they are preparing for the first stage of the precancerous condition. In the second stage, when one of the caretaker genes is accidentally mutated, the caused genetic instability prepares the cell to fight for its survival and avoid apoptosis. This can be described as a competitive game. In the third stage, the precancerous cell develops uncontrolled proliferation with the damaged gatekeeper gene and forces the new game strategy with binary cooperation with stromal cells for alimentation. In the fourth stage, the starving conditions cause a game change again, starting a cooperative game, where the malignant cells cooperate and force the cooperation of the stromal host, too. In the fifth stage, the resetting of homeostasis finishes the subclinical stage, and in the fifth stage, the clinical phase starts. The prevention of the development of mutated cells is more complex than averting exposure to mutagens from the environment throughout the organism's lifetime. Mutagenic exposure can increase the otherwise random imperfect DNA reproduction, increasing the likelihood of cancer development, but mutations exist. Toxic exposure is more challenging; it may select the tolerant cells on this particular toxic stress, so these mutations have more facility to avoid apoptosis in otherwise collected random mutational states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andras Szasz
- Department of Biotechnics, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 2100 Gödöllő, Hungary
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Abstract
Sir Richard Peto is well known for proposing puzzling paradoxes in cancer biology-some more well-known than others. In a 1984 piece, Peto proposed that after decades of molecular biology in cancer research, we are still ignorant of the biology underpinning cancer. Cancer is a product of somatic mutations. How do these mutations arise and what are the mechanisms? As an epidemiologist, Peto asked if we really need to understand mechanisms in order to prevent cancer? Four decades after Peto's proposed ignorance in cancer research, we can simply ask, are we still ignorant? Did the great pursuit to uncover mechanisms of cancer eclipse our understanding of causes and preventions? Or can we get closer to treating and preventing cancer by understanding the underlying mechanisms that make us most vulnerable to this disease?
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy M Boddy
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
- Arizona Cancer and Evolution Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
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Aanen DK, van ’t Padje A, Auxier B. Longevity of Fungal Mycelia and Nuclear Quality Checks: a New Hypothesis for the Role of Clamp Connections in Dikaryons. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 2023; 87:e0002221. [PMID: 37409939 PMCID: PMC10521366 DOI: 10.1128/mmbr.00022-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/07/2023] Open
Abstract
This paper addresses the stability of mycelial growth in fungi and differences between ascomycetes and basidiomycetes. Starting with general evolutionary theories of multicellularity and the role of sex, we then discuss individuality in fungi. Recent research has demonstrated the deleterious consequences of nucleus-level selection in fungal mycelia, favoring cheaters with a nucleus-level benefit during spore formation but a negative effect on mycelium-level fitness. Cheaters appear to generally be loss-of-fusion (LOF) mutants, with a higher propensity to form aerial hyphae developing into asexual spores. Since LOF mutants rely on heterokaryosis with wild-type nuclei, we argue that regular single-spore bottlenecks can efficiently select against such cheater mutants. We then zoom in on ecological differences between ascomycetes being typically fast-growing but short-lived with frequent asexual-spore bottlenecks and basidiomycetes being generally slow-growing but long-lived and usually without asexual-spore bottlenecks. We argue that these life history differences have coevolved with stricter nuclear quality checks in basidiomycetes. Specifically, we propose a new function for clamp connections, structures formed during the sexual stage in ascomycetes and basidiomycetes but during somatic growth only in basidiomycete dikaryons. During dikaryon cell division, the two haploid nuclei temporarily enter a monokaryotic phase, by alternatingly entering a retrograde-growing clamp cell, which subsequently fuses with the subapical cell to recover the dikaryotic cell. We hypothesize that clamp connections act as screening devices for nuclear quality, with both nuclei continuously testing each other for fusion ability, a test that LOF mutants will fail. By linking differences in longevity of the mycelial phase to ecology and stringency of nuclear quality checks, we propose that mycelia have a constant and low lifetime cheating risk, irrespective of their size and longevity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duur K. Aanen
- Department of Plant Sciences, Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Anouk van ’t Padje
- Department of Plant Sciences, Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Benjamin Auxier
- Department of Plant Sciences, Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Vollrath F. Uncoupling elephant TP53 and cancer. Trends Ecol Evol 2023:S0169-5347(23)00135-0. [PMID: 37385845 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.05.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Revised: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023]
Abstract
Elephant testicles do not descend, with implications for sperm production being hot enough to compromise germline DNA replication/repair. Uniquely, elephants also possess 20 copies of a gene encoding for the p53 protein. Did elephants evolve multiplication of the TP53 gene complex to protect their germline rather than to fight cancer?
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Affiliation(s)
- Fritz Vollrath
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK.
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Wolf M, Zapf K, Gupta DK, Hiller M, Árnason Ú, Janke A. The genome of the pygmy right whale illuminates the evolution of rorquals. BMC Biol 2023; 21:79. [PMID: 37041515 PMCID: PMC10091562 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-023-01579-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 04/13/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Baleen whales are a clade of gigantic and highly specialized marine mammals. Their genomes have been used to investigate their complex evolutionary history and to decipher the molecular mechanisms that allowed them to reach these dimensions. However, many unanswered questions remain, especially about the early radiation of rorquals and how cancer resistance interplays with their huge number of cells. The pygmy right whale is the smallest and most elusive among the baleen whales. It reaches only a fraction of the body length compared to its relatives and it is the only living member of an otherwise extinct family. This placement makes the pygmy right whale genome an interesting target to update the complex phylogenetic past of baleen whales, because it splits up an otherwise long branch that leads to the radiation of rorquals. Apart from that, genomic data of this species might help to investigate cancer resistance in large whales, since these mechanisms are not as important for the pygmy right whale as in other giant rorquals and right whales. RESULTS Here, we present a first de novo genome of the species and test its potential in phylogenomics and cancer research. To do so, we constructed a multi-species coalescent tree from fragments of a whole-genome alignment and quantified the amount of introgression in the early evolution of rorquals. Furthermore, a genome-wide comparison of selection rates between large and small-bodied baleen whales revealed a small set of conserved candidate genes with potential connections to cancer resistance. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that the evolution of rorquals is best described as a hard polytomy with a rapid radiation and high levels of introgression. The lack of shared positive selected genes between different large-bodied whale species supports a previously proposed convergent evolution of gigantism and hence cancer resistance in baleen whales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magnus Wolf
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Georg-Voigt-Strasse 14-16, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
- Institute for Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Goethe University, Max-Von-Laue-Strasse. 9, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - Konstantin Zapf
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Georg-Voigt-Strasse 14-16, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
- Institute for Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Goethe University, Max-Von-Laue-Strasse. 9, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - Deepak Kumar Gupta
- LOEWE-Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (TBG), Senckenberg Nature Research Society, Georg-Voigt-Straße 14-16, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - Michael Hiller
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Georg-Voigt-Strasse 14-16, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
- LOEWE-Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (TBG), Senckenberg Nature Research Society, Georg-Voigt-Straße 14-16, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
- Institute of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-Von-Laue-Str. 9, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
| | - Úlfur Árnason
- Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Department of Neurosurgery, Skane University Hospital in Lund, Lund, Sweden
| | - Axel Janke
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Georg-Voigt-Strasse 14-16, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
- Institute for Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Goethe University, Max-Von-Laue-Strasse. 9, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
- LOEWE-Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (TBG), Senckenberg Nature Research Society, Georg-Voigt-Straße 14-16, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
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Abstract
Cancer, a disease due to uncontrolled cell proliferation is as ancient as multicellular organisms. A 255-million-years-old fossilized forerunner mammal gorgonopsian is probably the oldest evidence of cancer, to date. Cancer seems to have evolved by adapting to the microenvironment occupied by immune sentinel, modulating the cellular behavior from cytotoxic to regulatory, acquiring resistance to chemotherapy and surviving hypoxia. The interaction of genes with environmental carcinogens is central to cancer onset, seen as a spectrum of cancer susceptibility among human population. Cancer occurs in life forms other than human also, although their exposure to environmental carcinogens can be different. Role of genetic etiology in cancer in multiple species can be interesting with regard to not only cancer susceptibility, but also genetic conservation and adaptation in speciation. The widely used model organisms for cancer research are mouse and rat which are short-lived and reproduce rapidly. Research in these cancer prone animal models has been valuable as these have led to cancer therapy. However, another rewarding area of cancer research can be the cancer-resistant animal species. The Peto's paradox and G-value paradox are evident when natural cancer resistance is observed in large mammals, like elephant and whale, small rodents viz. Naked Mole Rat and Blind Mole Rat, and Bat. The cancer resistance remains to be explored in other small or large and long-living animals like giraffe, camel, rhinoceros, water buffalo, Indian bison, Shire horse, polar bear, manatee, elephant seal, walrus, hippopotamus, turtle and tortoise, sloth, and squirrel. Indeed, understanding the molecular mechanisms of avoiding neoplastic transformation across various life forms can be potentially having translational value for human cancer management. Adapted and Modified from (Hanahan and Weinberg 2011).
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Maciak S. Cell size, body size and Peto's paradox. BMC Ecol Evol 2022; 22:142. [PMID: 36513976 PMCID: PMC9746147 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-022-02096-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Carcinogenesis is one of the leading health concerns afflicting presumably every single animal species, including humans. Currently, cancer research expands considerably beyond medicine, becoming a focus in other branches of natural science. Accumulating evidence suggests that a proportional scale of tumor deaths involves domestic and wild animals and poses economical or conservation threats to many species. Therefore, understanding the genetic and physiological mechanisms of cancer initiation and its progression is essential for our future action and contingent prevention. From this perspective, I used an evolutionary-based approach to re-evaluate the baseline for debate around Peto's paradox. First, I review the background of information on which current understanding of Peto's paradox and evolutionary concept of carcinogenesis have been founded. The weak points and limitations of theoretical modeling or indirect reasoning in studies based on intraspecific, comparative studies of carcinogenesis are highlighted. This is then followed by detail discussion of an effect of the body mass in cancer research and the importance of cell size in consideration of body architecture; also, I note to the ambiguity around cell size invariance hypothesis and hard data for variability of cell size across species are provided. Finally, I point to the new research area that is driving concepts to identify exact molecular mechanisms promoting the process of tumorigenesis, which in turn may provide a proximate explanation of Peto's paradox. The novelty of the approach proposed therein lies in intraspecies testing of the effect of differentiation of cell size/number on the probability of carcinogenesis while controlling for the confounding effect of body mass/size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Maciak
- grid.25588.320000 0004 0620 6106Department of Evolutionary and Physiological Ecology, Faculty of Biology, University of Białystok, K. Ciołkowskiego 1J, 15-245 Białystok, Poland
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M. Dujon A, Brown JS, Destoumieux‐Garzón D, Vittecoq M, Hamede R, Tasiemski A, Boutry J, Tissot S, Alix‐Panabieres C, Pujol P, Renaud F, Simard F, Roche B, Ujvari B, Thomas F. On the need for integrating cancer into the One Health perspective. Evol Appl 2021; 14:2571-2575. [PMID: 34815739 PMCID: PMC8591323 DOI: 10.1111/eva.13303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Revised: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 09/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent pandemics have highlighted the urgency to connect disciplines studying animal, human, and environment health, that is, the "One Health" concept. The One Health approach takes a holistic view of health, but it has largely focused on zoonotic diseases while not addressing oncogenic processes. We argue that cancers should be an additional key focus in the One Health approach based on three factors that add to the well-documented impact of humans on the natural environment and its implications on cancer emergence. First, human activities are oncogenic to other animals, exacerbating the dynamics of oncogenesis, causing immunosuppressive disorders in wildlife with effects on host-pathogen interactions, and eventually facilitating pathogen spillovers. Second, the emergence of transmissible cancers in animal species (including humans) has the potential to accelerate biodiversity loss across ecosystems and to become pandemic. It is crucial to understand why, how, and when transmissible cancers emerge and spread. Third, translating knowledge of tumor suppressor mechanisms found across the Animal Kingdom to human health offers novel insights into cancer prevention and treatment strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine M. Dujon
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES)MontpellierFrance
- MIVEGECUniversité de Montpellier, CNRS, IRDMontpellierFrance
- School of Life and Environmental SciencesCentre for Integrative EcologyDeakin UniversityWaurn PondsVic.Australia
| | - Joel S. Brown
- Department of Integrated Mathematical OncologyMoffitt Cancer CenterTampaFloridaUSA
| | | | - Marion Vittecoq
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES)MontpellierFrance
- MIVEGECUniversité de Montpellier, CNRS, IRDMontpellierFrance
- Tour du ValatResearch Institute for the Conservation of Mediterranean WetlandsArlesFrance
| | - Rodrigo Hamede
- School of Natural SciencesUniversity of TasmaniaHobartTas.Australia
| | - Aurélie Tasiemski
- Univ. LilleCNRSInsermCHU LilleInstitut Pasteur de LilleU1019‐UMR9017‐CIIL‐Centre d'Infection et d'Immunité de LilleLilleFrance
| | - Justine Boutry
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES)MontpellierFrance
- MIVEGECUniversité de Montpellier, CNRS, IRDMontpellierFrance
| | - Sophie Tissot
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES)MontpellierFrance
- MIVEGECUniversité de Montpellier, CNRS, IRDMontpellierFrance
| | - Catherine Alix‐Panabieres
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES)MontpellierFrance
- MIVEGECUniversité de Montpellier, CNRS, IRDMontpellierFrance
- Laboratory of Rare Human Circulating Cells (LCCRH)University Medical Centre of MontpellierMontpellierFrance
| | - Pascal Pujol
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES)MontpellierFrance
- MIVEGECUniversité de Montpellier, CNRS, IRDMontpellierFrance
- Oncogenetic DepartmentUniversity Medical Centre of MontpellierMontpellierFrance
| | - François Renaud
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES)MontpellierFrance
- MIVEGECUniversité de Montpellier, CNRS, IRDMontpellierFrance
| | - Frédéric Simard
- MIVEGECUniversité de Montpellier, CNRS, IRDMontpellierFrance
| | - Benjamin Roche
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES)MontpellierFrance
- MIVEGECUniversité de Montpellier, CNRS, IRDMontpellierFrance
| | - Beata Ujvari
- School of Life and Environmental SciencesCentre for Integrative EcologyDeakin UniversityWaurn PondsVic.Australia
| | - Frédéric Thomas
- CREEC/CANECEV (CREES)MontpellierFrance
- MIVEGECUniversité de Montpellier, CNRS, IRDMontpellierFrance
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Aranda-Anzaldo A, Dent MAR. Is cancer a disease set up by cellular stress responses? Cell Stress Chaperones 2021; 26:597-609. [PMID: 34031811 PMCID: PMC8275745 DOI: 10.1007/s12192-021-01214-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2021] [Revised: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/14/2021] [Indexed: 09/29/2022] Open
Abstract
For several decades, the somatic mutation theory (SMT) has been the dominant paradigm on cancer research, leading to the textbook notion that cancer is fundamentally a genetic disease. However, recent discoveries indicate that mutations, including "oncogenic" ones, are widespread in normal somatic cells, suggesting that mutations may be necessary but not sufficient for cancer to develop. Indeed, a fundamental but as yet unanswered question is whether or not the first step in oncogenesis corresponds to a mutational event. On the other hand, for some time, it has been acknowledged the important role in cancer progression of molecular processes that participate in buffering cellular stress. However, their role is considered secondary or complementary to that of putative oncogenic mutations. Here we present and discuss evidence that cancer may have its origin in epigenetic processes associated with cellular adaptation to stressful conditions, and so it could be a direct consequence of stress-buffering mechanisms that allow cells with aberrant phenotypes (not necessarily associated with genetic mutations) to survive and propagate within the organism. We put forward the hypothesis that there would be an inverse correlation between the activation threshold of the cellular stress responses (CSRs) and the risk of cancer, so that species or individuals with low-threshold CSRs will display a higher incidence or risk of cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Armando Aranda-Anzaldo
- Laboratorio de Biología Molecular y Neurociencias, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Paseo Tollocan y Jesús Carranza s/n, Toluca, 50180, Edo. Méx, México.
| | - Myrna A R Dent
- Laboratorio de Biología Molecular y Neurociencias, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Paseo Tollocan y Jesús Carranza s/n, Toluca, 50180, Edo. Méx, México
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Huang X, Sun D, Wu T, Liu X, Xu S, Yang G. Genomic insights into body size evolution in Carnivora support Peto's paradox. BMC Genomics 2021; 22:429. [PMID: 34107880 PMCID: PMC8191207 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-021-07732-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2020] [Accepted: 05/24/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The range of body sizes in Carnivora is unparalleled in any other mammalian order—the heaviest species is 130,000 times heavier than the lightest and the longest species is 50 times longer than the shortest. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these huge differences in body size have not been explored. Results Herein, we performed a comparative genomics analysis of 20 carnivores to explore the evolutionary basis of the order’s great variations in body size. Phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) revealed that 337 genes were significantly related to both head body length and body mass; these genes were defined as body size associated genes (BSAGs). Fourteen positively-related BSAGs were found to be associated with obesity, and three of these were under rapid evolution in the extremely large carnivores, suggesting that these obesity-related BSAGs might have driven the body size expansion in carnivores. Interestingly, 100 BSAGs were statistically significantly enriched in cancer control in carnivores, and 15 of which were found to be under rapid evolution in extremely large carnivores. These results suggested that large carnivores might have evolved an effective mechanism to resist cancer, which could be regarded as molecular evidence to support Peto’s paradox. For small carnivores, we identified 15 rapidly evolving genes and found six genes with fixed amino acid changes that were reported to reduce body size. Conclusions This study brings new insights into the molecular mechanisms that drove the diversifying evolution of body size in carnivores, and provides new target genes for exploring the mysteries of body size evolution in mammals. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-021-07732-w.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Huang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, 210023, Nanjing, China
| | - Di Sun
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, 210023, Nanjing, China
| | - Tianzhen Wu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, 210023, Nanjing, China
| | - Xing Liu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, 210023, Nanjing, China
| | - Shixia Xu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, 210023, Nanjing, China.
| | - Guang Yang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, 210023, Nanjing, China.
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Vazquez JM, Sulak M, Chigurupati S, Lynch VJ. A Zombie LIF Gene in Elephants Is Upregulated by TP53 to Induce Apoptosis in Response to DNA Damage. Cell Rep 2019; 24:1765-1776. [PMID: 30110634 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.07.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2017] [Revised: 04/30/2018] [Accepted: 07/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Large-bodied organisms have more cells that can potentially turn cancerous than small-bodied organisms, imposing an increased risk of developing cancer. This expectation predicts a positive correlation between body size and cancer risk; however, there is no correlation between body size and cancer risk across species ("Peto's paradox"). Here, we show that elephants and their extinct relatives (proboscideans) may have resolved Peto's paradox in part through refunctionalizing a leukemia inhibitory factor pseudogene (LIF6) with pro-apoptotic functions. LIF6 is transcriptionally upregulated by TP53 in response to DNA damage and translocates to the mitochondria where it induces apoptosis. Phylogenetic analyses of living and extinct proboscidean LIF6 genes indicates that its TP53 response element evolved coincident with the evolution of large body sizes in the proboscidean stem lineage. These results suggest that refunctionalizing of a pro-apoptotic LIF pseudogene may have been permissive (although not sufficient) for the evolution of large body sizes in proboscideans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Manuel Vazquez
- Department of Human Genetics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Michael Sulak
- Department of Human Genetics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | | | - Vincent J Lynch
- Department of Human Genetics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA; Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
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Ferris E, Abegglen LM, Schiffman JD, Gregg C. Accelerated Evolution in Distinctive Species Reveals Candidate Elements for Clinically Relevant Traits, Including Mutation and Cancer Resistance. Cell Rep 2019. [PMID: 29514101 PMCID: PMC6294302 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The identity of most functional elements in the mammalian genome and the phenotypes they impact are unclear. Here, we perform a genomewide comparative analysis of patterns of accelerated evolution in species with highly distinctive traits to discover candidate functional elements for clinically important phenotypes. We identify accelerated regions (ARs) in the elephant, hibernating bat, orca, dolphin, naked mole rat, and thirteen-lined ground squirrel lineages in mammalian conserved regions, uncovering ~33,000 elements that bind hundreds of different regulatory proteins in humans and mice. ARs in the elephant, the largest land mammal, are uniquely enriched near elephant DNA damage response genes. The genomic hotspot for elephant ARs is the E3 ligase subunit of the Fanconi anemia complex, a master regulator of DNA repair. Additionally, ARs in the six species are associated with specific human clinical phenotypes that have apparent concordance with overt traits in each species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elliott Ferris
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84132-3401, USA
| | - Lisa M Abegglen
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84132-3401, USA; Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Joshua D Schiffman
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84132-3401, USA; Department of Oncological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84132-3401, USA; Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Christopher Gregg
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84132-3401, USA; Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84132-3401, USA; New York Stem Cell Foundation, New York, NY, USA.
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Tidwell TR, Søreide K, Hagland HR. Aging, Metabolism, and Cancer Development: from Peto's Paradox to the Warburg Effect. Aging Dis 2017; 8:662-676. [PMID: 28966808 PMCID: PMC5614328 DOI: 10.14336/ad.2017.0713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2016] [Accepted: 06/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Medical advances made over the last century have increased our lifespan, but age-related diseases are a fundamental health burden worldwide. Aging is therefore a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and neurodegenerative diseases, all increasing in prevalence. However, huge inter-individual variations in aging and disease risk exist, which cannot be explained by chronological age, but rather physiological age decline initiated even at young age due to lifestyle. At the heart of this lies the metabolic system and how this is regulated in each individual. Metabolic turnover of food to energy leads to accumulation of co-factors, byproducts, and certain proteins, which all influence gene expression through epigenetic regulation. How these epigenetic markers accumulate over time is now being investigated as the possible link between aging and many diseases, such as cancer. The relationship between metabolism and cancer was described as early as the late 1950s by Dr. Otto Warburg, before the identification of DNA and much earlier than our knowledge of epigenetics. However, when the stepwise gene mutation theory of cancer was presented, Warburg's theories garnered little attention. Only in the last decade, with epigenetic discoveries, have Warburg's data on the metabolic shift in cancers been brought back to life. The stepwise gene mutation theory fails to explain why large animals with more cells, do not have a greater cancer incidence than humans, known as Peto's paradox. The resurgence of research into the Warburg effect has given us insight to what may explain Peto's paradox. In this review, we discuss these connections and how age-related changes in metabolism are tightly linked to cancer development, which is further affected by lifestyle choices modulating the risk of aging and cancer through epigenetic control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tia R. Tidwell
- Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Centre for Organelle Research, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
- Gastrointestinal Translational Research Unit, Molecular Laboratory, Hillevaåg, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway
| | - Kjetil Søreide
- Gastrointestinal Translational Research Unit, Molecular Laboratory, Hillevaåg, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Hanne R. Hagland
- Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Centre for Organelle Research, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
- Gastrointestinal Translational Research Unit, Molecular Laboratory, Hillevaåg, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway
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Gaudiano ME, Lenaerts T, Pacheco JM. About the discrete-continuous nature of a hematopoiesis model for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. Math Biosci 2016; 282:174-180. [PMID: 27816533 DOI: 10.1016/j.mbs.2016.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2016] [Revised: 10/26/2016] [Accepted: 11/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Blood of mammals is composed of a variety of cells suspended in a fluid medium known as plasma. Hematopoiesis is the biological process of birth, replication and differentiation of blood cells. Despite of being essentially a stochastic phenomenon followed by a huge number of discrete entities, blood formation has naturally an associated continuous dynamics, because the cellular populations can - on average - easily be described by (e.g.) differential equations. This deterministic dynamics by no means contemplates some important stochastic aspects related to abnormal hematopoiesis, that are especially significant for studying certain blood cancer deceases. For instance, by mere stochastic competition against the normal cells, leukemic cells sometimes do not reach the population thereshold needed to kill the organism. Of course, a pure discrete model able to follow the stochastic paths of billons of cells is computationally impossible. In order to avoid this difficulty, we seek a trade-off between the computationally feasible and the biologically realistic, deriving an equation able to size conveniently both the discrete and continuous parts of a model for hematopoiesis in terrestrial mammals, in the context of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. Assuming the cancer is originated from a single stem cell inside of the bone marrow, we also deduce a theoretical formula for the probability of non-diagnosis as a function of the mammal average adult mass. In addition, this work cellular dynamics analysis may shed light on understanding Peto's paradox, which is shown here as an emergent property of the discrete-continuous nature of the system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcos E Gaudiano
- CIEM-CONICET & Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Ciudad Universitaria CP 5000, Córdoba, Argentina; ATP-group, P-2744-016 Porto Salvo, Portugal.
| | - Tom Lenaerts
- MLG, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard du Triomphe CP212, Building O, 8th floor, 1050 Brussels, Belgium; AI lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Jorge M Pacheco
- ATP-group, P-2744-016 Porto Salvo, Portugal; CBMA & DMA, Universidade do Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
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