NKX3.1 activates cellular response to DNA damage

Mouse models of prostate cancer

The development and optimization of high-throughput screening methods has identified a multitude of genetic changes associated with human disease. The use of immunodeficient and genetically engineered mouse models that mimic the human disease has been crucial in validating the importance of these genetic pathways in prostate cancer. These models provide a platform for finding novel therapies to treat human patients afflicted with prostate cancer as well as those who have debilitating bone metastases. In this paper, we focus on the historical development and phenotypic descriptions of mouse models used to study prostate cancer. We also comment on how closely each model recapitulates human prostate cancer.

A homeodomain transcription factor regulates the DNA replication checkpoint in yeast

Checkpoints monitor the successful completion of cell cycle processes, such as DNA replication, and also regulate the expression of cell cycle-dependent genes that are required for responses. In the model yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe G 1/S phase-specific gene expression is regulated by the MBF (also known as DSC1) transcription factor complex and is also activated by the mammalian ATM/ATR-related Rad3 DNA replication checkpoint. Here, we show that the Yox1 homeodomain transcription factor acts to co-ordinate the expression of MBF-regulated genes during the cell division cycle. Moreover, our data suggests that Yox1 is inactivated by the Rad3 DNA replication checkpoint via phosphorylation by the conserved Cds1 checkpoint kinase. Collectively, our data has implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying the coordination of cell cycle processes in eukaryotes.

Molecular genetics of prostate cancer: new prospects for old challenges

Despite much recent progress, prostate cancer continues to represent a major cause of cancer-related mortality and morbidity in men. Since early studies on the role of the androgen receptor that led to the advent of androgen deprivation therapy in the 1940s, there has long been intensive interest in the basic mechanisms underlying prostate cancer initiation and progression, as well as the potential to target these processes for therapeutic intervention. Here, we present an overview of major themes in prostate cancer research, focusing on current knowledge of principal events in cancer initiation and progression. We discuss recent advances, including new insights into the mechanisms of castration resistance, identification of stem cells and tumor-initiating cells, and development of mouse models for preclinical evaluation of novel therapuetics. Overall, we highlight the tremendous research progress made in recent years, and underscore the challenges that lie ahead.