BIO 310 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Cancer Stem Cell, Imatinib, Fusion Protein
Document Summary
Cancer stem cells and the problem of relapse. Because there are some stem cells in tumors, there is potential for relapse post treatment since they were not targeted in therapy. Tumors secrete veg-f to create blood vessels treatment strategy to inhibit that pathway, but the cells without blood supplies become hypoxic, triggering emt which are the beginnings of metastasis. Hypoxia activates hif1a, which regulates other factors that lead to the downregulation of e-cadherin. Bcr-abl translocation at chromosome 9 and chromosome 22. Fusion of bcr and abl kinase into chimeric protein. Abl is used for cell replication, but abl kinase is constitutively on. In abl kinase pathway, the hyperactive oncogenic kinase binds with atp and constantly phosphorylates its target signal for proliferation and survival leukemia. Gleevec binds in place of the atp to the kinase, preventing it from phosphorylating its targets. Better to use multiple drugs at the same time instead of one at a time.
