Naturally occurring tumours in the basal metazoan Hydra

Domazet-Lošo, Tomislav; Klimovich, Alexander; Anokhin, Borsi; Anton-Erxleben, Friederike; Hamm, Maillin J.; Lange, Christina; Bosch, Thomas C. G.

doi:10.1038/ncomms5222

Cited by 124 publications

(153 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Genes commonly involved in cancer associate with two major evolutionary events: the emergence of self-replicating cellular life and the appearance of simple multicellular organisms (6,7). The disruption of genes and processes that appeared in early metazoan life to enhance intercellular cooperation is expected to be a recurrent driver of carcinogenesis, as implicated by the widespread occurrence of cancer across the tree of multicellular life (8,9) and the common dysregulation of pathways that evolved to sustain multicellularity, such as Wnt and integrins (10,11).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Altered interactions between unicellular and multicellular genes drive hallmarks of transformation in a diverse range of solid tumors

Trigos

Pearson

Papenfuss

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

178

217

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Tumors of distinct tissues of origin and genetic makeup display common hallmark cellular phenotypes, including sustained proliferation, suppression of cell death, and altered metabolism. These phenotypic commonalities have been proposed to stem from disruption of conserved regulatory mechanisms evolved during the transition to multicellularity to control fundamental cellular processes such as growth and replication. Dating the evolutionary emergence of human genes through phylostratigraphy uncovered close association between gene age and expression level in RNA sequencing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas for seven solid cancers. Genes conserved with unicellular organisms were strongly up-regulated, whereas genes of metazoan origin were primarily inactivated. These patterns were most consistent for processes known to be important in cancer, implicating both selection and active regulation during malignant transformation. The coordinated expression of strongly interacting multicellularity and unicellularity processes was lost in tumors. This separation of unicellular and multicellular functions appeared to be mediated by 12 highly connected genes, marking them as important general drivers of tumorigenesis. Our findings suggest common principles closely tied to the evolutionary history of genes underlie convergent changes at the cellular process level across a range of solid cancers. We propose altered activity of genes at the interfaces between multicellular and unicellular regions of human gene regulatory networks activate primitive transcriptional programs, driving common hallmark features of cancer. Manipulation of cross-talk between biological processes of different evolutionary origins may thus present powerful and broadly applicable treatment strategies for cancer.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Altered interactions between unicellular and multicellular genes drive hallmarks of transformation in a diverse range of solid tumors

Trigos

Pearson

Papenfuss

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

178

217

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…These processes demonstrate some ductility of these organisms in unconso- The growth process by budding, recalls that of unicellular organisms like yeast [17] [18] or that of basic metazoan organisms like Cnidarian polyps, Jelly fish [19], Scyphozoa [20] and Hydra [21]. Similarly, the fission process recalls the cell division of microorganisms such as algae [22], protozoa [23] and Archean micro-organism [24], or the duplication of primitive metazoans as enigmatic macrofossils of late Ediacaran [25], Echinoderm Holothuria (sea cucumbers) [ …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth, Duplication and Lateral Mutual Compressive Deformation of Akouemma hemisphaeria on the Seafloor of Okondja Basin at 2.2 Ga (Gabon)

Edou-Minko¹,

Moussavou²,

Sato³

et al. 2017

IJG

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A colony of macro-fossils Akouemma hemisphaeria has been described in the Paleoproterozoic sedimentary basin of Okondja, Gabon. These fossils are classified into two groups according to their spheroidal or elongated forms. The spheroidal shapes are similar, have a tripartite structure with two hemispheres and a median disc and gradually pass to the elongated forms. These elongated forms have a pronounced bipartite tendency to two "hemispheres" separated by a median surface, and often have several ovoid "pieces" attached. The elongated specimens show both lateral growth marks and signs of fission. Growth marks are characterized by unidirectional homogeneous side elongations and lateral bud-like protuberances. The signs of fission are marked by circular furrows perpendicular to the direction of elongation, called "constriction furrows" with varying depths depending on the degree of fission of the specimen and internal vertical "division planes". All of these ovoid and elongated specimens have undergone significant initial deformations due mainly to mutual lateral compressions in tabular beds. The Akouemma hemisphaeria macro-organisms, which were primitive probably sessile organisms, lived on How to cite this paper:

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“…Tumours that are malignant or have cancer-like characteristics have been reported in cnidarians, flatworms, roundworms, crustaceans and insects [119,[123][124][125][126]. In shrimp, a lymophoma-like neoplasm of lymphoid organs, and abnormal growth and mestastases have been associated with viral infection [119,125,127,128].…”

Section: Infectious Neoplasias In Plants and Invertebratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infection and cancer in multicellular organisms

Ewald

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Evolutionary considerations suggest that oncogenic infections should be pervasive among animal species. Infection-associated cancers are well documented in humans and domestic animals, less commonly reported in undomesticated captive animals, and rarely documented in nature. In this paper, we review the literature associating infectious agents with cancer to evaluate the reasons for this pattern. Non-malignant infectious neoplasms occur pervasively in multicellular life, but oncogenic progression to malignancy is often uncertain. Evidence from humans and domestic animals shows that non-malignant infectious neoplasms can develop into cancer, although generally with low frequency. Malignant neoplasms could be difficult to find in nature because of a low frequency of oncogenic transformation, short survival after malignancy and reduced survival prior to malignancy. Moreover, the evaluation of malignancy can be ambiguous in nature, because criteria for malignancy may be difficult to apply consistently across species. The information available in the literature therefore does not allow for a definitive assessment of the pervasiveness of infectious cancers in nature, but the presence of infectious neoplasias and knowledge about the progression of benign neoplasias to cancer is consistent with a widespread but largely undetected occurrence.

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Naturally occurring tumours in the basal metazoan Hydra

Cited by 124 publications

References 33 publications

Altered interactions between unicellular and multicellular genes drive hallmarks of transformation in a diverse range of solid tumors

Altered interactions between unicellular and multicellular genes drive hallmarks of transformation in a diverse range of solid tumors

Growth, Duplication and Lateral Mutual Compressive Deformation of Akouemma hemisphaeria on the Seafloor of Okondja Basin at 2.2 Ga (Gabon)

Infection and cancer in multicellular organisms

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