Download Cancer results from an accumulation of mutations which

Original Article:
ATM activation is accompanied with earlier stages of prostate tumorigenesis.
Catherine Fan, Rebecca Quan, Xinchang Feng, Aubrey Gillis, Lizhi He,
Edward D. Matsumoto, Sam Salama, Jean-Claude Cutz, Anil Kapoor, Damu Tang
Cancer results from an accumulation of mutations which cause cells to grow uncontrollably.
These mutations can be caused by damage to DNA. Normal cells have surveillance and repair
systems which cause specialized proteins to be activated to identify and fix these DNA
breaks. Cancer cells, however, may have defects in these systems which then allow for them to
"escape" this surveillance and cause mutations to accumulate.
In our lab, we have studied the levels of a protein called ATM, which is one of the main proteins
activated when DNA damage occurs. Activated ATM then causes the activation of other proteins
which are involved in a pathway called the "DNA damage response". To see if defects in the
DNA damage response play a role in cancer development, we looked at the levels of ATM in
different stages of prostate cancer. We found that levels of ATM and its downstream DNA
damage response proteins were low in cancer cells, but high in pre-cancerous cells. This shows
that ATM is activated in early stages of prostate cancer, and suggests that decreases in its
activation leads to the progression of cancer development.
Rebecca Quan:
Hill Park Secondary School, 465 East 16th Street, Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada, L9A 4K6
Damu Tang:
Father Sean O’Sullivan Research Institute, St. Joseph’s Hospital,
McMaster University, T3310 St. Joseph’s Hospital, 50 Charleton Ave.
East, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8N 4A6