Evolutionary origins of human apoptosis and genome-stability gene networks.

ABSTRACT: Apoptosis is essential for complex multicellular organisms and its failure is associated with genome instability and cancer. Interactions between apoptosis and genome-maintenance mechanisms have been extensively documented and include transactivation-independent and -dependent functions, in which the tumor-suppressor protein p53 works as a 'molecular node' in the DNA-damage response. Although apoptosis and genome stability have been identified as ancient pathways in eukaryote phylogeny, the biological evolution underlying the emergence of an integrated system remains largely unknown. Here, using computational methods, we reconstruct the evolutionary scenario that linked apoptosis with genome stability pathways in a functional human gene/protein association network. We found that the entang

SUBMITTER: Castro MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2577361 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature