The differentiation state of the Schwann cell progenitor drives phenotypic variation between two contagious cancers.

ABSTRACT: Contagious cancers are a rare pathogenic phenomenon in which cancer cells gain the ability to spread between genetically distinct hosts. Nine examples have been identified across marine bivalves, dogs and Tasmanian devils, but the Tasmanian devil is the only mammalian species known to have given rise to two distinct lineages of contagious cancer, termed Devil Facial Tumour 1 (DFT1) and 2 (DFT2). Remarkably, DFT1 and DFT2 arose independently from the same cell type, a Schwann cell, and while their ultra-structural features are highly similar they exhibit variation in their mutational signatures and infection dynamics. As such, DFT1 and DFT2 provide a unique framework for investigating how a common progenitor cell can give rise to distinct contagious cancers. Using a proteomics approach, we

SUBMITTER: Owen RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8629380 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature