Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Commentary
  • Published:

Make WARTS, not cancer!

Oncogene volume 23, pages 5263–5265 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

The WARTS gene encodes a kinase that localizes to the mitotic apparatus of a dividing cell. Named WARTS after the growths that develop in the eyes of Drosophila in which the gene is deleted. WARTS is also implicated as a tumor suppressor in mice and humans. In this issue of Oncogene, Iida et al. describe experiments suggesting that, in addition to a role in regulating mitosis, WARTS functions to prevent further rounds of DNA synthesis and mitosis in tetraploid cells. As well as opening up new possibilities of exploring the as yet ill-defined mechanistic basis of the tetraploidy checkpoint, the involvement of a tumor-suppressor gene in this checkpoint supports its importance as a safeguard against the acquisition of genomic instability, a key event in the progression to cancer.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  • Altieri DC . (2003). Oncogene, 22, 8581–8589.

  • Bunz F, Dutriaux A, Lengauer C, Waldman T, Zhou S, Brown JP, Sedivy JM, Kinzler KW and Vogelstein B . (1998). Science, 282, 1497–1501.

  • Duensing S, Duensing A, Crum CP and Munger K . (2001). Cancer Res., 61, 2356–2360.

  • Duensing S and Münger K . (2002). Cancer Res., 62, 7075–7082.

  • Gateff E . (1994). Ann. NY Acad. Sci., 712, 260–279.

  • Hay BA and Guo M . (2003). Dev. Cell, 5, 361–363.

  • Hisaoka M, Tanaka A and Hashimoto H . (2002). Lab. Invest., 82, 1427–1435.

  • Iida S, Hirota T, Morisaki T, Marumoto T, Hara T, Kuninaka S, Honda S, Kosai K, Kawasuji M, Pallas DC and Saya H . (2004). Oncogene, X, A–B.

  • Justice RW, Zilian O, Woods DF, Noll M and Bryant PJ . (1995). Genes Dev., 9, 534–546.

  • Kamikubo Y, Takaori-Kondo A, Uchiyama T and Hori T . (2003). J. Biol. Chem., 278, 17609–17614.

  • Spruck CH, Won KA and Reed SI . (1999). Nature, 401, 297–300.

  • St John MA, Tao W, Fei X, Fukumoto R, Carcangiu ML, Brownstein DG, Parlow AF, McGrath J and Xu T . (1999). Nat. Genet., 21, 182–186.

  • Storchova Z and Pellman D . (2004). Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol., 5, 45–54.

  • Weinberg RA : One Renegade Cell – How Cancer Begins. Basic Books: New York, NY, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to G Gill for her valuable comments on the manuscript. The work on genomic instability in our laboratory is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (KM).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 02115-5727, MA, USA

    Kirsten M Edwards & Karl Münger

Authors
  1. Kirsten M Edwards
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Karl Münger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karl Münger.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Edwards, K., Münger, K. Make WARTS, not cancer!. Oncogene 23, 5263–5265 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1207686

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1207686

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links