| Literature DB >> 25860608 |
Michael J Metzger1, Carol Reinisch2, James Sherry2, Stephen P Goff3.
Abstract
Outbreaks of fatal leukemia-like cancers of marine bivalves throughout the world have led to massive population loss. The cause of the disease is unknown. We recently identified a retrotransposon, Steamer, that is highly expressed and amplified to high copy number in neoplastic cells of soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria). Through analysis of Steamer integration sites, mitochondrial DNA single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and polymorphic microsatellite alleles, we show that the genotypes of neoplastic cells do not match those of the host animal. Instead, neoplastic cells from dispersed locations in New York, Maine, and Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, all have nearly identical genotypes that differ from those of the host. These results indicate that the cancer is spreading between animals in the marine environment as a clonal transmissible cell derived from a single original clam. Our findings suggest that horizontal transmission of cancer cells is more widespread in nature than previously supposed.Entities:
Mesh：
Substances：
Year: 2015 PMID： 25860608 PMCID： PMC4393529 DOI： 10.1016/j.cell.2015.02.042
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Cell ISSN： 0092-8674 Impact factor: 41.582