Aging and cancer cell biology, 2007

This Hot Topics review, the second in a new Aging Cell series, discusses articles published in the last year that have stimulated new ideas about the tangled relationship of aging to cancer cell biology. The year's highlights include reports on the ability of Mdm2 mutations to diminish risks of cancer in aging mice, on proliferative competition between oncogenic cells and bone marrow stem cells, and on the role of metalloproteinases in overcoming age‐associated barriers to tumor invasion. Of particular interest were three articles showing that diminished activity of the tumor‐suppressor gene p16/INK4a, while increasing the risk of cancer mortality, can lead to improved function in several varieties of age‐sensitive stem cells.

[1]  M. Reed,et al.  The effects of aging on tumor growth and angiogenesis are tumor‐cell dependent , 2007, International journal of cancer.

[2]  K. Ligon,et al.  p16INK4a induces an age-dependent decline in islet regenerative potential , 2006, Nature.

[3]  R. DePinho,et al.  Stem-cell ageing modified by the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p16INK4a , 2006, Nature.

[4]  S. Morrison,et al.  Increasing p16INK4a expression decreases forebrain progenitors and neurogenesis during ageing , 2006, Nature.

[5]  R. Eisenman,et al.  Tumor suppression and normal aging in mice with constitutively high p53 activity. , 2006, Genes & development.

[6]  R. Cardiff,et al.  Impaired DNA Replication within Progenitor Cell Pools Promotes Leukemogenesis , 2005, PLoS biology.

[7]  P. Klatt,et al.  Increased gene dosage of Ink4a/Arf results in cancer resistance and normal aging. , 2004, Genes & development.

[8]  M. Reed,et al.  Impaired angiogenesis in the aged. , 2004, Science of Aging Knowledge Environment.

[9]  K. Mohammad,et al.  Modulation of mammalian life span by the short isoform of p53. , 2004, Genes & development.

[10]  P. Klatt,et al.  'Super p53' mice exhibit enhanced DNA damage response, are tumor resistant and age normally , 2002, The EMBO journal.

[11]  Stephen N. Jones,et al.  p53 mutant mice that display early ageing-associated phenotypes , 2002, Nature.

[12]  D. Hanahan,et al.  The Hallmarks of Cancer , 2000, Cell.

[13]  D. Golde.  The stem cell. , 1991, Scientific American.