Transposon-triggered innate immune response confers cancer resistance to the blind mole rat.
Nat Immunol
; 22(10): 1219-1230, 2021 10.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34556881
ABSTRACT
Blind mole rats (BMRs) are small rodents, characterized by an exceptionally long lifespan (>21 years) and resistance to both spontaneous and induced tumorigenesis. Here we report that cancer resistance in the BMR is mediated by retrotransposable elements (RTEs). Cells and tissues of BMRs express very low levels of DNA methyltransferase 1. Following cell hyperplasia, the BMR genome DNA loses methylation, resulting in the activation of RTEs. Upregulated RTEs form cytoplasmic RNA-DNA hybrids, which activate the cGAS-STING pathway to induce cell death. Although this mechanism is enhanced in the BMR, we show that it functions in mice and humans. We propose that RTEs were co-opted to serve as tumor suppressors that monitor cell proliferation and are activated in premalignant cells to trigger cell death via activation of the innate immune response. Activation of RTEs is a double-edged sword, serving as a tumor suppressor but contributing to aging in late life via the induction of sterile inflammation.
Texto completo:
1
Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Elementos Transponibles de ADN
/
Ratas Topo
/
Inmunidad Innata
/
Neoplasias
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
Límite:
Animals
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Nat Immunol
Asunto de la revista:
ALERGIA E IMUNOLOGIA
Año:
2021
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos