Tumor microvesicles reveal detailed genetic information
Thursday, February 10, 2011 - 20:41
in Biology & Nature
The Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team that first discovered tumor-associated RNA in tiny membrane-enclosed sacs released into the bloodstream by cancer cells has now found that these microvesicles also contain segments of tumor DNA, including retrotransposons – also called "jumping genes" – that copy and insert themselves into other areas of the genome. The investigators' report, which has been published in Nature Communications, is the first to show that microvesicles are involved in transferring retrotransposons between cells.