Definition

1. Noun:
   • A tumor suppressor gene is a type of gene that regulates cell growth and division. Its normal function is to slow down cell division, repair mistakes in a cell's DNA, or tell cells when to die (a process called apoptosis). When this gene is mutated or inactivated, it can fail to suppress uncontrolled cell growth, which may lead to the development of cancer.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Mutations in the tumor suppressor gene p53 are found in many types of human cancers.
  • The primary function of a tumor suppressor gene is to act as a "brake" on the cell cycle.
  • Researchers are studying how to reactivate a damaged tumor suppressor gene as a potential therapy.

Advanced Usage

• "Loss of heterozygosity": A genetic event where one functional copy of a tumor suppressor gene is lost, often a critical step in cancer development when the first copy was already inherited or acquired with a mutation.
  • The cancer cells showed loss of heterozygosity at the location of the key tumor suppressor gene.

Variants and Related Words

• Suppressor gene (n): A more general term for a gene that suppresses the expression of another gene or a cellular process. A tumor suppressor gene is a specific type of suppressor gene.
• Oncogene (n): A gene that has the potential to cause cancer when mutated or overexpressed. Oncogenes promote cell growth, while tumor suppressor genes inhibit it; they are two major classes of cancer-related genes.

Synonyms

• Anti-oncogene: A direct synonym for tumor suppressor gene, emphasizing its role in counteracting the effects of oncogenes.

Related Concepts (Not Phrasal Verbs/Idioms)

• "Two-hit hypothesis": A theory explaining that both copies (alleles) of a tumor suppressor gene must be inactivated for a cell to lose growth control, often requiring two separate mutational "hits."
  • According to the two-hit hypothesis, inheriting one mutated copy of a tumor suppressor gene predisposes an individual to cancer.

Noun

1. a suppressor gene that blocks unscheduled cell division