+

Breast Cancer cell

Prostate Cancer Cells

Lung Cancer Cells

Kidney Cancer Cells

Colon Cancer cells

Cancer
SH1 H2 Biology
E-lecture (June Holidays 2014)

+1. Introduction:
How uncontrolled cell division results in
Cancer starts when a cell escapes the mechanisms that
cancer
normally regulate the cell cycle. It begins to divide in
an uncontrolled way.

Benign
tumour

Malignant
tumour

+Metastasis of a primary malignant

tumour
(Primary
malignant
tumour)

Carried via blood / lymphatic

system to distant sites where
they lodge and divide forming
secondary tumours

+Basic characteristics of cancer cells

Pg 3

Do not stop dividing, virtually immortal until the body in which they reside dies.
Independence from surrounding normal tissues, not responsive to signals.
Undifferentiated (unable to carrry out any specialised function)
Unresponsive to usual cell cycle controls.
Cancer is a genetic disorder of somatic tissue, involves mutations of genes
encoding proteins that regulate cell cycle.

2. The (normal) cell cycle

Pg 4

Cell cycle:

G1 (1st Growth) phase

S (Synthesis) phase

G2 (2nd Growth) phase

Mitosis

Cytokinesis

Regulated

at certain
critical times in cell cycle
called: Checkpoints
Regulated

by 2 groups of

proteins:

Cyclins

Cyclin dependent
kinases (Cdks)

2.
1
+

Second
growth
phase

Mitosis

Pg 5

Cytokinesis
Primary
(1st)
growth
phase

THE CELL CYCLE

DNA
replication

Go

2.
2
+

Mitosis

Second
growth
phase
Have all the
genes
been replicated?

(Metaphase
checkpoint)

Are all the

chromosomes
aligned properly
at metaphase
plate?

Cytokinesis

THE CELL CYCLE

DNA
replication

Are mitogens present?

(mitogens: signal
molecules, usually
proteins that
stimulate cell
division)
Is the cell size big
enough?

Primary
(1st)
growth
phase

Go

Criteria to
enter S phase:
1.Is envt
favourable?
2.Are mitogens
present?
3.Have you
grown big
enough?

Metaphase
checkpoint
Defective
spindle assembly

Metaphase

(unattached kinetochores)

Cell cycle is arrested at metaphase

Cell division

Possible result if mitosis

was not stopped
Missing
chromosome

Extra
chromosome

cyclin control system

+2.3 The cell cycles
(Cyclin concentration fluctuates
cyclically)
There are several types of cyclins.

attached to a cyclin

Pg 8

Substrate becomes
active / inactive

not phosphorylated
not bound to its
inhibitor

Adds phosphate
group to its
substrate

ACTIVE
Cdk
(Cdks are present at a constant concentration, but inactive most of

+2.3 The cell cycles

cyclin control system

(eg. MPF complex of mitotic cyclin + Cdk,

MPF level increases during interphase and
peaks at metaphase of mitosis)

Pg 9

As the cell cycle

passes through the
G1 and G2
checkpoints, Cdk
becomes
associated with
different cyclins
and, as a result,
activates different
cellular activities.

At the completion
of each phase, the
specific cyclins are
degraded, bringing
Cdk activity to a
halt until the next
set of cyclins

+
3. Characteristics of Cancer
Cells
1.

Loss of cell cycle control

2.

Lack contact inhibition

3.

Loss of cell death

4.

Immortality due to activated telomerase gene activity

5.

Less differentiated and less adherent

6.

Ability to induce local blood vessel formation

(Angiogenesis)

7.

Ability to metastasize

8.

Exhibit genomic instability

Pg 11

+
3. Characteristics of Cancer
1. Loss of cell cycle control
Cells

4.

Immortality due to activated telomerase gene

activity (similar to stem cells, but not present
in normal somatic cells)

+
3. Characteristics of Cancer
5. Less differentiated and less adherent
Cells
(Differentiated cells are cells that are specialised to serve a
certain function, eg. skin cells, liver cells etc. They are
specialised because they express a certain set of proteins
required for their specialised function)
6.

Ability to induce local blood vessel formation

(Angiogenesis)

7.

Ability to metastasize

+Animation:
Growth of a tumour

Click on the
picture to visit
the site to watch
the video!