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Free keywords:
Aneuploidy; Cancer; Chromosomal
Instability; Transcription; Trisomy
Abstract:
Unbalanced chromosome content, so-called aneuploidy, is a hallmark of
cancer cells. Changes in the copy numbers of chromosomes or large chro-
mosomal regions significantly alter the expression of several hundreds of
genes that are gained or lost. At the same time, aneuploidy
per se
affects
the transcription of many genes throughout the entire genome, as several
pathways are activated or inhibited in response to changes in chromosome
copy number. In recent years, a large amount of quantitative genome, tran-
scriptome and proteome data has enabled comparison of the changes in
gene expression observed in aneuploid cancer cells, as well as in model ane-
uploid cells with defined karyotypes. Here, we summarize how aneuploidy
shapes gene expression and how it may contribute to the phenotypes of
cancer cells.
