Direct in Vivo RNAi Screen Unveils Myosin IIa as a Tumor Suppressor of Squamous Cell Carcinomas

Abstract

Identifying Drivers and Passengers Modern genomics is unearthing hundreds of genetic and epigenetic alterations associated with human cancers. It is important to delineate which of these alterations participate actively in tumor progression and/or metastases (driver mutations) and which are inconsequential (passenger mutations). To this end, Schramek et al. (p. 309 ) conducted an in vivo RNA interference screen in mice to test simultaneously the functionality of putative cancer genes and down-regulated messenger RNAs associated with tumor-initiating cells of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). Several candidates, including nonmuscle myosin-IIa, not previously viewed as tumor suppressors were uncovered.