A tumour-suppressor gene is a gene that takes part in negative regulation of the cell cycle.
- They inhibit cell division and activate apoptosis.
- Loss of function mutations of tumour suppressor genes can lead to tumour formation.
Examples of tumour suppressor genes are:
- Retinoblastoma protein(Rb)
- Anaphase Promoting Complex(APC)
- BRCA1
- BRCA2
- p53
- p27
The loss of function mutation here is a recessive one (details on recessive loss of function mutations are discussed in the Mutations and Repair: Types of Mutations course)
Caretaker genes vs Gatekeeper genes
Tumour suppressor genes can be Caretaker