While most often associated with lung cancer, mutations in the receptor for an “epidermal” protein of this class are also linked to glioblastoma. For 10 points each:
[10m] Name these signaling proteins. Bevacizumab is the prototypic drug in a class of drugs designed to inhibit the action of one of these proteins that stimulates both normal and cancer-related angiogenesis.
ANSWER: growth factors [accept epidermal growth factor; accept vascular endothelial growth factor; prompt on EGF or VEGF by asking “what does that stand for?”]
[10h] Three answers required. Most breast cancers contain mutations that overexpress or amplify at least one of these three proteins, but “triple negative” ones do not, making them resistant to both trastuzumab and tamoxifen.
ANSWER: PR AND ER AND Her2/neu [accept answers in any order; accept progesterone receptor in place of “PR”; accept estrogen receptor in place of “ER”; accept ERBB2, NEU, CD340, c-ERB2; or erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2 in place of “Her2/neu”]
[10e] The most frequently mutated protein in human cancers is this “guardian of the genome.” This protein arrests the cell cycle at the G1/S transition if DNA damage is detected.
ANSWER: p53 [or tumor protein p53]
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