[Tarantulas]

This article sounded like something from The Onion or an April Fool's Day joke. The names just didn't ring true:

Dr. Carlos Cardon-Cardo

Dr. Pier Paolo Pandolfi

Pokemon

So I went looking for the actual article, and found it. Here's the "abstract" of the article:

Role of the proto-oncogene Pokemon in cellular transformation and ARF repression

TAKAHIRO MAEDA1,2, ROBIN M. HOBBS1,2, TAHA MERGHOUB1,2, ILHEM GUERNAH1,2, ARTHUR ZELENT3, CARLOS CORDON-CARDO2, JULIE TERUYA-FELDSTEIN2 & PIER PAOLO PANDOLFI1,2

1 Cancer Biology and Genetics Program,
2 Department of Pathology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Sloan-Kettering Institute, 1275 York Avenue, New York, New York 10021, USA
3 Leukemia Research Fund Center at the Institute of Cancer Research, Chester Beatty Laboratories, Fulham Road, London SW3 6JB, UK

Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to P.P.P. (p-pandolfi@ski.mskcc.org).

Aberrant transcriptional repression through chromatin remodelling and histone deacetylation has been postulated to represent a driving force underlying tumorigenesis because histone deacetylase inhibitors have been found to be effective in cancer treatment. However, the molecular mechanisms by which transcriptional derepression would be linked to tumour suppression are poorly understood. Here we identify the transcriptional repressor Pokemon (encoded by the Zbtb7 gene) as a critical factor in oncogenesis. Mouse embryonic fibroblasts lacking Zbtb7 are completely refractory to oncogene-mediated cellular transformation. Conversely, Pokemon overexpression leads to overt oncogenic transformation both in vitro and in vivo in transgenic mice. Pokemon can specifically repress the transcription of the tumour suppressor gene ARF through direct binding. We find that Pokemon is aberrantly overexpressed in human cancers and that its expression levels predict biological behaviour and clinical outcome. Pokemon's critical role in cellular transformation makes it an attractive target for therapeutic intervention.

Link (just click on "Cancel" when it tries to load the "PAF" files)

I'm still not sure if it's a hoax or not!

[nicmarlo]

Tarantulas, very astute of you to catch those "odd" names. I googled and found that one of the "funniest" ones, Dr. Pier Paolo Pandolfi, apparently is for real. You can see some info here:


Molecular & Developmental Biology
http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/10345.cfm

[nicmarlo]

And here's another article, from Dr. Koop site:


http://www.drkoop.com/newsdetail/93/523500.html

....Now, scientists say they've identified a kind of "kingpin" gene that rules this gang of delinquent DNA.

"It's the 'leader of the pack,' and in that sense, it's a very effective target for therapy," said senior study author Dr. Pier Paolo Pandolfi, a pathologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City....