Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31447882›Full record

ReviewFrontiers in genetics2019

The Mutator Phenotype: Adapting Microbial Evolution to Cancer Biology.

Federica Natali, Giulia Rancati

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Frontiers in genetics, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Assessment of the Type and Degree of Genomic Instability in Gliomas.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Antitumor Drugs and Their Targets.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Federica NataliInstitute of Medical Biology (IMB), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR), Singapore, Singapore.
Giulia RancatiInstitute of Medical Biology (IMB), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR), Singapore, Singapore.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The mutator phenotype hypothesis was postulated almost 40 years ago to reconcile the observation that while cancer cells display widespread mutational burden, acquisition of mutations in non-transformed cells is a rare event. Moreover, it also suggested that cancer evolution could be fostered by increased genome instability. Given the evolutionary conservation throughout the tree of life and the genetic tractability of model organisms, yeast and bacterial species pioneered studies to dissect the functions of genes required for genome maintenance (caretaker genes) or for cell growth control (gatekeeper genes). In this review, we first provide an overview of what we learned from model organisms about the roles of these genes and the genome instability that arises as a consequence of their dysregulation. We then discuss our current understanding of how mutator phenotypes shape the evolution of bacteria and yeast species. We end by bringing clinical evidence that lessons learned from single-cell organisms can be applied to tumor evolution.

Indexed as

adaptationasexually reproducing organismscell-to-cell heterogeneitymutator phenotypeselective pressure

Identifiers

PMID31447882
PMCPMC6691094

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.