{
  "id": 3021164,
  "title": "Oncogenes have the most distinct codon biases in the genome and codon signatures that oppose tumor suppressor genes",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/oncogenes-have-the-most-distinct-codon-biases-in-the-genome-and-codon",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-24T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.21.746283v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes operate on opposing sides in cancer development, promoting growth while restricting it. Differences in the usage of codons, the building blocks of genes, have been linked to the regulation of these genes, potentially driving cancer progression and drug resistance. Researchers analyzed the codon usage bias in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) from humans and mice to compare their patterns. They found that human oncogenes display a unique and contrasting codon usage pattern compared to TSGs, a pattern also present in mice but with a weaker effect in the latter. This finding highlights that human oncogenes have the most distinct codon usage patterns in the genome. The analysis revealed two types of extreme codon biases in human oncogenes: a larger group (43 genes) using more GC3 codons (ending with G or C) and a smaller group (12 genes) using more AU3 codons (ending with A or U). GC3 bias has been associated with increased translation, while the AU3 bias suggests that certain genetic, environmental, or stress-related signals might influence the translation of this smaller group of oncogenes. The less pronounced bias in mouse oncogenes and tumor suppressors indicates species-specific differences in the translation programs controlling these genes. The study emphasizes that codon usage bias could be a key factor determining oncogene expression, establishes a method for ontology-based codon analysis, and uncovers species-specific variations in oncogene translation and codon usage biases.",
  "summary": "Oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes play opposing roles in cancer biology to promote and restrict growth, respectively. Codon usage patterns interface with tRNA modifications to control translation, leading to gene-specific codon signatures with regulatory potential. As such, codon-biased translational regulation has been identified as a driver of proliferation and drug resistance in multiple…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}