Abstract 176: The Evolution of NANOGP8 and its possible roles in tumorigenesis

Abstract Human NANOG gene is located in Chromosome 12p13. It is a transcription factor in embryonic stem cells. There are 11 NANOG pseudogenes in human genome. NANOGP1 is an unprocessed pseudogene that arose through duplication of the chromosomal region containing NANOG before the human-chimpanzee (H/C) divergence and before insertion of the Alu element into the NANOG gene. NANOGP1 remained functional after duplication. NANOGP2 to NANOGP11 are ten processed pseudogenes in the human genome. NANOGP8 is theoretically unique since it has a complete open reading frame and an Alu element in the 3'-UTR which is homologous to that of Nanog. However, the human NANOGP8 is absent from the chimpanzee genome. Genome DNA sequence analysis revealed that NANOGP8 is the most recent of the NANOG pseudogenes and was inserted into chromosome 15 after the H/C divergence. Its transcription factor binding sites in SVA LTR may promote expression of NANOGP8 in cancer cells. This may be the partial reason of the higher genetic predisposition for cancer in humans compared with other primates. Citation Format: Yande Guo. The Evolution of NANOGP8 and its possible roles in tumorigenesis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 176.