Proto-oncogene

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A gene, promoting the specialization and division of normal cells, that could become an oncogene due to mutation.

    "Typically, proto-oncogenes are normal cellular genes that, when activated by mutation or overexpression, promote cancer."

  2. 2
    a normal gene that has the potential to become an oncogene wordnet

Example

More examples

"Typically, proto-oncogenes are normal cellular genes that, when activated by mutation or overexpression, promote cancer."

Etymology

From proto- + oncogene.

Related phrases

proto-oncogenic

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.