Candidate Tumor Suppressor Gene (candidate + tumor_suppressor_gene)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Molecular analyses of the candidate tumor suppressor gene, PLAGL1, in benign and malignant salivary gland tumors

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ORAL SCIENCES, Issue 6 2004
Fredrik Enlund
Deletions affecting the long arm of chromosome 6 are a characteristic feature of all major subtypes of malignant salivary gland tumors. Moreover, a subgroup of adenoid cystic carcinomas have t(6;9)(q23-25;p21-24) translocations with breakpoints located within the commonly deleted region. Here we have examined the possible involvement of the candidate tumor suppressor gene, PLAGL1, in these deletions and translocations. Northern blot and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses of a series of 27 salivary gland tumors revealed no significant changes in the gene expression or rearrangements of PLAGL1. FISH analysis also demonstrated that the 6q translocation breakpoint in adenoid cystic carcinomas with t(6;9) is proximal to the PLAGL1 locus. Collectively, these results indicate that PLAGL1 is not likely to be the major target gene of the 6q rearrangements in salivary gland tumors. [source]


Human BLCAP transcript: new editing events in normal and cancerous tissues

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 1 2010
Federica Galeano
Abstract Bladder cancer-associated protein (BLCAP) is a highly conserved protein among species, and it is considered a novel candidate tumor suppressor gene originally identified from human bladder carcinoma. However, little is known about the regulation or the function of this protein. Here, we show that the human BLCAP transcript undergoes multiple A-to-I editing events. Some of the new editing events alter the highly conserved amino terminus of the protein creating alternative protein isoforms by changing the genetically coded amino acids. We found that both ADAR1 and ADAR2-editing enzymes cooperate to edit this transcript and that different tissues displayed distinctive ratios of edited and unedited BLCAP transcripts. Moreover, we observed a general decrease in BLCAP -editing level in astrocytomas, bladder cancer and colorectal cancer when compared with the related normal tissues. The newly identified editing events, found to be downregulated in cancers, could be useful for future studies as a diagnostic tool to distinguish malignancies or epigenetic changes in different tumors. [source]


Frequent decreased expression of candidate tumor suppressor gene, DEC1, and its anchorage-independent growth properties and impact on global gene expression in esophageal carcinoma

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 3 2008
Alfred Chi Chung Leung
Abstract Previous studies showed that expression of the novel candidate tumor suppressor gene, DEC1 (Deleted in Esophageal Cancer 1), is reduced in esophageal carcinoma and suppresses cancer cell growth in vitro and tumor growth in vivo in nude mice. This study shows that DEC1 gene expression was downregulated in 100% of 16 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cell lines and 52 and 45%, respectively, of esophageal tumor specimens from Hong Kong and a high-risk ESCC region of Henan, China. Using epitope tagging, the DEC1 protein was localized to both the cytoplasm and nucleus of the cell. In 3D Matrigel culture, no significant difference in colony numbers formed was observed for DEC1 stable transfectants, as compared to vector-alone transfectant controls. However, significantly smaller colony sizes were observed for the DEC1 transfectants. In in vitro cell migration, invasion and soft agar assays of DEC1 transfectants, only the soft agar assay showed statistically significant differences in colony numbers with the vector-alone controls, indicating that DEC1 may be involved in anchorage-independent cell growth. In addition, the global gene expression affected by DEC1 in tumor-suppressive stable transfectants was investigated using cDNA oligonucleotide microarray hybridization. Three candidate genes, TFPI-2, GDF15 and DUSP6, were identified through this approach; they are downregulated in tumor segregants of DEC1 stable transfectants, ESCC cell lines and esophageal tumors and have a potential role in tumor growth and progression. These studies show that DEC1 is involved in esophageal cancer development and help elucidate its functional role in tumor development. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


EMP3 overexpression is associated with oligodendroglial tumors retaining chromosome arms 1p and 19q

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 4 2007
Kay Ka Wai Li
Abstract The epithelial membrane protein 3 (EMP3) gene located on chromosome 19q13 has been implicated as a candidate tumor suppressor gene (TSG) in neuroblastomas and gliomas. The aim of this study was to investigate whether EMP3 is involved in oligodendroglial tumors (OTs), which frequently carry combined chromosomes 1p and 19q deletion. We first investigated the transcript level of EMP3 in a cohort of 57 OTs by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Our results showed that 10 (18%) tumors had reduced EMP3 expression level compared to normal brains. Six of these tumors carried chromosome 19q13 deletion but no statistical correlation was found between the 2 parameters. Intriguingly, a similar proportion (11 of 57, 19%) of tumors displayed EMP3 overexpression, with 8 of them having transcript level >10-fold higher than normal brain. All 11 OTs retained chromosomes 1p36 and 19q13, and a significant association was found between EMP3 overexpression and balanced chromosomes 1p36 and 19q13 (p = 0.004). The methylation status of EMP3 was evaluated by bisulfite sequencing in 29 OTs with diverse expression levels. All tumors except 3 showed aberrant methylation of EMP3 and no correlation was observed between transcript level and methylation status, suggesting that methylation alone does not mediate transcriptional down-regulation of EMP3 in OTs. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that EMP3 overexpression is involved in OTs retaining chromosomes 1p and 19q and does not support EMP3 as the target TSG on chromosome 19q13 in OTs. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Inactivation of RASSF2A by promoter methylation correlates with lymph node metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 1 2007
Zhe Zhang
Abstract RASSF2 can bind directly to K-Ras and function as a negative effector of Ras protein. RASSF2A is the only isoform of RASSF2 that contains CpG islands in its promoter and it has been reported to be inactivated by its promoter methylation in several human cancers. In the present study, we investigated the correlation of RASSF2A expression with its promoter methylation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Expression of RASSF2A was down-regulated in 80% (4/5) of NPC cell lines. Decreased RASSF2A expression was also observed in NPC primary tumors compared with normal nasopharyngeal epithelia. Promoter methylation of RASSF2A could be detected in all the RASSF2A -silenced cell lines (4/5) of the NPC cell lines and 50.9% (27/53) of primary tumors, but not in any of the normal epithelia. RASSF2A -methylated cases showed a significantly lower level of RASSF2A expression than unmethylated cases. Loss of RASSF2A expression can be greatly restored by the methyltransferase inhibitor 5-aza-dC in NPC cell lines. In addition, patients with methylated RASSF2A presented a higher frequency of lymph node metastasis (p < 0.05). Ectopic expression of RASSF2A in RASSF2A -silenced and -methylated NPC cell line CNE2 shows that RASSF2A could inhibit cell cycle progression, colony formation and cell migration, which provided further evidence that RASSF2A is a candidate tumor suppressor gene. In conclusion, RASSF2A, a candidate tumor suppressor gene (TSG), is frequently inactivated by its promoter methylation and this aberrant methylation correlates with lymph node metastasis in NPC. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Molecular basis of therapeutic approaches to gastric cancer

JOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY, Issue 1 2009
Kaichun Wu
Abstract Gastric cancer is the top lethal cancer in Asia. As the majority of cases present with advanced disease, conventional therapies (surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy) have limited efficacy to reduce mortality. Emerging modalities provide promise to combat this malignancy. Target-protein-based cancer therapy has become available in clinical practice. Numerous molecules have been shown potential to target specific pathways for tumor cell growth. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is overexpressed in and correlated with gastric cancer, and knockdown of COX-2 or administration of COX-2 inhibitors suppresses tumor formation in models of gastric cancer. Induction of apoptosis, reduction of angiogenesis, and blocking of potassium ion channels may present new mechanisms of COX-2 inhibition. Runt-related transcription factor 3 (RUNX3) is a candidate tumor suppressor gene whose deficiency is causally related to gastric cancer. RUNX3 is downregulated in metastatic gastric cancer. RUNX3 activation inhibits angiogenesis in xenograft tumors in nude mice. Tumor microenvironment modulation also provides a powerful tool to inhibit cancer development and progress; details of the potential roles of angiopoietins are discussed in this review. Osteopontin is a secreted protein involved in stress response, inflammation, wound healing, and immune response. Inhibition of osteopontin by RNA interfering technique suppressed tumorigenesis as well as angiogenesis in gastric cancer. Immunotherapy remains another important choice of adjuvant therapy for cancer. A tumor-specific antigen MG7-Ag has been identified with great potential for inducing immune response in gastric cancer. Using HLA-A-matched allogeneic gastric cancer cells to induce tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes appeared to be an alternative option of immunotherapy for gastric cancer. [source]


Characterization of the 3p12.3-pcen region associated with tumor suppression in a novel ovarian cancer cell line model genetically modified by chromosome 3 fragment transfer

MOLECULAR CARCINOGENESIS, Issue 12 2009
Neal A.L. Cody
Abstract The genetic analysis of nontumorigenic radiation hybrids generated by transfer of chromosome 3 fragments into the tumorigenic OV-90 ovarian cancer cell line identified the 3p12.3-pcen region as a candidate tumor suppressor gene (TSG) locus. In the present study, polymorphic microsatellite repeat analysis of the hybrids further defined the 3p12.3-pcen interval to a 16.1 Mb common region containing 12 known or hypothetical genes: 3ptel - ROBO2-ROBO1-GBE1-CADM2-VGLL3-CHMP2B-POU1F1-HTR1F-CGGBP1-ZNF654-C3orf38-EPHA3 -3pcen. Seven of these genes, ROBO1, GBE1, VGLL3, CHMP2B, CGGBP1, ZNF654, and C3orf38, exhibited gene expression in the hybrids, placing them as top TSG candidates for further analysis. The expression of all but one (VGLL3) of these genes was also detected in the parental OV-90 cell line. Mutations were not identified in a comparative sequence analysis of the predicted protein coding regions of these candidates in OV-90 and donor normal chromosome 3 contig. However, the nondeleterious sequence variants identified in the transcribed regions distinguished parent of origin alleles for ROBO1, VGLL3, CHMP2B, and CGGBP1 and cDNA sequencing of the hybrids revealed biallelic expression of these genes. Interestingly, underexpression of VGLL3 and ZNF654 were observed in malignant ovarian tumor samples as compared with primary cultures of normal ovarian surface epithelial cells or benign ovarian tumors, and this occurred regardless of allelic content of 3p12.3-pcen. The results taken together suggest that dysregulation of VGLL3 and/or ZNF654 expression may have affected pathways important in ovarian tumorigenesis which was offset by the transfer of chromosome 3 fragments in OV-90, a cell line hemizygous for 3p. Mol. Carcinog. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Loss of heterozygosity and transcriptome analyses of a 1.2 Mb candidate ovarian cancer tumor suppressor locus region at 17q25.1-q25.2

MOLECULAR CARCINOGENESIS, Issue 3 2005
Nadège Presneau
Abstract Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analysis was performed in epithelial ovarian cancers (EOC) to further characterize a previously identified candidate tumor suppressor gene (TSG) region encompassing D17S801 at chromosomal region 17q25.1. LOH of at least one informative marker was observed for 100 (71%) of 140 malignant EOC samples in an analysis of 6 polymorphic markers (cen - D17S1839 - D17S785 - D17S1817 - D17S801 - D17S751 - D17S722 - tel). The combined LOH analysis revealed a 453 kilobase (Kb) minimal region of deletion (MRD) bounded by D17S1817 and D17S751. Human and mouse genome assemblies were used to resolve marker inconsistencies in the D17S1839 - D17S722 interval and identify candidates. The region contains 32 known and strongly predicted genes, 9 of which overlap the MRD. The reference genomic sequences share nearly identical gene structures and the organization of the region is highly collinear. Although, the region does not show any large internal duplications, a 1.5 Kb inverted duplicated sequence of 87% nucleotide identity was observed in a 13 Kb region surrounding D17S801. Transcriptome analysis by Affymetrix GeneChip® and reverse transcription (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods of 3 well characterized EOC cell lines and primary cultures of normal ovarian surface epithelial (NOSE) cells was performed with 32 candidates spanning D17S1839 - D17S722 interval. RT-PCR analysis of 8 known or strongly predicted genes residing in the MRD in 10 EOC samples, that exhibited LOH of the MRD, identified FLJ22341 as a strong candidate TSG. The proximal repeat sequence of D17S801 occurs 8 Kb upstream of the putative promoter region of FLJ22341. RT-PCR analysis of the EOC samples and cell lines identified DKFZP434P0316 that maps proximal to the MRD, as a candidate. While Affymetrix technology was useful for initially eliminating less promising candidates, subsequent RT-PCR analysis of well-characterized EOC samples was essential to prioritize TSG candidates for further study. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Ing4 induces Cell Growth Inhibition in Human Lung Adenocarcinoma A549 Cells by Means of Wnt-1/,-Catenin Signaling Pathway

THE ANATOMICAL RECORD : ADVANCES IN INTEGRATIVE ANATOMY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2008
Xiaomei Li
Abstract ING4, as a novel candidate tumor suppressor gene, has been implicated in several human malignances by tumor growth inhibition and apoptosis enhancement. The mechanism of ING4 remains largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the inhibitory tumor growth effects of ING4 on lung adenocarcinoma, and its mechanism, by ING4 cDNA transduction into A549 cells. Furthermore, the expression level of ING4 in lung adenocarcinoma tissues was examined. The expression of ING4 was markedly reduced in human lung adenocarcinoma tissues. Overexpression of ING4 can induce growth inhibition in A549 cells both in vitro and in vivo, and also induce up-regulation of p27, down-regulation of cyclinD1, SKP2, and Cox2, and inactivation of the Wnt-1/,-catenin pathway. Moreover, overexpression of ING4 can enhance the sensitivity of A549 cells to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Thus, ING4 may play an inhibitory role on A549 cell proliferation and tumor growth in lung adenocarcinoma by up-regulation or down-regulation of cell proliferation-regulating proteins such as p27, cyclinD1, SKP2, and Cox2 by means of inactivation of Wnt-1/,-catenin signaling. Anat Rec, 291:593,600, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Restoration of RUNX3 enhances transforming growth factor-,-dependent p21 expression in a biliary tract cancer cell line

CANCER SCIENCE, Issue 6 2007
Kazunori Hasegawa
RUNX3 is a candidate tumor suppressor gene localized in 1p36, a region commonly inactivated by deletion and methylation in various human tumors. To elucidate the role of RUNX3 in transforming growth factor (TGF)-, signaling in biliary tract cancer, we transfected Mz-ChA-2 cells, which do not express RUNX3 but have intact TGF-, type II receptor and SMAD4 genes, with the RUNX3 expression plasmid pcDNA3.1/RUNX3 or with the vector pcDNA3.1 as a control. Four Mz-ChA-2/RUNX3 clones and one control clone were obtained. Although TGF-,1 only slightly inhibited growth of the control cells, growth inhibition and TGF-,-dependent G1 arrest were significantly enhanced in the RUNX3 -transfected clones. None of the clones, however, exhibited apoptosis. The slightly increased TGF-,1-induced p21 expression in the control clone was strongly enhanced in the RUNX3 -transfected clones, and was accompanied by augmented decreases in the expression of cyclins D1 and E. When RUNX3 small interfering RNA was added, TGF-,-dependent induction of p21 was reduced in the RUNX3 -transfected clones. Xenografts of the clones in nude mice demonstrated that tumorigenicity was significantly decreased in the RUNX3 -transfected clones in inverse proportion to the expression levels of RUNX3. Based on these results, RUNX3 is involved in TGF-,-induced expression of p21 and the resulting induction of TGF-,-dependent G1 arrest. (Cancer Sci 2007; 98: 838,843) [source]


Two candidate tumor suppressor genes, MEOX2 and SOSTDC1, identified in a 7p21 homozygous deletion region in a Wilms tumor

GENES, CHROMOSOMES AND CANCER, Issue 12 2009
Junjiro Ohshima
A SNP-based array analysis of 100 Wilms tumors (WT) from 97 patients identified 7p alterations (hemizygous and homozygous deletions and uniparental disomy) in nine tumors. The homozygous deletion (HD) region of 7p21 found in one tumor partially overlapped with another HD region reported previously, and was narrowed down to a 2.1-Mb region. Based on an expression analysis of 10 genes located in the HD region in 3 WT lines and previous studies on tumorigenic roles of MEOX2 and SOSTDC1, we further analyzed these two genes. Sequencing showed no mutation in MEOX2, but two missense mutations (L50F and Q129L) in SOSTDC1 in four tumors; L50F in two tumors was of germline origin. Expression levels (0, 1+ and 2+) of MEOX2 were lower in four tumors with 7p alterations than in 18 tumors with no 7p alterations (P = 0.017), and those of SOSTDC1 tended to be lower in five tumors with 7p alterations or SOSTDC1 mutation than in 17 tumors with no 7p alterations or SOSTDC1 mutation (P = 0.056). There were no significant differences in clinical characteristics between nine patients with 7p alterations and 88 patients with no 7p alterations; however, there was a difference in the status of IGF2 (uniparental disomy, loss of imprinting, or retention of imprinting) between the two patient groups (P = 0.028). Losses of MEOX2 and SOSTDC1 may accelerate angiogenesis and augment signals in the Wnt pathway, respectively. Both genes may be prime candidates for 7p tumor suppressor genes, which may have a role in the progression of Wilms tumorigenesis. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Identification of candidate tumor suppressor genes inactivated by promoter methylation in melanoma

GENES, CHROMOSOMES AND CANCER, Issue 1 2009
Vanessa F. Bonazzi
Tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) are sometimes inactivated by transcriptional silencing through promoter hypermethylation. To identify novel methylated TSGs in melanoma, we carried out global mRNA expression profiling on a panel of 12 melanoma cell lines treated with a combination of 5-Aza-2-deoxycytidine (5AzadC) and an inhibitor of histone deacetylase, Trichostatin A. Reactivation of gene expression after drug treatment was assessed using Illumina whole-genome microarrays. After qRT-PCR confirmation, we followed up 8 genes (AKAP12, ARHGEF16, ARHGAP27, ENC1, PPP1R3C, PPP1R14C, RARRES1, and TP53INP1) by quantitative DNA methylation analysis using mass spectrometry of base-specific cleaved amplification products in panels of melanoma cell lines and fresh tumors. PPP1R3C, ENC1, RARRES1, and TP53INP1, showed reduced mRNA expression in 35,59% of the melanoma cell lines compared to melanocytes and which was correlated with a high proportion of promoter methylation (>40,60%). The same genes also showed extensive promoter methylation in 6,25% of the tumor samples, thus confirming them as novel candidate TSGs in melanoma. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Quantitative microsatellite analysis to delineate the commonly deleted region 1p22.3 in mantle cell lymphomas

GENES, CHROMOSOMES AND CANCER, Issue 10 2006
Asha Balakrishnan
The molecular pathogenesis of mantle cell lymphomas (MCL), a subset of B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas with a poor prognosis, is still poorly understood. In addition to the characteristic primary genetic alteration t(11;14)(q13;q32), several further genetic changes are present in most cases. One of the most frequent genomic imbalances is the deletion of 1p22.1,p31.1 observed in nearly one-third of MCL cases. This might indicate the presence of tumor suppressor gene(s) in this critical region of deletion. Quantitative microsatellite analysis (QuMA) is a real-time PCR-based method to detect DNA copy number changes. Since QuMA has the resolving power to detect subtle genomic alterations, including homozygous deletions, this may help to identify candidate tumor suppressor genes from deleted regions. To gain more insight into the molecular pathogenesis of MCL, QuMA was performed on genomic DNA from 57 MCL cases. Eight microsatellite loci mapping to the chromosomal region 1p22.3 were analyzed. Losses were observed in 51 of the 57 (,89.5%) samples. Two cases showed a homozygous deletion at the locus containing the gene SH3GLB1, which plays a key role in Bax-mediated apoptosis. Two hotspots with copy number losses were detected at chromosomal localizations 85.4 and 86.6 Mb encompassing BCL10 and CLCA2. Both the genes seem to be attractive candidates to study tumor suppressor function in MCL. This article contains Supplementary material available at http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/1045,2257/suppmat. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Alterations of 3p21.31 tumor suppressor genes in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: Correlation with progression and prognosis

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 11 2008
Susmita Ghosh
Abstract The aim of our study was to analyze the alterations of some candidate tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) viz. LIMD1, LTF, CDC25A, SCOTIN, RASSF1A and CACNA2D2 located in the chromosomal region 3p21.31 associated with the development of early dysplastic lesions of head and neck. In analysis of 72 dysplastic lesions and 116 squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck, both deletion and promoter methylation have been seen in these genes except for CDC25A and SCOTIN where no methylation has been detected. The alteration of LIMD1 was highest (50%) in the mild dysplastic lesions and did not change significantly during progression of tumor indicating its association with this stage of the disease. It was evident that alterations of LTF, CDC25A and CACNA2D2 were associated with development of moderate dysplastic lesions, while alterations in RASSF1A and CACNA2D2 were needed for progression. Novel somatic mutations were seen in exon 1 of LIMD1 (7%), intron 3/exon4 splice junction of LTF (2%) and exon 7 of cdc25A (10%). Quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed mean reduced expression of the genes in the following order: LTF (67.6 ± 16.8) > LIMD1 (53.2 ± 20.1) > CACNA2D2 (23.7 ± 7.1) > RASSF1A (15.1 ± 5.6) > CDC25A (5.3 ± 2.3) > SCOTIN (0.58 ± 0.54). Immunohistochemical analysis of CDC25A showed its localization both in cytoplasm and nucleus in primary lesions and oral cancer cell lines. In absence of HPV infection, LTF and RASSF1A alterations jointly have adverse impact on survival of tobacco addicted patients. Thus, our data suggested that multiple candidate TSGs in the chromosomal 3p21.31 region were differentially associated with the early dysplastic lesions of head and neck. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Silencing of the retinoid response gene TIG1 by promoter hypermethylation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma,

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 3 2005
Joseph Kwong
Abstract Tazarotene-induced gene 1 (TIG1) and Tazarotene-induced gene 3 (TIG3) are retinoid acid (RA) target genes as well as candidate tumor suppressor genes in human cancers. In our study, we have investigated the expression of TIG1 and TIG3 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Loss of TIG1 expression was found in 80% of NPC cell lines and 33% of xenografts, whereas TIG3 was expressed in all NPC samples and immortalized nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. In order to elucidate the epigenetic silencing of TIG1 in NPC, the methylation status of TIG1 promoter was examined by genomic bisulfite sequencing and methylation-specific PCR (MSP). We have detected dense methylation of TIG1 5,CpG island in the 5 TIG1 -negative NPC cell lines and xenograft (C666-1, CNE1, CNE2, HONE1 and X666). Partial methylation was observed in 1 NPC cell line HK1 showing dramatic decreased in TIG1 expression. Promoter methylation was absent in 2 TIG1 -expressed NPC xenografts and the normal epithelial cells. Restoration of TIG1 expression and unmethylated alleles were observed in NPC cell lines after 5-aza-2,-deoxycytidine treatment. Moreover, the methylated TIG1 sequence was detected in 39 of 43 (90.7%) primary NPC tumors by MSP. In conclusion, our results showed that TIG1 expression is lost in the majority of NPC cell lines and xenografts, while promoter hypermethylation is the major mechanism for TIG1 silencing. Furthermore, the frequent epigenetic inactivation of TIG1 in primary NPC tumors implied that it may play an important role in NPC tumorigenesis. [source]


The tumor suppressor NPRL2 in hepatocellular carcinoma plays an important role in progression and can be served as an independent prognostic factor

JOURNAL OF SURGICAL ONCOLOGY, Issue 5 2009
Satoshi Otani MD
Abstract Background/Aims Hepatocarcinogenesis is a multifactorial, multistep process that involves the activation of oncogenes or the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes throughout the different stages of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. NPRL2 is one of the candidate tumor suppressor genes identified on chromosome 3p21.3, a region which frequently contains genetic abnormalities found in the early stages of the development of various human cancers. In the current study, we aimed to evaluate NPRL2 expression in HCC and to explore the prognostic significance of NPRL2. Method We investigated NPRL2 mRNA expression in 70 HCC specimens, using quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis, and the correlation between NPRL2 expression and clinicopathologic parameters. Results NPRL2 mRNA was found to be expressed equally in both HCC tissues and corresponding non-cancerous liver tissues. However, higher NPRL2 expression correlated significantly with tumor size (P,=,0.0062) and serum PIVKA-II levels (P,=,0.0002). Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that higher NPRL2 mRNA expression was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (risk ratio 0.39; P,<,0.0001). Conclusion Our results suggest that NPRL2 mRNA expression has prognostic significance for the survival of patients with HCC. J. Surg. Oncol. 2009;100:358,363. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Expression of HYAL2 mRNA, hyaluronan and hyaluronidase in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma: Relationship with tumor aggressiveness

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 2 2005
Philippe Bertrand
Abstract Hyaluronidases and their substrate, hyaluronan (HA), were mainly explored in solid tumors but rarely in hematologic malignancies. While HA involvement was demonstrated in invasion and metastasis in most cases of solid tumors, the role of hyaluronidases in cancer progression remains controversial. One of the hyaluronidases, HYAL2, is suspected to be involved in the first step of HA degradation. In this work, HYAL2 mRNA, HA and total hyaluronidases expression were examined in lymphoma tissue extracts and correlated to the lymphoma subtype. Real-time RT-PCR was performed to evaluate HYAL2 mRNA. HA and hyaluronidase were assayed by enzyme-linked sorbent assay. Our results showed that HYAL2 mRNA expression was correlated to lymphoma diagnosis (p = 6 × 10,3) and was significantly lower in high-grade lymphoma, i.e., diffuse large B-cell diffuse lymphomas (DLBCLs). Several forms of hyaluronidase were detected by zymography and total hyaluronidase activity detected in tissue extracts was not significantly different according to tumor grade. HA levels also correlated to lymphoma subtype (p = 1 × 10,5) and were higher in DLBCLs. Moreover, HYAL2 mRNA and HA expressions were inversely correlated (p = 0.035). HYAL2 gene is localized on chromosome 3p21, which contains candidates tumor suppressor genes. Our results suggest that HYAL2 may have a prognostic significance in lymphomas and an antioncogenic activity. Conversely, HA overexpression in high-grade lymphomas is in favor of its involvement in tumor development and could provide a useful target for lymphoma therapy using HA-binding peptides. [source]