Browsing by Subject "tumor suppressor gene"

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Open Access
Common telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter mutations in hepatocellular carcinomas from different geographical locations
(WJG Press, 2015) Cevik, D.; Yildiz G.; Ozturk, M.
AIM: To determine the mutation status of human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene (TERT ) promoter region in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from different geographical regions. METHODS: We analyzed the genomic DNA sequences of 59 HCC samples comprising 15 cell lines and 44 primary tumors, collected from patients living in Asia, Europe and Africa. We amplified a 474 bp DNA fragment of the promoter region of TERT gene including the 1295228 and 1295250 sequence of chromosome 5 by using PCR. Amplicons were then sequenced by Sanger technique and the sequence data were analyzed with by using DNADynamo software in comparison with wild type TERT gene sequence as a reference. RESULTS: The TERT mutations were found highly frequent in HCC. Eight of the fifteen tested cell lines displayed C228T mutation, and one had C250T mutation with a mutation frequency up to 60%. All of the mutations were heterozygous and mutually exclusive. Ten out of forty-four tumors displayed C228T mutation, and additional five tumors had C250T mutation providing evidence for mutation frequency of 34% in primary tumors. Considering the geographic origins of HCC tumors tested, TERT promoter mutation frequencies were higher in African (53%), when compared to non-African (24%) tumors (P = 0.056). There was also a weak inverse correlation between TERT promoter mutations and murine double minute 2 single nucleotide polymorphism 309 TG polymorphism (P = 0.058). Mutation frequency was nearly two times higher in established HCC cell lines (60%) compared to the primary tumors (34%). CONCLUSION: TERT promoter is one of most frequent mutational targets in liver cancer, and hepatocellular carcinogenesis is highly associated with the loss of telomere-dependent cellular senescence control. © The Author(s) 2015.
Open Access
Identification of genes involved in hepatocellular carcinoma : evaluation of hCdc4 and B-Raf genes
(2003) Sürücü, Banu
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the major type of primary liver cancer, is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Development and progression of HCC occur as a multistep process, requiring the activation of oncogenes and the inactivation of several tumor suppressor genes. Although, inactivation of tumor suppressor genes, including p53, Axin and activation of oncogene β-catenin, have been shown to be involved in HCC development, the molecular mechanism of hepatocarcinogenesis is still unclear. The identification of additional genes that are involved in hepatocarcinogenesis is, not only, an important task to understand this process, but also for development of novel strategies for prevention or therapy. The aim of this study was to elucidate a possible function of hCdc4 and B-Raf genes in HCCs. A gene or genes on chromosome 4q have been implicated in hepatocarcinogenesis by the observation of frequent deletions of this region in HCCs. More recently, hCdc4, a gene in this region has been proposed as a candidate tumor suppressor gene. hCdc4 is an F-box protein which is shown to be involved in ubiquitination of cyclin E, thus targeting it for destruction. Cyclin E overexpression, is reported to be a frequent event in different cancers including HCC suggesting a problem in its destruction. 15 HCC cell lines were analysed for expression and mutation of hCdc4 gene by RT-PCR and direct sequencing of PCR products. No abnormal transcript and mutation observed in HCC cell lines tested. Our findings suggest that alteration of this gene is not a frequent event in hepatocarcinogenesis. iv B-Raf, which is one of the human isoforms of RAF, is activated by oncogenic Ras (leading to cooperative effects in cells responding to growth factor signals). B-Raf mutations are found in a wide range of cancers. Eventhough, mutational activation of Ras is not a frequent event in human hepatocarcinogenesis, few Ras mutations were reported in HCC cases. Thus activation of oncogenic MAP kinase pathway by another component of this pathway such as BRAF is worth to analyze. HCC cell lines and tumours were searched for B-Raf mutations. Activating BRAF missense mutations were identified in 2/72 HCCs (3%). Our results suggest that B-Raf may be occasionally involved in hepatocarcinogenesis. Thus MAP kinase pathway might be involved in hepatocarcinogenesis but neither B-Raf nor Ras are the major players of this pathway in this event. For this reason, other members of this pathway should be evaluated for mutations in HCC.
Open Access
Translational control of human p53 expression in yeast mediated by 5′-UTR-ORF structural interaction
(2001) Mokdad-Gargouri, R.; Belhadj, K.; Gargouri, A.
We have expressed human p53 cDNA in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and shown that the level of production and the lenght of the p53 protein depends on the presence of untranslated mRNA regions (UTRs). The expression of the ORF alone leads to a p53 protein of correct size (53 kDa) that accumulates to high levels, concomitantly with the presence of a small amount of a p40 protein (40 kDa). However, when either the entire 5′-UTR and a part of the 3′- or 5′-UTR alone is used, this leads to the production of small amounts of the 40 kDa truncated form only. The p40 protein corresponds to a truncated form of p53 at the C-terminal extremity since it reacts only with a monoclonal antibody recognising the N-terminal epitope. This effect on the amount and lenght of p53 protein had no correlation at the mRNA level, suggesting that translational control probably occurs through the 5′-UTR. We propose a model of structural interaction between this UTR and a part of the ORF mRNA for the regulation of p53 expression in this heterologous context.