0000000000621029
AUTHOR
Farzad Houshdaran
Associations between polymorphisms in the thymidylate synthase gene, the expression of thymidylate synthase mRNA and the microsatellite instability phenotype of colorectal cancer
Microsatellite instability (MSI) is a characteristic feature of up to 15% of colorectal cancers (CRC) and is associated with better response to adjuvant chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). In this study we have investigated the association between the MSI status and the mRNA expression as well as the polymorphisms of the cellular target of 5-FU therapy, thymidylate synthase. Polymorphisms in the 3'- and the 5'-UTR of the TS gene were determined by a PCR assay in 53 colorectal cancer tissues. TS mRNA was quantified by real-time RT-PCR. Data were correlated with the MSI phenotype. There was neither a significant correlation between the polymorphisms in the TS gene and the MSI phenotype n…
Allelic loss but absence of mutations in the polyspecific transporter geneBWR1Aon 11p15.5 in hepatoblastoma
Chromosomal region 11p15.5 shows frequent maternal allelic loss in embryonal tumors, including rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), Wilms' tumor (WT) and hepatoblastoma (HB), consistent with the presence of at least one tumor suppressor gene in this region, which should be paternally imprinted, i.e., expressed from the maternal allele only. The BWR1A gene encodes a polyspecific transmembrane transporter and is located on 11p15.5. It is highly expressed in liver, paternally imprinted and was found to be mutated in an RMS cell line, making it a plausible tumor suppressor gene for HB. We therefore screened 62 HBs, 3 HB cell lines and 1 pediatric hepatocellular carcinoma for BWR1A mutations using single-str…