Relationship between promoter methylation & tissue expression of MGMT gene in ovarian cancer.

Background & objectives: Epigenetic alterations, in addition to multiple gene abnormalities, are involved in the genesis and progression of human cancers. Aberrant methylation of CpG islands within promoter regions is associated with transcriptional inactivation of various tumour suppressor genes. O6-methyguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is a DNA repair gene that removes mutagenic and cytotoxic adducts from the O6-position of guanine induced by alkylating agents. MGMT promoter hypermethylation and reduced expression has been found in some primary human carcinomas. We studied DNA methylation of CpG islands of the MGMT gene and its relation with MGMT protein expression in human epithelial ovarian carcinoma. Methods: A total of 88 epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) tissue samples, 14 low malignant potential (LMP) tumours and 20 benign ovarian tissue samples were analysed for MGMT promoter methylation by nested methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) after bisulphite modification of DNA. A subset of 64 EOC samples, 10 LMP and benign tumours and five normal ovarian tissue samples were analysed for protein expression by immunohistochemistry. Results: The methylation frequencies of the MGMT gene promoter were found to be 29.5, 28.6 and 20 per cent for EOC samples, LMP tumours and benign cases, respectively. Positive protein expression was observed in 93.8 per cent of EOC and 100 per cent in LMP, benign tumours and normal ovarian tissue samples. Promoter hypermethylation with loss of protein expression was seen only in one case of EOC. Interpretation & conclusions: Our results suggest that MGMT promoter hypermethylation does not always reflect gene expression.

Relationship between the expression of RASSF1A protein and promoter hypermethylation of RASSF1A gene in bladder tumor / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

To investigate the relationship between the expression of RASSF1A protein and promoter hypermethylation of RASSF1A gene, RASSF1A protein expression was measured by Western blotting in 10 specimens of normal bladder tissues and 23 specimens of bladder transitional cell carcinoma (BTCC). The promoter methylation in BTCC and normal bladder tissues was detected by methylation-specific PCR (MSP). The results showed that the expression level of RASSF1A protein was significantly lower in BTCC tissues than that in normal bladder tissues. However, it was not correlated with its clinical stages and pathological grades. The frequency of promoter methylation of RASSF1A gene was higher in BTCC tissues than that in normal bladder tissues. In 14 patients with the aberrant promoter methylation, 13 showed loss or low expression of RASSF1A protein. It is concluded that RASSF1A gene promoter methylation may contribute to the low level or loss of RASSF1A protein expression, the inactivation of RASSF1A gene and the genesis of BTCC. But, it may bear no correlation with its clinical stages and pathological grades.

Transcriptional induction of DLC-1 gene through Sp1 sites by histone deacetylase inhibitors in gastric cancer cells

We previously reported that trichostatin A (TSA), a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, induced DLC-1 mRNA expression and accumulated acetylated histones H3 and H4 associated with the DLC-1 promoter in DLC-1 non-expressing gastric cancer cells. In this study, we demonstrated the molecular mechanisms by which TSA induced the DLC-1 gene expression. Treatment of the gastric cancer cells with TSA activates the DLC-1 promoter activity through Sp1 sites located at -219 and -174 relative to the transcription start site. Electrophoretic mobility-shift assay (EMSA) revealed that Sp1 and Sp3 specifically interact with these Sp1 sites and showed that TSA did not change their binding activities. The ectopic expression of Sp1, but not Sp3, enhances the DLC-1 promoter responsiveness by TSA. Furthermore, the TSA-induced DLC-1 promoter activity was increased by p300 expression and reduced by knockdown of p300. These results demonstrated the requirement of specific Sp1 sites and dependence of Sp1 and p300 for TSA-mediated activation of DLC-1 promoter.

Impaired Delta NP63 Expression is Associated with Poor Tumor Development in Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder

The oncogenic isoform of the p63 protein, delta NP63, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of many epithelial carcinomas, and emerging evidences suggest that delta NP63 is a promising drug target. However, the functions of delta NP63 in transitional cell carcinoma of bladder (TCCB) are poorly defined. In this study, a delta NP63 shRNA expression vector was transfected into TCCB cell line 5637 and cell cycling, cell proliferation and protein expression were assessed by flow cytometry and 3-(4, 5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-dimethyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and immunohistochemistry, respectively. The delta NP63 shRNA expression vector was also injected into 5637 cell xenograft tumors in nude mice, and tumor size was measured, tumor tissue morphology was assessed by immunohistopathology and transmission electron microscopy. In the in vitro study, delta NP63 shRNA transfection caused successful delta NP63 gene silencing and resulted in significant arrest of cell cycling and cellular proliferation (p<0.05) as well as cyclin D1 expression. In the nude mouse xenograft model, delta NP63 shRNA greatly inhibited tumor growth, induced tumor cell apoptosis (p<0.05) and resulted in cyclin D1 downregulation. Our data suggest that delta NP63 may play an oncogenic role in TCCB progression through promoting cell survival and proliferation. Intratumoral administration of delta NP63-specific shRNA suppressed tumor delta NP63 expression and cellular proliferation while promoted tumor cellular apoptosis, and therefore inhibited tumor growth and improved survival of xenograft-bearing mice, which was not accompanied by significant signs of systemic toxicity.

Expression of NDRG2 is related to tumor progression and survival of gastric cancer patients through Fas-mediated cell death

Although N-myc downstream regulated gene 2 (NDRG2) has been known to be a tumor suppressor gene, the function of this gene has not been elucidated. In the present study, we investigated the expression and function of NDRG2 in human gastric cancer. Among seven gastric cancer and two non-cancer cell lines, only two gastric cancer cell lines, SNU-16 and SNU-620, expressed NDRG2, which was detected in the cytoplasm. Interestingly, NDRG2 was highly expressed in normal gastric tissues, but gastric cancer patients were divided into NDRG2-positive and -negative groups. The survival rate of NDRG2-negative patients was lower than that of NDRG2-positive patients. We confirmed that the loss of NDRG2 expression was a significant and independent prognostic indicator in gastric carcinomas by multivariate analysis. To investigate the role of NDRG2 in gastric cancer cells, we generated a NDRG2-silenced gastric cancer cell line, which stably expresses NDRG2 siRNA. NDRG2-silenced SNU-620 cells exhibited slightly increased proliferation and cisplatin resistance. In addition, inhibition of NDRG2 decreased Fas expression and Fas-mediated cell death. Taken together, these data suggest that inactivation of NDRG2 may elicit resistance against anticancer drug and Fas-mediated cell death. Furthermore, case studies of gastric cancer patients indicate that NDRG2 expression may be involved in tumor progression and overall survival of the patients.

Expressão imuno - histoquímica de p53 na discriminação do comportamento biológico dos tumores de glândulas salivares / Immunohistochemical expression of p53 on the biological behavior of salivary gland tumors

INTRODUÇAO: Mutações no gene TP53 têm sido identificadas em várias neoplasias, incluindo as de glândulas salivares (NGS). Entretanto não existe consenso sobre o significado biológico da expressão de p53 nessas lesões. OBJETIVOS: Avaliar a marcação imuno-histoquímica do antígeno p53 em NGS, investigando possíveis diferenças entre lesões benignas e malignas, entre diferentes tipos histológicos e entre tumores malignos que: 1) não desenvolveram metástases; 2) emitiram metástases; e 3) metástases de NGS. MATERIAL E MÉTODO: Foram avaliados 16 casos de adenomas pleomórficos (AP), 17 lesões malignas que não apresentaram metástase durante a proservação (sete carcinomas adenóides císticos [CAC] e dez mucoepidermóides [CM]), 13 tumores malignos que emitiram metástases (nove CAC e quatro CM) e, ainda, 12 metástases regionais ou distantes (cinco CAC e sete CM). Por marcação imuno-histoquímica (estreptavidina-biotina-peroxidase), índices médios de localização do antígeno p53 foram estabelecidos para cada tumor. Para análise, utilizaram-se testes de Mann-Whitney e Kruskal-Wallis, com nível de significância de 5 por cento. RESULTADOS: Foram observadas diferenças estatisticamente significantes nos índices médios de imunomarcação de p53 entre lesões benignas e malignas (p = 0,03) e entre os diferentes tipos histológicos, notadamente entre o AP e o CM (p = 0,02). Todavia houve marcada sobreposição dos intervalos de índices de expressão entre os grupos testados. Nenhuma diferença de expressão foi observada entre as neoplasias malignas quanto ao seu comportamento metastático. CONCLUSAO: Embora a expressão de p53 tenha sido detectada em todos os subtipos de NGS, a marcação imuno-histoquímica deste antígeno não permitiu discriminar os tumores malignos quanto ao seu comportamento biológico.

Expression of Cell Cycle Regulators During Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation After Balloon Catheter Injury of Rat Artery

Intimal hyperplasia is defined as the abnormal migration and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) with deposition of extracellular matrix. However, the cell cycle regulatory mechanisms of injury-induced VSMC proliferation are largely unknown. To examine the expression kinetics of cell cycle regulatory factors which is known to be worked positively or negatively, we used rat balloon injury model. Marked induction of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), G1/S cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk2), and its regulatory subunit (cyclin E) occurred between 1 and 3 days after balloon arterial injury, and this was sustained for up to 7 days and then declined. However, the induction of the negative regulators, p21 and p27, occurred between 3 and 5 days of injury, peaked after 7 and 14 days and was then sustained. VSMC proliferation after balloon catheter injury of the rat iliac artery is associated with coordinated expression of positive (cdk2, cyclin E and PCNA) and negative (p21, p27) regulators. Cell cycle regulators such as cdk2, cyclin E, p21, p27 may be suitable targets for the control of intimal hyperplasia.