Correlation between retinoblastoma gene expression and differentiation in human testicular tumors

Journal Article · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1991 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.88.15.6662· OSTI ID:5604304

Strohmeyer, T ^[1]; Reissmann, P; Slamon, D ^[2]; Cordon-Cardo, C ^[3]; Hartmann, M ^[4]; Ackermann, R ^[5]

---

1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles (United States) Heinrich-Heine-Univ. of Duesseldorf (West Germany)
2. Univ. of California, Los Angeles (United States)
3. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (United States)
4. Armed Forces Hospital, Hamburg (West Germany)
5. Heinrich-Heine-Univ. of Duesseldorf (West Germany)

Inactivation of the retinoblastoma gene (RB gene) is associated with the development of several human malignancies including retinoblastomas, come osteo- and soft tissue sarcomas, small cell lung cancer, and possibly breast and bladder cancers. To the authors' knowledge, this gene has not been evaluated in human germ-cell malignancies. In this study 67 primary testicular germ-cell tumors and 4 testicular non-germ-cell malignancies were examined to determine the prevalence and nature of RB gene alterations. Decreased expression of RB gene mRNA was found in all testicular germ-cell tumors examined. The RB protein could not be detected by immunohistochemical analysis in the undifferentiated cells of any germ-cell tumors whereas the differentiated malignant cells present in 14/15 teratocarcinomas expressed the protein. No gross alterations of the RB gene were found at DNA level in any of the examined specimens. This and the presence of the RB protein in the more differentiated tumor cells of teratocarcinomas suggest that changes in transcript levels rather than mutation(s) of the gene may be responsible for the absent of decreased RB expression in human germ-cell tumors. To date studies on the mechanism of RB regulation have demonstrated that it occurs at the protein level by phosphorylation of the p105 gene product. The findings presented here indicate that additional regulation might occur at the transcript level.

• OSTI ID: 5604304
• Journal Information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; (United States), Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; (United States) Vol. 88:15; ISSN PNASA; ISSN 0027-8424
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550200* -- Biochemistry
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ANIMAL CELLS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BIOCHEMISTRY
BODY
CELL DIFFERENTIATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
CYTOCHEMISTRY
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DISEASES
GENE REGULATION
GENES
GONADS
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MALE GENITALS
NEOPLASMS
NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
ONCOGENES
ORGANS
PHOSPHORUS 32
PHOSPHORUS ISOTOPES
PHOSPHORYLATION
RADIOISOTOPES
TERATOGENESIS
TESTES
TUMOR CELLS