Biomedical subjects

A Nakagawara

Publications and source records attributed to A Nakagawara.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Correlation of elevated level of blood midkine with poor prognostic factors of human neuroblastomas.

The heparin-binding growth factor midkine (MK) is the product of a retinoic acid-responsive gene, and is implicated in neuronal survival and differentiation, and carcinogenesis. We previously reported that MK mRNA expression is elevated in neuroblastoma specimens at all stages, whereas pleiotrophin, the other member of the MK family, is expressed at high levels in favourable neuroblastomas. As MK is a secretory protein, it can be detected in the blood. Here, we show a significant correlation of the plasma MK level with prognostic factors of neuroblastomas. The plasma MK level was determined in 220 patients with neuroblastomas, and compared with that in children without malignant tumors (n=17, <500 pg ml(-1)). The plasma MK level became significantly elevated with advancing stages (stage 1: 445 pg ml(-1) (median), n=73; stage 2: 589, n=39; stage 3: 864, n=40; stage 4: 1445, n=56; and stage 4S: 2439, n=12). More importantly, a higher MK level was strongly correlated with poor prognostic factors: over 1 year of age (P=0.0299), MYCN amplification (P<0.0001), low TrkA expression (P=0.0005), nonmass screening, sporadic neuroblastomas (P<0.0001), and diploidy/tetraploidy (P=0.0007). Thus, these results demonstrate that the plasma MK level is a good marker for evaluating the progression of neuroblastomas. Moreover, considering the ability of antisense MK oligodeoxyribonucleotide to suppress tumour growth of colorectal carcinoma cells in nude mice, as recently reported, the present study suggests that MK is a possible candidate molecular target for therapy for neuroblastomas.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

High expression of the novel endothelin-converting enzyme genes, Nbla03145/ECEL1alpha and beta, is associated with favorable prognosis in human neuroblastomas.

The clinicobiological feature of neuroblastoma is enigmatic because spontaneous regression often occurs in early stages of tumors of the patients under 1 year of age, while rapid growth usually occurs in the tumors of the patients over 1 year of age. Such difference in the clinical behavior may be caused by the difference in the pattern of gene expression among the subsets of neuroblastoma. To understand the molecular basis of neuroblastoma biology, we decided to identify the novel genes expressed differentially between favorable and unfavorable neuroblastomas. The oligo-capping cDNA libraries were constructed from different subsets of neuroblastomas. After random selection and DNA sequencing, the differentially expressed genes between favorable and unfavorable neuroblastomas were screened by reverse transcriptase-PCR. The clinical significance of gene expression was evaluated based on the results of Northern blot analysis. We have identified a novel gene Nbla03145 (alpha), also cloned and termed by another group as ECEL1, which encodes a new member of putative zinc-binding metalloendopeptidase (endothelin-converting enzyme) with unknown substrate. We also cloned a COOH-terminally truncated Nbla03145/ECEL1beta which is expressed only in thymus. In primary NBLs, the alpha isoform is more preferentially expressed than the beta isoform. High levels of Nbla03145/ECEL1 expression were significantly correlated with a younger age (p=0.0005), lower stages (p=0.0019), high level of TrkA expression (p</=0.00005), a single copy of MYCN (p<0.00005) and the tumors found by mass screening (p<0.00005). Decreased expression of Nbla03145/ECEL1 mRNA was significantly associated with poor prognosis (log-rank test: p=0.012). The present results have shown that expression of Nbla03145/ECEL1 is a novel prognostic marker of neuroblastoma. Further analysis of the gene may also give a cue to the understanding of the role of endothelin-like signaling in neuroblastoma and to the development of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies against aggressive tumors.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2002

Differential screening-selected gene aberrative in neuroblastoma protein modulates inflammatory pain in the spinal dorsal horn.

Differential screening-selected gene aberrative in neuroblastoma (DAN) belongs to a novel gene family that includes the Xenopus head-inducing factor, Cerberus and the dorsalizing factor, Gremlin. It has been suggested that members of this family control diverse processes in growth, development and the cell cycle.Here, we demonstrate that the DAN protein is produced in the small neurons of the dorsal root ganglion and is transported to the nerve terminals in the spinal dorsal horn in adult rats. Furthermore, intrathecal injection of an antibody to the DAN protein suppressed inflammatory pain caused by the introduction of complete Freund's adjuvant or carrageenan into the rat hindpaw. The amount of mRNA for DAN in dorsal root ganglion neurons and of its expressed protein in the spinal dorsal horn were both increased in inflammatory models.Together, these data suggest that the DAN protein may be a novel neuromodulator in primary nociceptive nerve fibers.

Afferent Pathways↗

PubMed2001

Proprotein convertase PACE4 is down-regulated by the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor hASH-1 and MASH-1.

PACE4 is a mammalian subtilisin-like proprotein convertase that activates transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta-related proteins such as bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2), BMP4 and Nodal and exhibits a dynamic expression pattern during embryogenesis. We recently determined that the 1 kb 5'-upstream region of the PACE4 gene contains 12 E-box (E1-E12) elements and that an E-box cluster (E4-E9) acts as a negative regulator [Tsuji, Yoshida, Hasegawa, Bando, Yoshida, Koide, Mori and Matsuda (1999) J. Biochem. (Tokyo) 126, 494-502]. It is known that the mammalian achaete-scute homologue 1 (MASH-1) binds specifically to an E-box (CACCTG) sequence in collaboration with E47, a ubiquitously expressed basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) factor. To identify the roles of the bHLH factor and E-box elements in regulating PACE4 gene expression in neural development, we analysed the effects of human achaete-scute homologue 1 (hASH-1) on PACE4 gene expression with various neuroblastoma cell lines. The expressions of PACE4 and hASH-1 are correlated inversely in these cell lines. The overexpression of hASH-1 or MASH-1 causes a marked decrease in endogenous PACE4 gene expression but has no effect on the expression of other subtilisin-like proprotein convertases such as furin, PC5/6 and PC7/8. In contrast, other neural bHLH factors (MATH-1, MATH-2, neurogenin 1, neurogenin 2, neurogenin 3 and E47) did not affect PACE4 gene expression. Furthermore, an E-box cluster was a negative regulatory element for the promoter activity in NBL-S cells expressing hASH-1 at high level as determined by a luciferase assay. Binding of hASH-1 to the E-box cluster was confirmed by gel mobility-shift assay. In the present study we identified the PACE4 gene as one of the targets of hASH-1, which is a key factor in the initiation of neural differentiation. These results suggest that the alteration of PACE4 gene expression by hASH-1 causes rapid changes in the biological activities of TGF-beta-related proteins via post-translational modification of these proteins.

Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins↗

PubMed2001

Increased susceptibility to tumorigenesis of ski-deficient heterozygous mice.

The c-ski proto-oncogene product (c-Ski) acts as a co-repressor and binds to other co-repressors N-CoR/SMRT and mSin3A which form a complex with histone deacetylase (HDAC). c-Ski mediates the transcriptional repression by a number of repressors, including nuclear hormone receptors and Mad. c-Ski also directly binds to, and recruits the HDAC complex to Smads, leading to inhibition of tumor growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) signaling. This is consistent with the function of ski as an oncogene. Here we show that loss of one copy of c-ski increases susceptibility to tumorigenesis in mice. When challenged with a chemical carcinogen, c-ski heterozygous mice showed an increased level of tumor formation relative to wild-type mice. In addition, c-ski-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) had increased proliferative capacity, whereas overexpression of c-Ski suppressed the proliferation. Furthermore, the introduction of activated Ki-ras into c-ski-deficient MEFs resulted in neoplastic transformation. These findings demonstrate that c-ski acts as a tumor suppressor in some types of cells. The level of cdc25A mRNA, which is down regulated by two tumor suppressor gene products, Rb and Mad, was upregulated in c-ski-deficient MEFs, whereas it decreased by overexpressing c-Ski in MEFs. This is consistent with the fact that c-Ski acts as a co-repressor of Mad and Rb. These results support the view that the decreased activities of Mad and Rb in ski-deficient cells at least partly contribute to enhanced proliferation and susceptibility to tumorigenesis. Human c-ski gene was mapped to a region close to the p73 tumor suppressor gene at the 1p36.3 locus, which is already known to contain multiple uncharacterized tumor suppressor genes.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Trk receptor tyrosine kinases: a bridge between cancer and neural development.

The proto-oncogene Trks encode the high-affinity receptor tyrosine kinases for neurotrophins of a nerve growth factor (NGF) family. The Trk signals spatiotemporally regulate neural development and maintenance of neural network. However, Trk was originally cloned as an oncogene fused with the tropomyosin gene in the extracellular domain. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that the rearranged Trk oncogene is often observed in non-neuronal neoplasms such as colon and papillary thyroid cancers, while the signals through the receptors encoded by the proto-oncogene Trks regulate growth, differentiation and apoptosis of the tumors with neuronal origin such as neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma. The intracellular Trk signaling pathway is also different depending on the Trk family receptors, cell types and the grade of transformation. Furthermore, developmentally programmed cell death of neuron, which is largely regulated by neurotrophin signaling, is at least in part controlled by tumor suppressors p53 and p73 as well as their antagonist DeltaNp73. Thus, the Trks and their downstream signaling function in both ontogenesis and oncogenesis. In this short review, the dynamic role of the Trk family receptors signaling in neural development, neurogenic tumors and other cancers will be discussed.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Functional characterization of naturally occurring mutants (P405R and P425L) of p73alpha and p73beta found in neuroblastoma and lung cancer.

The novel candidate tumor suppressor p73, a structural and functional homolog of p53, activates various p53 responsive promoters and induces tumor cell apoptosis. Although p73 is infrequently mutated in human cancers, we have previously found two types of p73 mutation with amino acid substitution (P405R and P425L) in primary neuroblastoma and lung cancer. Here we report generations of the p73 mutants with either P405R or P425L substitution and functional analysis of these naturally occurring mutants. Indirect immunofluorescence staining revealed that nuclear accumulation of p73alpha or p73beta was not affected by these mutations. The P425L substitution reduced the ability of p73alpha to transactivate various p53 responsive promoters (p21(Waf1), Mdm2, and Bax). Moreover, this down-regulation was correlated with the reduced capability of p73alpha(P425L) to suppress cell growth in p53-deficient SAOS-2 cells. In contrast, p73beta(P425L) was as effective as wild-type p73beta in transactivation and growth inhibition. On the other hand, the P405R substitution had no significant effect on both the transcriptional activity and the growth-suppressive ability of p73alpha or p73beta. These results suggested that, at least, one of the naturally occurring p73 mutants, p73alpha(P425L), was a functionally defective mutant of p73.

Amino Acid Substitution↗

PubMed2001

A BAC-based STS-content map spanning a 35-Mb region of human chromosome 1p35-p36.

We have devised a mapping method for rapid assembly and ordering of bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones on a radiation hybrid (RH) panel, using sequence-tagged sites (STSs) and PCR. The protocol consists of two rounds of two-dimensional screening from a limited number of BACs to correspond each to an STS. In the first round, STSs are assembled in the RH bins and ordered according to PCR signals derived from 384-well microtiter plates (MTPs) in which BAC clones have been arrayed. In the second round, individual BAC clones are isolated from the MTPs to build a contig. We applied this method to a 35-Mb region spanning human chromosome 1p35-p36 and assembled 1366 BACs in 11 contigs, the longest being about 20 Mb. The working draft sequences of the human genome have been integrated into the contigs to validate the accuracy.

Chromosome Mapping↗

PubMed2001

Human neuroblastomas with unfavorable biologies express high levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor mRNA and a variety of its variants.

The expression of human brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was investigated in 16 primary human neuroblastomas with favorable biologies, 15 with unfavorable biologies, and in human neuroblastoma cell lines. We demonstrated higher expressions of human BDNF mRNA in neuroblastomas with unfavorable biologies and with N-myc amplification than in those with favorable biologies. For the first time we revealed the composition of splice variants of human BDNF mRNA and analyzed their expression in neuroblastomas by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Interestingly, human BDNF mRNA consisted of at least six isoforms, four isoforms resembling those of rat BDNF mRNA, a human-specific isoform and a new isoform. The expression of four isoforms were more prominent in tumors with unfavorable biologies than in those with favorable biologies (P<0.05). As previously we had reported, over 80% of the primary tumors expressed either the full-length form of BDNF receptor, TRKB, or a truncated form of TRKB lacking the tyrosine kinase domain. The full-length TRKB was predominantly detected in tumors with unfavorable biologies, and the truncated one in those with favorable biologies. These results suggest that an autocrine and/or paracrine mechanism involving BDNF may stimulate signal transduction via TRKB receptors rich in neuroblastomas with unfavorable biologies, resulting in an aberrant survival of tumor cells.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2001

Expression of herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase gene controlled by a promoter region of the midkine gene confers selective cytotoxicity to ganciclovir in human carcinoma cells.

A selective expression of suicide gene(s) in tumor cells should produce a preferential cytotoxic effect on tumors. Promoter region(s) of a gene that is expressed in tumors but not in normal tissues can be useful for tumor-specific transcription of a suicide gene. Midkine (MK), a growth/differentiation factor, is expressed predominantly in various types of human tumors, whereas its expression in adult normal tissues is highly restricted. In our study, we showed that a 2.3-kb fragment of genomic DNA in the 5' upstream region of the MK gene could activate transcription of a fused reporter gene in MK-positive cells but not in MK-negative cells. Efficiency of the cis-acting sequence to permit expression of an exogenous gene in tumor cells was comparable with that of the SV40 promoter. Regulated expression of the herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase (HSV-TK) gene under the control of the MK promoter conferred increased sensitivity to ganciclovir (GCV) on MK-positive tumor cells. Administration of GCV into nude mice that were implanted with MK-positive tumor cells that expressed the HSV-TK gene under the control of the MK promoter could suppress the subsequent tumor growth. Expression of therapeutic genes restricted to tumors can be achieved by the use of the putative cis-acting MK promoter.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Retinoic acid-induced apoptosis of the CHP134 neuroblastoma cell line is associated with nuclear accumulation of p53 and is rescued by the GDNF/Ret signal.

BACKGROUND: Neuroblastoma (NBL) is one of the most common solid malignancies in childhood and is derived from the sympathetic precursor cells. Although p53, a tumor suppressor, has been reported to be rarely mutated in NBLs, it is sequestered abnormally in the cytoplasm of the NBL cell. The mechanism and functional role of the abnormal intracellular localization of p53 remain unclear. PROCEDURE: Here, we established an in vitro system of apoptosis model using a NBL cell line CHP134 which also showed a cytoplasmic sequestration of p53. The treatment of the cells with 1 or 5 microM all-trans retinoic acid (RA) induced moderate neurite outgrowth followed by massive death of CHP134 cells by days 5 to 6. RESULTS: TUNEL staining showed that the cell death was due to apoptosis. Immunofluorescent stain demonstrated that p53 was strongly positive in the nucleus on day 5, which was accompanied with induction of p21WAF1. In addition, expression of caspase-3 was also increased during the cell death. Intriguingly, the RA treatment induced expression of Ret tyrosine kinase receptor in CHP134 cells. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of ligands, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and neurturin (NTN), inhibited apoptosis as well as nuclear accumulation of p53 in the cell. The present results suggest that the RA-induced apoptosis of NBL cells is associated with activation of both the caspase cascade and the p53-mediated pathway with its nuclear translocation. The neurotrophic signal through the GDNF-Ret system may prevent the neuronal cell death.

Active Transport, Cell Nucleus↗

PubMed2001

Downregulation of hASH1 is associated with the retinoic acid-induced differentiation of human neuroblastoma cell lines.

BACKGROUND: MASH1, a transcription factor with basic helix-loop-helix domain, has a pivotal function to promote differentiation of neural crest cells into autonomic neurons. PROCEDURE: To investigate the functional significance of human MASH1 (hASH1) in the pathogenesis of neuroblastoma, which is originated from autonomic precursor cells, we studied hASH1 gene expression in primary neuroblastomas and human nueroblastoma cell lines. RESULTS: The follovving results were obtained: (i) hASH1 was expressed in 40 out of 61 (66%) primary neuroblastomas, (ii) hASH1 transcripts were downregulated in several cell lines prior to differentiation induced by all-trans retinoic acid (RA), (iii) a neuroblasotma cell line without expression of endogenous hASH1 did not respond to RA at all, and (iv) the analysis of the hASH1 genomic DNA revealed two possible transcription initiation sites, which may correspond to 3.0 kb and 3.5 kb transcripts. CONCLUSIONS: Our observations suggest that, although hASH1 may not preserve the growth capacity of neuroblastomas, downregulation of hASH1 may be necessary to promote neuronal differentiation of neuroblastoma.

5' Untranslated Regions↗

PubMed2001

Genetic analysis of p73 localized at chromosome 1p36.3 in primary neuroblastomas.

BACKGROUND: Human p73, a novel homolog of p53, has recently been cloned and mapped at chromosome 1p36.3, the locus for putative tumor suppressor gene(s) of neuroblastoma (NBL) and other cancers. p73, like p53, inhibits growth and induces apoptosis in neuroblastoma and osteosarcoma cell lines. PROCEDURE: To test the hypothesis that p73 is a NBL suppressor gene, we examined expression, allelo-typing, and mutation of the p73 gene in primary human neuroblastomas. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) for p73 was performed in 272 primary NBLs using a CT repeat polymorphic marker, which we found in intron 9 of the p73 gene. RESULTS: p73 LOH was observed in 28 out of 151 (19%) informative cases. The high frequency of p73 LOH was significantly associated with sporadic neuroblastomas (P< 0.001), MYCN amplification (P< 0.001), and advanced stages (P< 0.05). Mutational analyses by PCR-SSCP (single strand conformation polymorphism) revealed two mis-sense mutations in 140 NBLs, one somatic and one germline. CONCLUSION: Thus, the present results have shown that mutation of p73 is infrequent in NBLs, although the p73 locus is frequently lost in advanced stage tumors. These suggest that p73 may not be a tumor suppressor in the classic Knudson manner.

Amino Acid Substitution↗

PubMed2001

Expression of vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF-A/VEGF-1 and VEGF-C/VEGF-2) in postmenopausal uterine endometrial carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the expression of two angiogenic vascular endothelial growth factors, VEGF-A/VEGF-1 and VEGF-C/VEGF-2, in 228 cases of uterine endometrial carcinomas from postmenopausal patients to evaluate the correlation with histopathologic features and clinical outcome. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was used to assess VEGF-A/VEGF-1 and VEGF-C/VEGF-2 expression in 228 primary surgically treated cases of postmenopausal endometrial carcinomas and the results were statistically analyzed in relation to vascular invasion, depth of invasion (myometrial vs serosal-parametrial invasion), lymphatic vessel invasion, lymph node metastasis, disease-free 5-year survival rate (DF5YR), and disease-free 10 year-survival rate (DF10YR). RESULTS: The results of univariate analysis showed that VEGF-A/VEGF-1 and VEGF-C/VEGF-2 expression correlated with vascular invasion (P < 0.0001, P = 0.0006), depth of invasion (P = 0.0004, P = 0.043), lymphatic vessel invasion (P = 0.021, P < 0.0001), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.0017, P = 0.0008), DF5YR (P = 0.0081, P = 0.0002), and DF10YR (P = 0.0077, P = 0.0001). Multivariate analysis showed that lymph node metastasis (P = 0.0017, P = 0.0008), parametrial-serosal invasion (P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001), and VEGF-C/VEGF-2-positive status (P = 0.03, P = 0.01) were significant factors in DF5YR and DF10YR. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that VEGF-A/VEGF-1 and VEGF-C/VEGF-2 expression was predictive of these histopathologic features of endometrial carcinoma and clinical outcome.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Expression of the Dan gene during chicken embryonic development.

The Dan gene was first identified as the putative rat tumor suppressor gene and encodes a protein structurally related to Cerberus and Gremlin in vertebrates. Xenopus DAN, as with Cerberus and Gremlin, was demonstrated to block bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling by binding BMPs, and to be capable of inducing additional anterior structures by ectopic overexpression in Xenopus embryos. DAN, thus, is suggested to play pivotal roles in early patterning and subsequent organ development, as in the case of other BMP antagonists. In this report, we isolated the chicken counterpart of Dan. Chicken Dan is mainly expressed in the cephalic and somitic mesoderm and several placodes during organ development.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2001

The error-prone DNA polymerase zeta catalytic subunit (Rev3) gene is ubiquitously expressed in normal and malignant human tissues.

Mutagenesis induced by UV light and chemical agents in yeast is largely dependent on the function of Rev3, the catalytic subunit of DNA polymerase zeta that carries out translesion DNA synthesis. Human and mouse homologues of the yeast Rev3 gene have recently been identified, and inhibition of Rev3 expression in cultured human fibroblasts by Rev3 anti-sense was shown to reduce UV-induced mutagenesis, indicating that Rev3 also plays a crucial role in mutagenesis in mammalian cells. A common variant transcript with an insertion of 128-bp between nucleotides +139 and +140 is found in both human and mouse Rev3 cDNAs, but its biological significance has not been defined. We show here that the insertion variant is not translatable either under in vitro or in vivo conditions. We also found that the translational efficiency of Rev3 gene is enhanced by the 5' untranslated region that contains a putative stem-loop structure postulated to inhibit the translation. Since the human Rev3 gene is localized to chromosome 6q21, a region previously shown to contain genes involved in tumor suppression and cellular senescence, we examined its expression in various normal and malignant tissues. Rev3 and its insertion variant transcripts were ubiquitously detected in all 27 normal human tissues studied, with an additional variant species found in tissues with relatively high levels of Rev3 expression. Levels of Rev3 transcripts were similar in lung, gastric, colon and renal tumors compared to normal tissue counterparts. The data indicate that Rev3 expression is ubiquitous and is not dysregulated in malignancies.

5' Untranslated Regions↗

PubMed2001

Frequent deletions and mutations of the beta-catenin gene are associated with overexpression of cyclin D1 and fibronectin and poorly differentiated histology in childhood hepatoblastoma.

Hepatoblastoma (HBL) is the most common malignant liver tumor in young children. Recent reports have shown that the beta-catenin gene was frequently mutated or deleted in HBLS: To elucidate the role of beta-catenin abnormalities in HBLs, we searched for mutations of beta-catenin and APC as well as expression of the target genes, cyclin D1, c-myc, and fibronectin, in 68 primary HBLS: The mutation analysis revealed that 44 (65%) tumors carried missense mutations or deletions of beta-catenin, all of which were somatic and targeted to the exon 3 encoding the amino acid residues involved in its degradation. However, no loss of function mutation of the APC gene was detected by the yeast functional assay. Of interest, beta-catenin mutation was significantly correlated with overexpression of the target genes, cyclin D1 and fibronectin, but not with that of c-myc in HBLs as measured by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR. The immunohistochemical studies in 15 HBLs demonstrated that the nuclear/cytoplasmic accumulation of beta-catenin was positive in 13 tumors, 9 of which had the deletion or mutation of the gene. The significant correlation between the beta-catenin gene abnormality and the positive staining of cyclin D1 was also confirmed. Furthermore, the nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin was strongly associated with the poorly differentiated tumor cell components as well as with the positive staining of cyclin D1 within the tumor. Thus, our present results suggested that the gain of function mutation of beta-catenin played a crucial role in the malignant progression of HBL in vivo.

Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Protein↗

PubMed2001

Comprehensive allelotyping of human intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

We performed a genome-wide scan for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in 22 intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) cases using 168 polymorphic microsatellite markers throughout all of the human chromosomes and 48 markers of which LOH is reportedly characteristic of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Markers with LOH in more than 30% of informative cases were observed at 21 loci. Among these, eight markers on 6q (three loci), 4q (two loci), 9q, 16q, and 17p shared high frequencies of LOH with HCC in our previous study. As for gross appearance, mass-forming type tumors showed higher frequency of LOH (P < 0.001) compared with other types. Compared by tumor size (< or =5 cm versus >5 cm), number (multiple versus solitary), and the International Union Against Cancer TNM classification (stage IVB versus II-IVA), LOH was observed more frequently in advanced stages (P < 0.01, respectively). However, LOH frequency does not differ regardless of lymph node status (pN0 versus pN1). Frequent LOH on 1p36 including the p73 locus was noted in large tumors without lymph node metastasis. These suggest that ICC shares some common carcinogenic steps with HCC such as LOH of 4q and 6q and that inactivation of tumor suppressor genes on chromosome 1p36 contributes to progression of ICC but not to metastatic traits.

Adult↗