Both inactivation of the tumor suppressor gene, PTEN/MMAC1, and oncogenic activation of RAS have been described in human cutaneous melanoma. In mice, activation of a RAS-containing pathway is a necessary step in the pathogenesis of murine melanomas. Because PTEN negatively regulates on the downstream effects of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3-K), we hypothesized that the loss of PTEN/MMAC1 and the activation of RAS may be largely equivalent because RAS is a known positive upstream regulator of PI3-K. We expanded our previous survey of PTEN/MMAC1 mutations and analyzed the RAS status of 53 cutaneous melanoma cell lines, 18 glioma cell lines, and 17 uncultured cutaneous melanoma metastasis. Overall, 51% of the cell lines had alterations in either PTEN/MMAC1 or RAS. We found 16 cell lines (30%) with alterations in PTEN/MMAC1 and 11 cell lines (21%) with activating NRAS mutations; only 1 cell line had concurrent alterations in both genes. Moreover, glioma cell lines with a high frequency of PTEN/MMAC1 inactivation had no identifiable RAS alterations. Ectopic expression of PTEN in several cutaneous melanoma cell lines suppressed colony formation irrespective of PTEN/MMAC1 status; urthermore, PTEN expression in cell lines carrying activated RAS also suppressed colony formation. The relative reciprocity of PTEN/MMAC1 abrogation and NRAS activation suggests that the two genetic changes, in a subset of cutaneous melanomas, are functionally overlapping.

Large scale gene expression pro

We prospectively screened (through chart review) 913 consecutive patients who were seen at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Melanoma Clinic over a 6-month period (December 1997 to August 1998) and identified 519 patients with invasive melanomas. TheMGHMelanoma Clinic is a referral-based clinic for patients with a history of melanomaand high-risk individuals with a history of atypical moles or a family history of melanoma. We identified 172 patients whowere or had been diagnosed as having an invasive or metastatic melanoma before they were 40 years old. The diagnoses did not have to have been rendered during the ascertainment period; the average interval between melanoma diagnosis and the study visit was 5.9 years (range, 0 [time at diagnosis] to 30 years). Only diagnoses that were histologically confirmed by a member of the MGH Dermatopathology Unit were included. Patients with a diagnosis of melanoma in situ were excluded, given the occasional ambiguity between melanoma in situ and severely dysplastic nevus. At the time of the clinic visit, each of the 172 patients was provided with a detailed letter describing the study. Those patients expressing interest then underwent an extended discussion regarding the study content and risks. A total of 49 patients (28%) consented to the study and, in accordance with a protocol approved by the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and theMGHInstitutional Review Board, donated 20mLof blood for genetic analysis. The blood samples were coded, and the confidentiality of the patients was maintained. The results were not available to the patients. Medical and family histories and demographic details of participants were recorded through chart review and direct interview. All 49 patients were white and were unrelated to one another. Forty-three blood specimens from normal, healthy blood donors at heMGHblood bank were used for analysis of the polymorphism.

The tumor suppressor gene MEN1 and several oncogenes including CCND1/cyclin D1/PRAD1 map to chromosome 11q13. However, molecular and cytogenetic analysis suggests the presence of a second tumor suppressor locus at this chromosome region. We have identified a novel gene from chromosome 11q13, which encodes a protein of 126 amino acids sharing an overall 57% identity with the p12DOC-1 protein encoded by the DOC-1 gene, the human homolog of hamster putative tumor suppressor doc-1 (deleted in oral cancer-1). We therefore designated the novel gene as DOC-1R for DOC-1-related. The cytogenetic location was con-firmed by chromosome fluorescent in situ hybridization. Northern blot analysis indicated that it was expressed in all the tissues examined. DOC-1R protein showed heterogeneous subcellular localization. RTPCR-SSCP analysis failed to detect deleterious mutations of the DOC-1R transcript in four premalignant oral keratinocyte lines and 20 different cancer cell lines from tumor types which frequently harbor LOH at chromosome 11q13.

AIM: To verify the effectiveness of denaturing highperformance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) in detecting somatic mutation of p53 gene in gastric carcinoma tissues. The superiority of this method has been proved in the detection of germline mutations, but it was not very affirmative with respect to somatic mutations in tumor specimens. ST7 gene, a candidate tumor suppressor gene identified recently at human chromosome 7q31.1, was also detected because LOH at this site has also been widely reported in stomach cancer. METHODS: DNA was extracted from 39 cases of surgical gastric carcinoma specimen and their correspondent normal mucosa. Seven fragments spanning the 11 exons were used to detect the mutation of p53 gene and the four exons reported to have mutations in ST7 gene were amplified by PCR and directly analyzed by DHPLC without mixing with wild-type allele. RESULTS: In the analysis of p53 gene mutation, 9 aberrant DHPLC chromatographies were found in tumor tissues, while their normal-adjacent counterparts running in parallel showed a normal shape. Subsequent sequencing revealed nine sequence variations, 1 polymorphism and 8 mutations including 3 mutations not reported before. The mutation rate of p53 gene (21%) was consistent with that previously reported. Furthermore, no additional aberrant chromatography was found when wild-type DNA was added into the DNA of other 30 tumor samples that showed normal shapes previously. The positivity of p53 mutations was significantly higher in intestinal-type carcinomas (40%) than that in diffuse-type (8.33%) carcinomas of the stomach. No mutation of ST7 gene was found. CONCLUSION: DHPLC is a very convenient method for the detection of somatic mutations in gastric carcinoma. The amount of wild type alleles supplied by the non-tumorouscells in gastric tumor specimens is enough to form heteroduplex with mutant alleles for DHPLC detection. ST7 gene may not be the target gene of inactivation at 7q31 site in gastric carcinoma.