OBJECTIVETo define the frequency and spectrum of c-kit gene mutations in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST).

METHODSFifty two cases of GIST and 28 cases of other tumors were examined for mutations in exon 11, 9 and 13 of c-kit gene using PCR amplification and DNA sequencing.

RESULTSFourteen out of 25 malignant GIST (56%), while 2 of 27 benign and borderline GIST (7.4%) revealed mutations in exon 11 of c-kit gene (P < 0.01). Most of the mutations consisted of in-frame deletion or replication from 3 to 48 bp in heterozygous and homozygous fashions, but none of the mutations disrupted the downstream reading frame of the gene. Point mutation and deletion concentrated at 550 - 570 codons but replication clustered within 570 - 585 codons. The mutation pattern in recurrence tissues was the same as the primary ones. Normal tissues adjacent to GIST with or without c-kit gene mutations showed wild type c-kit gene sequence. No mutation was found in exon 9 and 13. Neither c-kit gene expression nor gene mutations was found in 3 leiomyomas, 8 leiomyosarcomas, 2 schwannomas, 2 intra-abdomenal fibromitoses and 8 adenocarcinomas.

CONCLUSIONThe mutations in exon 11 of c-kit gene might partially represent one of the molecular mechanisms of GIST. It can be used as a marker for distinguishing benignancy and malignancy of GIST. The mutations did not involve the reading frame. Except for long frame deletion, most mutations also did not affect protein expression. Mutation of c-kit gene in GIST provides a new genotypic marker to distinguish GIST from authentic leiomyomas, leiomyosarcomas, schwannomas and etc.

Base Sequence ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; genetics ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutation ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit ; analysis ; genetics ; Proto-Oncogenes

This article reviews the specific expression of many proto-oncogenes during male germ cell development. The normal expression of proto-oncogenes plays an important role in the regulation of spermatogonial mitosis, spermatocyte meiosis as well as spermiogenesis and sperm maturation.
Animals ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Male ; Mice ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Proto-Oncogenes ; genetics ; Spermatocytes ; metabolism ; Transcription, Genetic

OBJECTIVE: To screen the differential expression of oncogenes and tumors suppressed genes(OTS genes) after human brain contusion by cDNA microrarray. METHODS: The total RNAs isolated from normal and contusion human brain tissues were purified by Oligotex to obtain mRNAs. Both sources of mRNAs were reversely transcribed to cDNAs with the incorporation of fluorescent dUTP to prepare the hybridization probes. The probe from normal tissue and the contusion brain tissue were labeled with Cy3-dUTP and Cy5-dUTP respectively. The mixed probes were hybridized to the BioDoor Chip OTS-2.2S, a cDNA microarray which contains 227 oncogenes and tumors suppressed genes. After high-stringent washing, the cDNA microarray was scanned for the fluorescent signals and showed differences between two tissues. RESULTS: Among the 227 target genes, 3 genes including Human carcinoma associated HOJ-1 (HoJ-1), Human KIAAOO65 gene,Human retinoblastoma related protein (p107) gene, showed distinct deference in expression level between the human brain contusion tissue and normal tissue. CONCLUSION The 3 genes in the brain contusion was significantly the differential expression by OTS 2.2S cDNA microarray. Further analysis of these genes will be helpful to understand the molecular mechanism of brain injury and utilization in forensic medicine.
Brain Injuries/pathology* ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Genetic Markers ; Humans ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins/genetics* ; Proto-Oncogenes/genetics* ; RNA, Messenger/biosynthesis* ; Retinoblastoma-Like Protein p107/genetics*

OBJECTIVETo detect the frequency of ROS1 gene rearrangement in non-small cell lung cancer ( NSCLC) patients by FISH, and to analyze the relationship between ROS1 gene rearrangement and clinical features (including age, sex, stage, histology, smoking history) with NSCLC.

METHODSThe ROS1 gene rearrangement in histological sections of 1 652 NSCLC tissues was detected by FISH. The extracted RNA was amplified and the sequences were analyzed by Sanger sequencing for ROS1-positive samples.

RESULTSROS1 rearrangement was identified in 53 specimens (3.2%) from the 1 652 NSCLC tissues. Among these positive cases, 15 were CD74-ROS1, 13 were SLC34A2-ROS1, 13 were SDC4-ROS1 and 12 were TPM3-ROS1. The frequency of ROS1 rearrangement was significantly higher in never-smoking patients (49 cases) than in smokers (4 cases) (P < 0.05). Patients with ROS1-positive NSCLC tended to be younger and there was no significant difference in sex (P > 0.05). All of the ROS1-positive samples were adenocarcinomas, with a tendency toward higher clinical stage (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSROS1 rearrangement has diversity, and may be defined as a new molecular subtype of NSCLC. ROS1 rearrangement tends to occur in younger, and never-smoker lung adenocarcinoma patients.

Adenocarcinoma ; genetics ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; genetics ; metabolism ; Gene Rearrangement ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Lung Neoplasms ; genetics ; Oncogenes ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; genetics ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism

Proto-oncogene, the fundamental component of cellular genome, is rarely or finitely expressed in normal conditions, and can regulate cellular proliferation, differentiation and information conduction. Many proto-oncogenes show the temporal and specific expression during spermatogenesis. The expression of some proto-oncogenes reinforces in the growth and development of Sertoli cells and Leydig cells. To explore the relationship between proto-oncogene and testicular function and that between proto-oncogene and regulative factors of testicular function helps to comprehend the regulation of the testicular function at the molecular level.
Animals ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Humans ; Leydig Cells ; cytology ; Male ; Proto-Oncogenes ; physiology ; Sertoli Cells ; cytology ; Spermatogenesis ; genetics ; Testis ; physiology

In recent years, with the improvement of the sensitivity of examination equipment and the change of people's living environment and diet, the rate of thyroid cancer has risen rapidly, which has increased nearly five folds in 10 years. The pathogenesis, clinical manifestation, biological behavior, treatment and prognosis of thyroid carcinoma of different pathological types are obviously different. Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) can develop at any age, which accounts for about 90% of thyroid cancer. It progresses slowly and has favourable prognosis, but lymph node metastasis appears easily. Whether PTC is accompanied by lymph node metastasis has an important impact on its prognosis and outcome. The Raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B(BRAF)gene mutation plays a crucial role in PTC lymph node metastasis. Having an in-depth understanding of the specific role and mechanism of BRAF gene mutation in PTC is expected to provide new ideas for diagnosis and treatment of PTC.
Animals ; Carcinoma, Papillary/genetics* ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Mice ; Mutation ; Oncogenes ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf/genetics* ; Thyroid Cancer, Papillary/genetics* ; Thyroid Neoplasms/genetics*

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relationship between the expression of murine double minute 2 (MDM2) oncogene and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in childhood.

METHODSThirty-one cases of NHL were enrolled in this study as patient group and 8 cases of lymphadenitis as control group. (1) Immunohistochemistry ultrasensitive S-P assay was used to detect the expression of MDM2 protein in pathological tissues in all cases. Positive cells were dyed yellow or brown in nuclei. MDM2 positive cell was defined as >/= 10% of the tumor cells were positive, which was overexpression of MDM2 protein. (2) RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) was performed to value the overexpression of MDM2 mRNA in the pathological tissues and mononuclear cells in peripheral blood. While the ratio of MDM2/beta-actin was >16% was defined as overexpression of MDM2 mRNA.

RESULTS(1) Rates of overexpression of MDM2 protein and MDM2 mRNA were 64.5% and 61.3%, respectively, which were significantly different as compared to that of control group (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). (2) The relationship analysis among subgroups in the experiment group showed that the overexpression of MDM2 protein did not correlate with classifications of working formulation, cellular origin, sex, clinical stage and involved extranodal sites (P > 0.05), but significantly correlated with classifications of B status and the increased serum LDH level (P < 0.05). It was shown that the overexpression of MDM2 mRNA did not correlate with classifications of working formulation, cellular origin, sex and clinical stage (P > 0.05), significantly correlated with B status (P < 0.05), and was remarkably significantly correlated with the involved extranodal sites and the increased serum LDH level (P < 0.01). (3) It was demonstrated that the overexpression of MDM2 mRNA in the pathological tissues was similar to the overexpression of MDM2 protein in the pathological tissues and MDM2 mRNA in peripheral blood (P > 0.05, kappa = 0.655 and 0.571), and the overexpression of MDM2 protein in the pathological tissues was similar to that of MDM2 mRNA in peripheral blood (P > 0.05, kappa = 0.609).

CONCLUSIONS(1) The rate of MDM2 oncogene overexpression was quite high. (2) The overexpression of MDM2 protein in pathological tissues determined by using immunohistochemistry ultrasensitive S-P assay was similar to that of MDM2 mRNA in pathological tissues detected by using RT-PCR method. Both methods might be used to detect the overexpression of MDM2 oncogene in the cases of childhood NHL. (3) The overexpression of MDM2 oncogene related to the poor status and poor prognosis of patients with childhood NHL.

Biomarkers, Tumor ; analysis ; blood ; Child ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; blood ; genetics ; metabolism ; Neoplasm Proteins ; blood ; genetics ; Oncogenes ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2 ; blood ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger

Female ; Genes, p53 ; immunology ; Humans ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Ovary ; pathology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; immunology ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras) ; Proto-Oncogenes ; immunology ; Sertoli-Leydig Cell Tumor ; genetics ; pathology ; ras Proteins ; immunology ; metabolism

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is highly heterogeneous clonal hematological malignancy, having a high rate of progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). With the rapid development of molecular biological techniques, plenty of gene mutations were found to have close relationships with the transformation from MDS to AML. SRSF2 is a RNA splicing-related gene, which mutation may prompt a poor prognosis, and have a higher rate of progressing to AML. DNMT3A plays an important role in DNA methylation, its mutation often indicate a worse overall survival and a more rapid progression to AML. ASXL1 regulates the synthesis of histone, which frameshift mutations are molecular marks of an adverse outcome. IDH contains IDH1 and IDH2, which are related with the Krebs cycle. Patients with IDH1 mutation have a shorter overall survival and a higher risk of AML transformation than that of patients with wild-type IDH1, while IDH2 was a poor prognostic factor for overall survival in patients with lower-risk MDS. Another gene related with DNA methylation is TET2, which is the most frequently mutated gene in MDS known so far and it may act as tumor-suppressor gene, but the opinions on its impact on patients' outcomes are still controversial. Some studies show that its mutations relate to a shorter time to progression to AML. Because of the differentiations in patients' races, regions and clinical characteristics, the results of different studies are varied. In this review, the recent advances on these related genes are summarized.
DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases ; genetics ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Genotype ; Humans ; Isocitrate Dehydrogenase ; genetics ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; genetics ; pathology ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; genetics ; pathology ; Nuclear Proteins ; genetics ; Oncogenes ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; genetics ; Repressor Proteins ; genetics ; Ribonucleoproteins ; genetics ; Serine-Arginine Splicing Factors

Oncogene and antioncogene play contrary effects on the cell growth and proliferation controlling process, and cancer occurs when the presence of imbalance expression between them. That means there is yin-yang relationship between oncogene (yang) and antioncogene (yin), and also inside both of them. Taking the oncogene myc and antioncogene p53 for example, the yin gene p53 acts, in the yin side, to promote cell apoptosis and inhibit cell growth, while in the yang side, it facilitates for repairing the injured DNA to keep cell survival; the yang gene myc, promoting cell growth and proliferation in the yang side and inducing cell apoptosis in the yin side. To elucidate the yin-yang reactions between oncogene and antioncogene would be of important significance in the all-round and profound research of cancer.
Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Neoplasms ; genetics ; Oncogenes ; genetics ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc ; metabolism ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; metabolism ; Yin-Yang