Alterations of the p16 (MTS1) gene in testicular, ovarian, and endometrial malignancies.
OBJECTIVE
The p16 (MTS1) gene codes for a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor and may be a new tumor suppressor gene. It is frequently mutated in a variety of cell lines established from tumors. This is the first report of screening for alteration of the p16 gene in testicular, ovarian and endometrial malignancies.


METHODS
We examined alterations of p16 in 78 primary genital tumors (42 testicular, 21 ovarian and 15 endometrial cancers) and mononuclear cells from 2 patients with Lynch syndrome II as well as 5 testicular tumor cell lines by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and Southern blot hybridization.


RESULTS
The DNA from the p16 gene of 2 testicular tumors (5%), an ovarian cancer (4%) and a testicular tumor cell line (20%) had altered migration in gel electrophoresis as shown by SSCP. Analysis of DNA sequence of these samples revealed a polymorphism at codon 140. Southern blot hybridization detected neither deletions nor rearrangements of the p16 gene in any of the samples.


CONCLUSIONS
Taken together, these results suggest that p16 alterations probably are not important for tumorigenesis of testicular, ovarian and endometrial tumors.
Hatta
Y
Y
Hematology/Oncology Division, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, UCLA School of Medicine 90048, USA.
Hirama
T
T
Takeuchi
S
S
Lee
E
E
Pham
E
E
Miller
C W
CW
Strohmeyer
T
T
Wilczynski
S P
SP
Melmed
S
S
Koeffler
H P
HP
D001483:Base Sequence; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics*; D016147:Genes, Tumor Suppressor / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*