Expression of c-kit and kit ligand in human colon carcinoma cells.
To determine whether c-kit and kit ligand (KL) mRNAs could be expressed in human epithelial tumors, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Northern blot analysis were performed. KL mRNA was shown to be expressed in a variety of epithelial tissues and cell lines. The expression of c-kit mRNA was then examined in hepatocellular and colon carcinoma cell lines. While hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines did not express c-kit mRNA as far as we could ascertain, 2 of 5 colon carcinoma cell lines showed the expression of both c-kit and KL mRNAs. Furthermore, the expression of c-kit in these cells was demonstrated at the protein level by flow cytometry. These data suggest that c-kit and KL may play an important role as an autocrine loop in the proliferation of some colon carcinoma cells.
Toyota
M
M
Department of Internal Medicine, (Section 1), School of Medicine, Sapporo Medical University, Japan.
Hinoda
Y
Y
Takaoka
A
A
Makiguchi
Y
Y
Takahashi
T
T
Itoh
F
F
Imai
K
K
Yachi
A
A
D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D016298:Hematopoietic Cell Growth Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D016184:Receptors, Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D019089:Stem Cell Factor; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D016298:Hematopoietic Cell Growth Factors; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; D016184:Receptors, Colony-Stimulating Factor; D019089:Stem Cell Factor; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase