Prothymosin-alpha mRNA expression correlates with that of c-myc in human colon cancer.
Prothymosin alpha (PT-alpha) is a nuclear protein involved in cell proliferation. Transcription of PT-alpha has been reported to be regulated by the c-myc gene in vitro. We identified PT-alpha as being overexpressed in a human colon cancer minus normal mucosa subtraction cDNA library. Northern blot (messenger RNA) analysis showed that both PT-alpha and c-myc genes were overexpressed in human colorectal cancers compared with adjacent normal tissues. Immunohistochemical studies for PT-alpha and c-myc supported these findings. There was no correlation between PT-alpha or c-myc messenger RNA expression and Dukes' stage of colorectal cancer; or between either of these two and actin messenger RNA expression. There was, however, a significant correlation between the PT-alpha expression and c-myc expression (P < 0.001). These findings support the hypothesis that PT-alpha gene transcription may be associated with, and possibly under the control of, the c-myc gene in human colorectal cancers.
Department of Surgery, New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
M
M
Mori
G F
GF
Barnard
R J
RJ
Staniunas
J M
JM
Jessup
G D
GD
Steele
L B
LB
Chen
D015152:Blotting, Northern; D003106:Colon / Q000378:metabolism*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000556:secondary; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000378:metabolism*; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D013947:Thymosin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism
D011498:Protein Precursors; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C040782:prothymosin alpha; D013947:Thymosin