Alterations of K-ras and p53 mutations in colorectal cancer patients in Central Europe.
Many molecular investigations of colorectal cancer (CRC) have suggested that the accumulation of specific mutations in proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes regulating cell growth via signal transduction trigger the stagewise progression to malignancy. In this study, the frequency, location, and type of mutations of the K-ras proto-oncogene exon I and p53 tumor suppressor gene exons 5-8 were analyzed in colorectal carcinomas of 65 patients from Central Europe, using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-cold single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) screening and direct sequencing. The incidence of K-ras activating mutations in these Central European samples was lower (25%) compared to that obtained in American and western European populations (40-50% at least), while the incidence of p53 inactivating mutations was similar (58%). These results suggest that some other genetically linked mechanisms may play a role in CRC development and progression, and hence K-ras and p53 mutations cannot be considered to be universal genetic markers for CRC.
König
E A
EA
Department of Molecular Genetics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Faculty of Medicine, and 1st Institute of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Budapest.
Köves
I
I
Raşinariu
A
A
Popp
A R
AR
Kusser
W C
WC
Soyonki
K
K
Kovács
A
A
Glickman
B W
BW
Jeney
A
A
Marcsek
Z L
ZL
D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017931:DNA Primers; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005060:Europe; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D011905:Genes, ras / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics*
D017931:DNA Primers; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53