title: Molecular cloning and characterization of NAG-7: a novel gene downregulated in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify novel tumor suppressor genes at chromosome 3p24-26 in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty epithelial-derived expressed sequence tags (EST) were selected from chromosome 3p24-26. RT-PCR and Northern blot were used to detect the expression of the ESTs in NPC cell line, HNE-1, and primary cultures of normal nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. One EST, which was substantially downregulated in the HNE-1 cell line, was detected in 19 NPC biopsy samples. cDNA library screening was used to get its full sequence and the sequence of this novel gene was analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A novel gene located at chromosome 3p25.3 was obtained and named NAG-7. It was downregulated in 26.3% (5/19) of NPC biopsy samples. Its 1677 bp full length cDNA had a potential open reading frame predicting a 94 amino acid protein with a molecular weight of 11,023.87 Dalton. Analysis of the NAG-7 gene showed that it was a transmembrane protein containing a protein kinase C phosphorylation site and a myristyl site. It has no significant homology to any reported genes in the database of GenBank.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NAG-7 is a novel gene downregulated in NPC, suggesting that it may be involved in the development of NPC.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cellular/Molecular Genetics, Cancer Research Institute, Hunan Medical University, Changsha 410078, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bin
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002893:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 3; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry; D015536:Down-Regulation; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D016147:Genes, Tumor Suppressor; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary