Axin, the main component of the Wnt signaling pathway, is not mutated in kidney tumors in children.
The Wnt signaling pathway is essential for embryonic development and can be involved in tumorigenesis when aberrantly activated. In a subset of Wilms' tumors, beta-catenin mutations have been identified, and this suggested that abnormally activated Wnt signaling may contribute to tumorigenesis of this tumor. Because Axin has been recognized as a main component of Wnt signaling, and its mutations were reported in several types of malignancies, we analyzed Axin gene mutations in 22 pediatric renal tumors. Twenty-four sets of the primers, which cover the whole coding region of the Axin gene, were used for PCR-SSCP analyses. Samples revealing aberrant band patterns were further analyzed for sequencing. We have only identified 4 silent mutations in the coding region and 3 intronic polymorphisms in Axin gene, accordingly no pathogenetic gene mutations were detected. Our results indicated that mutations of Axin gene as a mechanism of tumorigenesis are not associated with pediatric renal tumors including Wilms' tumors.
Miao
Jiangyong
J
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Osaka University Medical School, Suita, Japan.
Kusafuka
Takeshi
T
Udatsu
Yuko
Y
Okada
Akira
A
D060466:Axin Protein; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins
D060466:Axin Protein; D011506:Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins