title: High expression of both mutant and wild-type alleles of c-kit in gastrointestinal stromal tumors.
abstract: Most gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) contain activating mutations of the proto-oncogene c-kit. The GNNK- isoform of c-kit has a greater oncogenic potential than the GNNK+ isoform. We studied tumors from 29 patients with GIST, 19 of whom had c-kit mutations, and compared them to normal cells and HMC-1 mast cell line. c-kit transcripts were quantified by real-time PCR. The ratios of GNNK-/+ isoforms and of wild-type/mutant alleles were determined by RT-PCR and fluorometric quantification. On average, GISTs contained 1.9 times more c-kit transcripts than the HMC-1 cell line and GISTs with c-kit mutations contained 2.8 times more c-kit transcripts than those without (P=0.003). The median GNNK-/+ isoform ratios in GISTs with and without c-kit mutations were 4.4 and 4.1, respectively, and there was no difference in the GNNK-/+ ratios between the GISTs and the control samples. Both mutant and wild-type alleles of c-kit were expressed in similar amounts in 13/15 mutant GISTs. The oncogenic effects of KIT in GISTs are not related to the higher expression level of the GNNK- isoform. The high expression level of both mutated and wild-type allele transcripts of c-kit suggests that interactions between spontaneously activated and normal c-kit receptors are important in GIST tumorigenesis.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U268, Villejuif 94804, France.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Théou
authors.forename: Séverine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tabone
authors.forename: Raphael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saffroy
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Le Cesne
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Julié
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cortez
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lavergne-Slove
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Debuire
authors.forename: Antoinette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lemoine
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Emile
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000473:pathology; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit