title: Human urine contains small, 150 to 250 nucleotide-sized, soluble DNA derived from the circulation and may be useful in the detection of colorectal cancer.
abstract: Human urine has been shown to possess submicrogram per milliliter amounts of DNA. We show here that DNA isolated from human urine resolves into two size categories: the large species, greater than 1 kb, being predominantly cell associated and heterogeneous in size, and the smaller, between 150 to 250 bp, being mostly non-cell associated. We showed that the low molecular weight class of urine DNA is derived from the circulation, by comparing the mutated K-ras sequences present in DNA isolated from tumor, blood, and urine derived from an individual with a colorectal carcinoma (CRC) containing a mutation in codon 12 of the K-ras proto-oncogene. In the urine, mutated K-ras sequences were abundant in the low molecular weight species, but far less abundant in the large molecular weight-derived DNA. Finally, the possibility that detection of mutant K-ras sequences in DNA derived from the urine correlates with the occurrence of a diagnosis of CRC and polyps that contain mutant K-ras was explored in a blinded study. There was an 83% concurrence of mutated DNA detected in urine and its corresponding disease tissue from the same individuals, when paired urine and tissue sections from 20 subjects with either CRC or adenomatous polyps were analyzed for K-ras mutation. The possibility that the source of the trans renal DNA is apoptotic cells, and the potential use of this finding for cancer detection and monitoring is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Jefferson Center for Biomedical Research, Thomas Jefferson University, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, USA. Yinghsiu.Su@Jefferson.edu
authors.forename: Ying-Hsiu
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Mengjun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Dean E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Brenner
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Hovsep
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Melkonyan
authors.forename: Samuil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Umansky
authors.forename: Sapna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Syngal
authors.forename: Timothy M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Block
mesh_terms: D018256:Adenomatous Polyps / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000652:urine; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000652:urine; D004247:DNA / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000473:pathology*; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras) / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D004247:DNA; C501009:HRAS protein, human; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras)