title: C8orf4 is a transforming growth factor B induced transcript downregulated in metastatic colon cancer.
abstract: Transforming growth factor (TGF) beta mediates a tumor suppressor pathway in human colon epithelial cells. We were interested in identifying and characterizing novel genes regulated by the TGF beta pathway in the colon. We employed expression microarrays to identify transcripts induced by TGF beta in Vaco 330, a colon adenoma cell line. We then used expression microarrays to determine which of these TGF beta induced transcripts are down-regulated in metastatic colon cancer. Northern analysis and real-time reverse transcription PCR confirmed and quantified our findings from the microarrays. These analyses highlighted C8orf4 as induced by TGF beta in colon cells. Moreover, C8orf4 is expressed in most normal colon mucosa samples, and is not expressed in most colon cancer metastases or colon cancer cell lines. Colon cancer primary tumors showed reduced expression of C8orf4 relative to normal mucosa, possibly reflecting contributions of C8orf4 expression in stromal cells. C8orf4 is a gene regulated by TGF beta signaling and loss in advanced colon cancer suggests C8orf4 may play a role in colon cell differentiation or growth regulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Elaine B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Brunschwig
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Platzer
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Sanford D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Markowitz
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000235:genetics*; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015398:Signal Transduction; D017154:Stromal Cells; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; C418741:TCIM protein, human; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta