title: Expression of N-myristoyltransferase in human brain tumors.
abstract: N-myristoylation is a process of covalent irreversible protein modification that promotes association of proteins with membranes. Based on our previous findings of elevated N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) activity in colonic epithelial neoplasms that appears at an early stage in colonic carcinogenesis, together with elevated NMT expression in human colorectal and gallbladder carcinomas, we investigated NMT activity and protein expression of NMT1 and NMT2 in human brain tumors and documented elevated NMT activity and higher protein expressions. For the first time, we have demonstrated that NMT has the potential to be used as a marker of human brain tumors. However, further studies with larger number of patients are required to establish its role as a complementary diagnostic tool. This finding has significant implications for further understanding of biological mechanisms involved in tumorigenesis, as well as for diagnosis and therapy of human brain tumors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchew, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 4H4.
authors.forename: Yanjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Ponniah
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Selvakumar
authors.forename: Kaiser
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Anuraag
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shrivastav
authors.forename: Gagan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bajaj
authors.forename: Lothar
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Resch
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Griebel
authors.forename: Daryl
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fourney
authors.forename: Kotoo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Meguro
authors.forename: Rajendra K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D000217:Acyltransferases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000502:physiology*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D000217:Acyltransferases; C050480:glycylpeptide N-tetradecanoyltransferase