title: Expression of pro-apoptotic Bfk isoforms reduces during malignant transformation in the human gastrointestinal tract.
abstract: Reduced expression of pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins has been described in many gastrointestinal cancers, and may play a role in tumourigenesis. The human homologue of the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein, Bfk, is predominantly expressed in tissues of the gastrointestinal tract. In colon, four alternatively spliced isoforms were identified; of which two are pro-apoptotic when overexpressed. In the transition from normal tissue to tumour, pro-apoptotic Bfk isoform expression is substantially reduced in up to 80% of tumours isolated from the human gastrointestinal tract (8/10 colonic tumours and 26/37 of all gastrointestinal tumours) compared to 3/117 tumours from outside the gastrointestinal tract. These data suggest that pro-apoptotic isoforms of Bfk may help to protect against the development of human gastrointestinal malignancy.
authors.affiliation: Academic Unit of Respiratory Medicine, Division of Genomic Medicine, University of Sheffield, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Glossop Road, Sheffield, S10 2JF, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Clare E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Dempsey
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dive
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.forename: Frances A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lobo
authors.forename: Colin D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Bingle
authors.forename: Moira K B
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Whyte
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Renshaw
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017209:Apoptosis; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000737:chemistry; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C481505:BCL2L15 protein, human; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D012333:RNA, Messenger