title: Genetic alteration and expression of the phosphoinositol-3-kinase/Akt pathway genes PIK3CA and PIKE in human glioblastomas.
abstract: Glioblastomas frequently carry genetic alterations resulting in an aberrant activation of the phosphoinositol-3-kinase (Pi3k)/protein kinase B (Akt) signalling pathway, including most notably phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) mutation, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) amplification and rearrangement, as well as carboxyl-terminal modulator protein (CTMP) hypermethylation [Knobbe et al., (2004) Hypermethylation and transcriptional downregulation of the carboxyl-terminal modulator protein gene in glioblastomas. J Natl Cancer Institute, 96, 483-486]. Here, we investigated two further Pi3k/Akt pathway genes, namely PIK3CA (3q26.3) and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase enhancer (PIKE) (CENTG1, 12q14), for genetic alteration and aberrant expression in a series of 97 primary glioblastomas. Single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of PIK3CA revealed somatic mutations in five tumours (5%). Twelve glioblastomas (12%) showed amplification of PIKE with invariable co-amplification of the adjacent CDK4 gene. All tumours with PIKE amplification as well as the vast majority of glioblastomas without amplification demonstrated increased expression of PIKE-A but not PIKE-S/L transcripts as compared with non-neoplastic brain tissue. Taken together, our data support an important role of PIK3CA and PIKE gene aberrations in the molecular pathogenesis of primary glioblastomas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropathology, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Knobbe
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trampe-Kieslich
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Reifenberger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001483:Base Sequence; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D058534:Class I Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D020690:GTPase-Activating Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D005784:Gene Amplification; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D020690:GTPase-Activating Proteins; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D058534:Class I Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; C484760:PIK3CA protein, human; C485997:AGAP2 protein, human; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins