title: Genetic and epigenetic analysis of the KLF4 gene in gastric cancer.
abstract: KLF4, which is also known as the gut-enriched Kruppel-like factor, plays important roles during the proliferation and differentiation of gastrointestinal epithelial cells. A loss of KLF4 expression has been observed in human tumors, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract. In this study, the molecular basis of the KLF4 inactivation in gastric cancer was investigated by analyzing the somatic mutation, the allelic loss with two microsatellite markers, D9S53 and D9S105, and hypermethylation of the KLF4 gene in 47 gastric adenomas and 81 gastric adenocarcinomas. Mutational analysis revealed one mutation of the KLF4 gene in a diffuse-type advanced gastric adenocarcinoma, but not in the gastric adenoma. This mutation was a somatic missense mutation, GGG-->AGG (Gly-->Arg) at codon 107 in exon 3, which encodes a transcriptional activation domain of the protein. An allelic loss was found in 7 (22.6%) of the 31 informative gastric adenoma cases and 15 (31.3%) of the 48 informative cancer cases at one or both markers. In addition, promoter hypermethylation of the KLF4 gene was observed in only two gastric cancers. These results suggest that genetic and epigenetic alterations of the KLF4 gene might play a minor role in gastric carcinogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yong Gu
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Jae Hwi
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Chang Jae
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Suk Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Nam Jin
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Jung Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Won Sang
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D000090062:Kruppel-Like Factor 4; D051741:Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D019656:Loss of Heterozygosity; D020125:Mutation, Missense; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C000715467:KLF4 protein, human; D000090062:Kruppel-Like Factor 4; D051741:Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors