Immunohistochemical and mutational analysis of FLASH in gastric carcinomas.
FLASH was initially identified as a pro-apoptotic protein that transmits an apoptosis signal during death receptor-induced apoptosis. Additionally, diverse biologic roles of FLASH, including TNF-induced NF-kappaB activation, cell-cycle progression and cell division, have been identified. Although such functions are important in cancer pathogenesis, little is known about the alterations of FLASH gene and FLASH protein expression in human cancers. In this study, we analyzed the expression of FLASH protein in 60 gastric adenocarcinomas by immunohistochemistry. We furthermore analyzed mutation of FLASH in exon 8, where two polyadenine tracts ((A)8 and (A)9) are present, by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) assay in 184 gastric adenocarcinomas. By immunohistochemistry, FLASH protein expression in cancer cells was detected positively in 42 gastric carcinoma tissues (70%), whereas its expression in epithelial cells of normal gastric mucosa was shown as no or very weak intensity. Mutational analysis detected one FLASH mutation in the gastric carcinomas (0.5%). The increased expression of FLASH in the malignant gastric epithelial cells compared to the normal mucosal epithelial cells suggests that FLASH expression may play a role in gastric tumorigenesis. Also, the data suggest that somatic mutation of FLASH is a rare event in gastric carcinomas.
Jeong
Eun Goo
EG
Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
Lee
Sung Hak
SH
Lee
Hae Woo
HW
Soung
Young Hwa
YH
Yoo
Nam Jin
NJ
Lee
Sug Hyung
SH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017209:Apoptosis; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology
D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; C485604:CASP8AP2 protein, human; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins