Pancreatic cancer associated fibroblasts display normal allelotypes.
BACKGROUND
Recent studies have reported widespread copy number alterations and p53 mutations arising in cancer associated stromal cells. The aim of this study was to determine if pancreatic cancer associated fibroblasts display similar genetic alterations.


METHODS
Cancer-associated fibroblast cultures were established from 7 primary pancreatic adenocarcinomas. These fibroblasts and corresponding normal tissues when available were analyzed for genome-wide copy number changes using Affymetrix 250K SNP microarrays. Evidence of p53 protein expression, an indicator of p53 mutation was determined by immunohistochemical labeling of tissue microarrays containing 117 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas.


RESULTS
Pancreatic cancer associated fibroblasts did not show any evidence of somatic copy number gains or losses. p53 protein expression was confined to invasive pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells and was not expressed in cancer-associated fibroblasts.


CONCLUSIONS
We find no evidence that pancreatic cancer associated fibroblasts harbor somatic copy number changes or immunohistochemical evidence of p53 mutations.
Walter
Kimberly
K
Department of Pathology, The Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, USA.
Omura
Noriyuki
N
Hong
Seung-Mo
SM
Griffith
Margaret
M
Goggins
Michael
M
D000465:Algorithms; D000483:Alleles; D021441:Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000378:metabolism*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D016158:Genes, p53; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism
D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53