Telomere shortening in Barrett's mucosa and esophageal adenocarcinoma and its association with loss of heterozygosity.
OBJECTIVE
Telomere shortening is thought to be associated with genetic instability. The purpose of this study was to measure telomere length in a series of Barrett's adenocarcinomas (BAs), focusing on the telomere/centromere fluorescent intensity ratio (TCR) with tissue quantitative fluorescent in situ hybridization (Q-FISH).


METHODS
A total of 11 cases of BA were evaluated for upper esophagus (UE), lower esophagus (LE), Barrett's mucosa (BM), BA, and gastric cardiac mucosa (GC). Q-FISH was performed using two kinds of peptide nucleic acid probe, specific for telomeres and centromeres. The sections were analyzed with a CCD camera and original software (Tissue Telo) for measuring TCR. In addition, Laser Capture Microdissection and GeneScan were implemented for evaluation of genetic instability.


RESULTS
The TCR values in BM and, to a lesser extent, BA were significantly lower than those in the other tissues, particularly in heterozygosity (LOH)-positive cases. However, no significant difference was evident between microsatellite instability (MSI)-positive and -negative groups.


CONCLUSIONS
In our study of BA series, telomere length appeared to change with the degree of histological atypia, with decreases linked to LOH.
Shiraishi
Hiroaki
H
Departments of Surgery, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan. shiraishi-h@kitasato.or.jp
Mikami
Tetuo
T
Aida
Junko
J
Nakamura
Ken-Ichi
K
Izumiyama-Shimomura
Naotaka
N
Arai
Tomio
T
Watanabe
Masahiko
M
Okayasu
Isao
I
Takubo
Kaiyo
K
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001471:Barrett Esophagus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D019656:Loss of Heterozygosity; D008297:Male; D053842:Microsatellite Instability; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D011336:Probability; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D046509:Tissue Culture Techniques
D005819:Genetic Markers