Screening of N-ras gene mutations in urothelial cell carcinomas of the urinary bladder in the Kashmiri population.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to assess the frequency of specific-point mutations in N-ras of the RAS gene family in a group of Kashmiri patients with bladder cancer and to observe any association with clinicopathological parameters.


METHODS
Paired tumor and normal tissue specimens of 55 consecutive patients with urothelial cell carcinoma were screened and DNA was extracted for detection of N-ras activating mutations in exons 1 and 2. In addition, blood was also collected from all the cases to rule out any germ line mutation.


RESULTS
Specific point mutations of activated N-ras were detected in 9% (5 of 55) of the bladder cancer patients, all being missense. The base substitutions identified included three transversions (two G toT and one A to T) and two transitions ( A-G). Sixty % of the mutations were detected in codon 61 and 40% in codon 12. No significant correlations were found between the mutations and clinical features.


CONCLUSIONS
Although N-ras gene mutation might be one of the mechanisms underlying oncogenesis of urothelial cancer, it seems to be a relatively rare event in Kasmiris, pointing to involvement of different etiological factors in the induction of bladder tumor in this population.
Pandith
Arshad A
AA
Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine, Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, Kashmir, India. arshaajiz@gmail.com
Shah
Zaffar A
ZA
Khan
Nighat P
NP
Bhat
Adfar Y
AY
Wani
Saleem M
SM
Siddiqi
Mushtaq A
MA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003062:Codon; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D011905:Genes, ras / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017354:Point Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D019459:Urothelium / Q000473:pathology
D003062:Codon