title: Expression profile of Rho kinases in urinary bladder cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the expression of RhoA, RhoB, RhoC, Rac1 and Cdc42 kinases in urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) of the urinary bladder and determine the expression profile of 107 Rho-associated genes, including GTPases, GDIs, GAPs and GEFs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rho expression was investigated using microarrays, qPCR and Western blotting in 77 UCC specimens with paired normal urothelium. Computational analysis was also performed on Gene Expression Omnibus datasets. Further microarray analysis was carried out for the expression profiling of the Rho-associated genes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  RhoB mRNA and protein levels were significantly lower in UCC, suggesting a tumour-suppressor role. On the contrary, mRNA of RhoC and protein levels of RhoA, RhoC and Cdc42, respectively, were significantly higher in UCC vs. normal tissue. High Cdc42 mRNA levels correlated with worse overall survival (p=0.027), whereas high RhoB mRNA levels correlated both with better overall (p=0.0258) and cancer-specific (p=0.0272) survival. Computational analysis verified the expression profile of Rho kinases among superficial UCCs, muscle-invasive UCCs and normal tissues.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The majority of the Rho-related genes showed over-expression in UCC vs. normal tissue. Alterations in RhoA, RhoB, RhoC, Rac1 and Cdc42 expression play a significant role in the genesis and progression of UCC of the urinary bladder.
authors: Department of Clinical Virology, University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Volanis
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Zaravinos
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Kadiyska
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Delakas
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Zoumpourlis
authors: D A
authors: DA
authors: Spandidos
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein / Q000235:genetics; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D020743:rhoB GTP-Binding Protein / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases; D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein; D020743:rhoB GTP-Binding Protein