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Transglutaminase‐3, an esophageal cancer–related gene
Author(s) -
Chen BaoSheng,
Wang MingRong,
Xu Xin,
Cai Yan,
Xu ZhiXiong,
Han YaLing,
Wu Min
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0215(20001215)88:6<862::aid-ijc4>3.0.co;2-l
Subject(s) - tissue transglutaminase , esophageal cancer , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , northern blot , western blot , gene expression , gene , pathology , cancer , enzyme , biochemistry , medicine , genetics
Transglutaminase‐3 (TGase‐3) is an enzyme with the ability to catalyze the irreversible cross‐linking of peptide‐bound glutamine residues either with peptide‐bound lysines or with primary amines. It has been implicated in the formation and assembly of the cornified cell envelope of the epidermis, hair follicle and perhaps other stratified squamous epithelia. We show here the involvement of TGase‐3 in human esophageal cancer. In an initial study, mRNA differential display was performed with 3 pairs of esophageal cancer tissues and matched normal adjacent mucosa by a 10‐mer arbitrary primer and mixed anchored primers (GT15N, N = A, C and G). Four differentially expressed cDNA bands were consistently observed in all 3 normal tissues but barely detected in their tumor counterparts. One of them was identified to be the 3` end of TGase‐3. Northern blot and dot blot analyses of 14 samples confirmed the down‐regulation of TGase‐3 in malignant tissues compared with normal epithelia. RT‐PCR revealed that TGase‐3 expression was lost in 3 esophageal carcinoma cell lines and decreased in 35/38 tumors compared with adjacent normal mucosa. Taken together, 49/52 (94.2%) esophageal tumors presented down‐regulation of the gene. Our data suggest that alteration of TGase‐3 expression is a common event in the development of human esophageal cancer. Int. J. Cancer 88:862–865, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.