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Gene Expression of TGF‐α, EGF and IL‐6 in Cultured Renal Tubular Cells and Renal Cell Carcinoma
Author(s) -
Aoyagi Teiichiro,
Takishima Kunio,
Hayakawa Masamichi,
Nakamura Hiroshi
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
international journal of urology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.172
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1442-2042
pISSN - 0919-8172
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-2042.1996.tb00560.x
Subject(s) - renal cell carcinoma , autocrine signalling , cytokine , transforming growth factor , tgf alpha , medicine , epidermal growth factor , cancer research , epidermal growth factor receptor , cell growth , cell culture , alpha (finance) , pathology , biology , receptor , genetics , construct validity , nursing , patient satisfaction
Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is thought to arise from the renal tubular cells (RTC). Assuming that proliferating RTC imply a premalignant change of RTC into RCC, messenger RNA expressions of growth factors in cultured RTC were compared to both cultured and frozen noncultured RCC. Methods: The expression of transforming growth factor‐alpha (TGF‐α), epidermal growth factor (EGF), EGF receptor (EGFR) and Interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) were studied in surgically obtained RCC (n=17), cultured RCC (n=10), and autologous cultured RTC (n = 15). Quantitation of the PCR product was performed using a computer image analyzer which evaluated the intensity of each cytokine relative to β‐actin. Results: TGF‐α, EGFR and IL‐6 were detected in most of the cultured RTC, and both cultured and noncultured RCC were also expressed at high levels. In contrast to a high positivity of TGF‐α, EGF was not strongly positive in all specimens. Conclusions: Our results show that there is a predominant autocrine production of TGF‐α in RCC and RTC, suggesting that TGF‐α plays a distinct role in the proliferation of these cells. These studies also indicate that the mechanisms of proliferation and cytokine production of RCC and RTC are similar.