Monica Cantile 1, Luca Cindolo 2, Giorgio Napodano 2, Vincenzo Altieri 2, and Clemente Cillo 1
1 Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Federico II University Medical School, Via S. Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy
2 Department of Urology, Federico II University Medical School, Via S. Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy
Correspondence to: C Cillo, E-mail: clecillo@unina.it
Bladder carcinogenesis remains unclear despite the identification
of chemical, environmental and genetic factors. It has recently been reported
that the chromosomal region 12q13-q15, containing crucial cancer genes
such as MDM2, CDK4 and GLI, is amplified in bladder
cancer. In the same region are also located the genes of the locus HOX
C, flanked by keratin genes whose protein product may be a prognostic
marker of bladder cancer. The HOX genes constitute a network of
transcription factors controlling embryonal development and play an important
role in crucial adult eukaryotic cell functions. The molecular organization
of this 39-gene network is unique in the genome and probably acts by regulating
phenotypical cell identity. We have analysed the expression of the whole
HOX
gene network in pairs of normal-tumour bladder and in tumoral biopsies.
Comparison between normal urothelium and bladder tumour has identified
dramatic variations of expression in a block of three genes (HOX C4,
HOX
C5 and HOX C6) localized in the HOX C locus on the chromosome
12q13 and in the paralogous group 11 HOX genes, involved during
normal development in the formation of the
urogenital system. These data suggest a key involvement of the HOX
gene network, and especially the locus C, in bladder cancer.
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