Methylation of the RASSF1A Gene in Human Cancers
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Gerd P. Pfeifer
Abstract
Loss of genetic material from chromosome 3p21.3 is one of the most common and earliest events in the pathogenesis of lung cancer and many other solid tumors. The chromosomal area 3p21.3 is thought to harbor at least one important tumor suppressor gene, which, despite many years of investigation, has remained elusive. In our previous studies, we have identified and cloned a gene from the common homozygous deletion area at 3p21.3. The gene, named RASSF1A (Ras ASSociation domain Family 1A), has homology to a mammalian Ras effector. The RASSF1A gene is epigenetically inactivated in a large percentage of human lung cancers, in particular small cell carcinomas. A high frequency of methylation of RASSF1A is found also in breast cancers, renal cell carcinomas, ovarian, gastric and bladder cancers, and in neuroblastomas. The RASSF1A gene is a candidate for a tumor suppressor gene in 3p21.3.
Copyright © 2002 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
Articles in the same Issue
- Highlight: Environmental Mutagenesis
- DNA Double-Strand Break Repair by Homologous Recombination
- An Overview of the Analysis of DNA Methylation in Mammalian Genomes
- Methylation of the RASSF1A Gene in Human Cancers
- Exocyclic DNA Adducts as Oxidative Stress Markers in Colon Carcinogenesis: Potential Role of Lipid Peroxidation, Dietary Fat and Antioxidants
- DNA Polymorphisms as Modulators of Genotoxicity and Cancer
- Recent Aspects of Oxidative DNA Damage: Guanine Lesions, Measurement and Substrate Specificity of DNA Repair Glycosylases
- The Bacterial Regulatory Protein H-NS A Versatile Modulator of Nucleic Acid Structures
- Molecular Mechanisms of Nickel Carcinogenesis
- DNA Binding Properties of the Yeast Msh2-Msh6 and Mlh1-Pms1 Heterodimers
- N-Hydroxyarylamine O-Acetyltransferase-Deficient Escherichia coli Strains Are Resistant to the Mutagenicity of Nitro Compounds
- Functional Genomics of C190T Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in Human N-Acetyltransferase 2
- Increase in Ceramide Level Alters the Lysosomal Targeting of Cathepsin D prior to Onset of Apoptosis in HT-29 Colon Cancer Cells
- Reconstitution of Transport-Active Multidrug Resistance Protein 2 (MRP2; ABCC2) in Proteoliposomes
- Processing of the Human Transferrin Receptor at Distinct Positions within the Stalk Region by Neutrophil Elastase and Cathepsin G
- Analysis of the Prion Protein in Primates Reveals a New Polymorphism in Codon 226 (Y226F)
- Inducibility of the Streptomyces traRts107-Ptra Expression Cassette in Mycobacterium smegmatis
Articles in the same Issue
- Highlight: Environmental Mutagenesis
- DNA Double-Strand Break Repair by Homologous Recombination
- An Overview of the Analysis of DNA Methylation in Mammalian Genomes
- Methylation of the RASSF1A Gene in Human Cancers
- Exocyclic DNA Adducts as Oxidative Stress Markers in Colon Carcinogenesis: Potential Role of Lipid Peroxidation, Dietary Fat and Antioxidants
- DNA Polymorphisms as Modulators of Genotoxicity and Cancer
- Recent Aspects of Oxidative DNA Damage: Guanine Lesions, Measurement and Substrate Specificity of DNA Repair Glycosylases
- The Bacterial Regulatory Protein H-NS A Versatile Modulator of Nucleic Acid Structures
- Molecular Mechanisms of Nickel Carcinogenesis
- DNA Binding Properties of the Yeast Msh2-Msh6 and Mlh1-Pms1 Heterodimers
- N-Hydroxyarylamine O-Acetyltransferase-Deficient Escherichia coli Strains Are Resistant to the Mutagenicity of Nitro Compounds
- Functional Genomics of C190T Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in Human N-Acetyltransferase 2
- Increase in Ceramide Level Alters the Lysosomal Targeting of Cathepsin D prior to Onset of Apoptosis in HT-29 Colon Cancer Cells
- Reconstitution of Transport-Active Multidrug Resistance Protein 2 (MRP2; ABCC2) in Proteoliposomes
- Processing of the Human Transferrin Receptor at Distinct Positions within the Stalk Region by Neutrophil Elastase and Cathepsin G
- Analysis of the Prion Protein in Primates Reveals a New Polymorphism in Codon 226 (Y226F)
- Inducibility of the Streptomyces traRts107-Ptra Expression Cassette in Mycobacterium smegmatis
