Comparative study of the expression of Rb and p53 genes in human colorectal cancers, colon carcinoma cell lines and synchronized human fibroblasts.

We have compared the expression of the retinoblastoma (Rb) and p53 genes in normal human fibroblasts, colon carcinoma cell lines, matched pairs of colorectal tumor tissues and adjacent normal mucosa and in synchronized human diploid fibroblast cell line WI38. The increased expression of Rb and p53 RNA was observed in a majority of colorectal cancers in comparison to adjacent normal mucosa and is accompanied by proportional increase in the expression of histone H3 gene. The Rb and p53 RNA levels varied significantly between the various colon carcinoma cell lines. However, we found that the expression of Rb and p53 RNA is regulated differently in cell cycle synchronized normal human fibroblasts. The Rb mRNA level did not change with the position in the cell cycle and did not differ significantly whether the cells were serum deprived or in 10% serum. But p53 mRNA expression follows the same pattern as histone H3 mRNA.