Brief Research Report Regional Difference in TRAF2 and TRAF3 Gene Mutations in Colon Cancers.

and genes of tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNF-R)-associated factor (TRAF) family are involved in diverse cell signaling, and function as both tumor suppressor gene and oncogene. Alterations of and in colon cancer (CC) along with their regional difference and microsatellite instability (MSI) are largely unknown. In the present study, we analyzed and frameshift mutations in 168 sporadic CCs (100 high MSI (MSI-H) and 68 microsatellite-stable (MSS) CCs). We identified and frameshift mutations in 4 (4%) and 3 CCs (3%) with MSI-H, respectively, but none in 68 cases of MSS CCs. Of the 168 CCs, we analyzed the mutations in multi-regions for 39 CCs (16 MSI-H and 23 MSS CCs), and discovered that 12.5% (2/16) and 6.3% (1/16) of MSI-H CCs exhibited regional difference in and mutations, respectively. In the multi-region samples of 23 MSS CCs, neither nor frameshift mutation was found. In 40% of CCs, both TRAF2 and TRAF3 expressions were increased compared to normal colon cells. Our data indicate that and frameshift mutations and their regional difference as well as altered expressions are present in MSI-H CCs, which could contribute to MSI-H cancer development.