Matsunaga T, Shirasawa H, Tanabe M, Ohnuma N, Kawamura K, Etoh T, Takahashi H, Simizu B
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Chiba University, School of Medicine, Japan.
Int J Cancer. 1994 Sep 15;58(6):793-8. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910580607.
Neuron-specific src mRNA, which is expressed in human brain tissue by alternative splicing, is associated with neural differentiation. Neuronal c-srcNI expression may be associated with the ability of neuroblastomas to mature; furthermore, c-srcN2 mRNA is induced in chemically differentiated neuroblastoma cells in vitro. The prognosis of a patient with a neuroblastoma is strongly affected by the ability of the tumor to differentiate in vivo. In order to clarify the relationship between neuronal src mRNA expression and the clinical outcome of a neuroblastoma, we analyzed the expression of src mRNA in neuroblastoma tissues from 28 patients by SI-nuclease-protection assay. N-myc gene amplification was also examined by Southern blot hybridization. The clinical significance of neuronal src mRNA expression and its relevance to N-myc gene amplification was also investigated. A high ratio (more than 10%) of c-srcN2 mRNA expression was observed in all early-stage tumors and in advanced neuroblastomas with a favorable prognosis. In contrast, in advanced neuroblastomas with an aggressive clinical phenotype, c-srcN2 mRNA expression was found at a low ratio (below 10%). Genomic amplification of the N-myc gene and expression of c-srcN2 mRNAs were inversely correlated. When combined with other prognostic markers such as N-myc gene amplification, the expression of c-srcN2 mRNA may be a new biological marker to predict the prognosis of patients with neuroblastomas.
