Relationship between invasiveness of pituitary somatotrophinomas and structural abnormalities of protein kinase C gene in human.

The potential role of the protein kinase C (PKC) transduction system in controlling proliferation of human pituitary somatotrophinomas was investigated. Twenty somatotrophinomas were studied using PCR and direct sequencing methods. No point mutation within the alpha PKC gene, previously thought to be associated with invasive pituitary tumors, was found in any of the 20 somatotrophinomas. It is concluded that PKC transduction system may play an important role in controlling pituitary somatotrophinoma proliferation, but there is no correlation between invasiveness and the previously reported alpha PKC gene mutation.