Beta-catenin gene analysis in oral squamous cell carcinoma

THE MOLECULAR MECHANISM INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA(OSCC) ARE NOT YET WELL UNDERSTOOD. EVIDENCE OF RECENT STUDIES SUGGEST THAT ABERRANT BETA-CATENIN SIGNALLING MAY PARTECIPATE IN THE NEOPLASTIC TRANSFORMATION AND THATIT IS IMPLICATED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERAL TUMORS. BETA-CATENINE IS A COMPONENT OF THE CATENIN FAMILY AND PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN CADHERIN MEDIATED CELL ADHESION. HOWEVER IT HAS RECENTLY BEEN SHOW THAT BETA-CATENIN IS ALSO INVOLVED IN OTHER FUNCTIONS SUCH AS INTRACELLULAR SIGNALLING AND THE REGULATION OF GENE TRANSCRIPTION. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY IS TO EVALUATE THE PRESENCE OF MUTATION IN EXON 3 OF THE BETA-CATENIN GENE IN 20 OSCC CELL LINES. DNA WAS EXTRACTED USING QIAGEN QIAMP DNA MINIKIT AND A REGION ENCOMPASSING THE EXON 3 OF BETA-CATENIN GENE WAS AMPLIFIED USING A SINGLE PCR ASSAY. THE PCR PRODUCTS WERE ANALYSED BY SSCP AND DIRECT SEQUENCING TO DETECT ANY MUTATION OF THE GENE. MOST OF THE CELL LINES EXAMINED SHOWED BY IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE, A BETA-CATENIN DELOCALIZATION. SSCP AND SEQUENCE ANALYSIS OF THE PCR PRODUCTS DID NOT SHOW ANY MUTATION OF THE BETA-CATENIN GENE IN ANY OF THE CELLS LINES. IN CONCLUSION, ALTHOUGH ABERRANT EXPRESSIONS OR ABNORMAL LOCALIZATION OF BETA-CATENIN HEVE BEEN DETECTED IN SEVERAL OSCC CELLS, IT APPEARS THAT THIS FINDING HAS NO RELATIONSHIP WITH BETA-CATENIN GENE MUTATIONS.