
[Cancer Research 60, 7014-7020, December 15, 2000]
© 2000 American Association for Cancer Research
Cloning and Characterization of UROC28, a Novel Gene Overexpressed in Prostate, Breast, and Bladder Cancers1
Gang An,
Angela Y. Ng,
C. S. Reddy Meka,
Guizhen Luo,
Steven P. Bright,
Lisa Cazares,
George L. Wright, Jr. and
Robert W. Veltri2
Research and Development, UroCor, Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104 [G. A., A. Y. N., C. S. R. M., G. L., S. P. B., R. W. V.], and Department of Microbiology and Molecular Cell Biology, Eastern Virginia Medical School and the Virginia Prostate Center, Norfolk, Virginia 23507 [L. C., G. L. W.]
 |
ABSTRACT
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A
novel gene, designated UROC28, was identified by an
agarose gel-based differential display technique, and it was found to
be up-regulated in prostate, breast, and bladder cancer. Expression of
UROC28 was also up-regulated in prostate cancer cells in
the presence of androgens as demonstrated by relative quantitative
reverse transcription-PCR. The elevated expression of this gene
was observed to increase in surgically removed tissues concomitantly
with rising Gleason grade and was most elevated in metastatic tissue.
UROC28 protein was detected in serum by Western slot blot analyses, and
a significant higher UROC28 protein level was found in sera of prostate
cancer individuals compared with normal individuals and individuals
with nonmalignant prostatic hyperplasia. Northern analyses in normal
tissues showed that the UROC28 cDNA hybridizes to two mRNAs at about
2.1 and 2.5 kb. Nucleic acid sequence analyses indicated that these two
alternatively spliced mRNA variants differ only at the 3' untranslated
region. These two mRNAs encode the same protein with 135 amino acids.
Bioinformation analyses suggest that there is a possible transmembrane
domain from amino acid aa34 to aa50, three protein kinase-C
phosphorylation sites at aa62 (SQK), aa89 (TMK), and aa94 (SMK), and
one myristylation site at aa118 (GLECCL). Genomic Southern
hybridization and chromosomal mapping demonstrated that
UROC28 is encoded by a single copy of gene at chromosome
6q2324. In situ hybridization and
immunohistochemistry experiments further confirmed up-regulation of
this gene in prostate and breast cancers with the expression localizing
to the glandular epithelium. This gene did not demonstrate increased
expression in lung and colon cancer tissues.
 |
INTRODUCTION
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Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy among men in the
United States, affecting over 179,300 men and resulting in about 37,000
deaths in 1999 (1)
. A small percentage (about 1015%) of
newly diagnosed cancers are actually metastatic at the time of
diagnosis (2
, 3)
. Approximately 30% of men who are
treated for localized disease will recur and a subset of these men will
progress to androgen-independent metastatic prostate cancer
(1, 2, 3)
. The mechanism(s) for disease progression and
development of the androgen-independent state remains poorly
understood. It is not clear why some patients with prostate cancer
progress so quickly and others do not. It is possible that multiple
genetic and/or epigenetic factors contribute to the biological
heterogeneity of prostate cancer and the variability in the rate of
progression and disease-specific mortality (4
, 5)
.
Identification of genetic and epigenetic factors that may play
important roles in prostate cancer progression and metastasis is of
great significance to prostate cancer management.
Like many other cancers, the development of prostate cancer is a
multistage process involving initiation, progression, invasion, and
metastasis (6
, 7)
. Studies have demonstrated that
transformation of a normal cell to a fully malignant cell requires a
series of genetic changes including mutations of DNA and changes of
gene expression at the RNA and protein levels (8
, 9)
.
Recently, several laboratories including ours have been actively
involved in identifying genes associated with prostate cancer
progression and metastasis. These efforts have resulted in the
discovery of several genes involved in different biochemical pathways
related to the pathogenesis of prostate cancer. Examples of genes
identified include but are not limited to HER2/neu
(10)
, prostate-specific transglutaminase
(pTGase; Refs. 11
, 12
), PSMA
(13)
, caveolin (14)
,
PTEN (15)
, PSCA (16)
,
POV1 (17)
, NKX3.1 (18)
,
and ETS-2 (19)
.
In search of potential new gene markers for prostate cancer, we have
applied a modified, agarose gel-based differential display method
(20
, 21)
to isolate genes differentially expressed among
normal prostate, prostate cancer, and metastatic prostate cancer
tissues. We report here the cloning and characterization of a novel
gene, UROC28, that is overexpressed in prostate, breast, and
bladder cancer. The full cDNA sequence, chromosomal localization of the
gene, the development of a specific polyclonal antibody, and detection
of the UROC28 protein in serum are also described. The data indicate a
correlation between overexpression and the pathogenic determinants of
prostate cancer, which may support its eventual application in
diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.
 |
MATERIALS AND METHODS
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Frozen Tissue Samples and RNA Isolation.
Frozen tissues used in the experiments were obtained from the
CHTN3
(Birmingham,
AL), the Virginia Prostate Center Tissue Bank at Eastern Virginia
Medical School, (Norfolk, VA), and the Department of Urology,
University of Washington, (Seattle, WA). Pathological reports
were provided by the organizations for tissue specimens. The specimens
were quick frozen in liquid nitrogen immediately after surgery and
stored at -70°C until processed for RNA isolation. Total RNAs were
isolated from the specimens as described previously (22)
.
Total RNAs (10 µg) from each tissue were treated with 5 units of
RNase-free DNase I (Life Technologies) in the presence of 20
mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.4), 50 mM KCl, 2
mM MgCl2 and 20 units of RNase
inhibitor (Boehringer Mannheim). After extraction with
phenol/chloroform and ethanol precipitation, the RNA was redissolved in
diethylpyrocarbonate-treated H2O.
Differential Display.
A modified, agarose gel-based differential display (20
, 21)
was used to identify genes differentially expressed in
prostate cancer. RNA (10 µg) from each tissue was treated with
RNase-free DNase I as described above. Five µg from each of the RNA
samples was reverse transcribed into cDNA using random hexamers and
Moloney-murine leukemia virus (M-MLV) reverse transcriptase
(Life Technologies) following manufacturers instructions. The
reaction mixture contained 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.3), 75
mM KCl, 3 mM MgCl2, 10
mM DTT, 500 µM dNTP, 2 µM
random hexamers and 400 units of M-MLV reverse transcriptase. PCR was
performed with one arbitrary 10mer. The primer used for identifying
UROC28 was 5'-TGGAGGTTGT-3'. PCR conditions were as follows: 1x PCR
buffer [50 µM dNTPs, 0.2 µM arbitrary
primer(s), 1/20 volume (1 µl) of the cDNA, 1 unit of Taq DNA
polymerase (Life Technologies)] in a final 20-µl mixture. The
amplification parameters included 40 cycles of reaction with 30 s
denaturing at 94°C, 1 min 30 s annealing at 38°C, and 1 min
extension at 72°C. A final extension at 72°C was performed for 15
min. The PCR products were then separated on a 2% agarose gel with 0.5
µg/ml ethidium bromide, and positive bands were identified, excised,
purified by Qiaex resin (Qiagen), and cloned into plasmid by TA
cloning (Promega). The differential expression of positive bands was
confirmed by relative quantitative RT-PCR (10
, 12)
. A
gene, designated UROC28, was found up-regulated in prostate
cancer.
Full-Length cDNA Cloning and Sequencing.
A human prostate cDNA library constructed in
gt10 vector was
purchased from Clontech and used for full-length cDNA cloning of
UROC28. The method of Benton and Davis (23)
was followed
for cDNA library screening. A 0.6-Kb UROC28 cDNA fragment was labeled
with 32P using High Prime system
(Boeringer Mannheim). Two to three rounds of rescreening were carried
out to obtain a pure positive clone. Both strands of the isolated cDNA
clones were sequenced by the dideoxynucleotide-chain termination method
(24)
using a primer walking strategy.
Chromosomal Mapping.
The procedure for FISH chromosomal localization of UROC28 was performed
according to Heng et al. (25)
. Briefly,
lymphocytes were cultured in a MEM supplemented with 10% FCS and
phytohemagglutinin at 37°C for 6872 h. The lymphocyte cultures were
then treated with bromodeoxyuridine (0.18 mg/ml; Sigma) to
synchronize the cell population. The cells were then washed with
serum-free medium to release the block and recultured at 37°C for
6 h in MEM with thymidine (2.5 µg/ml; Sigma). Cells were
harvested and slides were made by using standard procedures. Slides
were baked at 55°C for 1 h. After RNase treatment, the slides
were denatured in 70% formamide in 2x SSC for 2 min at 70°C followed
by ethanol dehydration. The 0.6-Kb UROC28 cDNA probe was biotinylated
with dATP for 1 h at 15°C using BioNick labeling kit (Life
Technologies). The labeled probe was denatured at 75°C for 5 min in a
hybridization solution containing 50% formamide, 10% dextran sulfate,
and human cot I DNA. The denatured probe was loaded onto the slides and
subjected to overnight hybridization. Slides were then washed,
detected, and amplified. FISH signals and DAPI banding pattern
were recorded separately by taking photographs, and the assignment of
the FISH mapping data with chromosomal bands was achieved by
superimposing FISH signals with DAPI-banded chromosomes.
RT-PCR and Northern Hybridization.
Five µg of the DNA-free total RNA was reverse transcribed into cDNA
using random hexamers and M-MLV reverse transcriptase (Life
Technologies) following manufacturers instructions. The reaction
mixture contained 50 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.3), 75
mM KCl, 3 mM MgCl2, 10
mM DTT, 500 µM dNTP, 2 µM
random hexamers, and 400 units M-MLV reverse transcriptase. The
reaction was incubated at 22°C for 10 min, then at 37°C for 50 min.
The synthesized cDNA was used for PCR. The primers used for PCR and
their sequences are as follows: UROC28-P1, 5'-GCT TCA GGG TGG TCC AAT
TAG AGT T-3'; and UROC28-P2: 5' TCC AAC AAC GAC ACA TTC AGG AGT T 3'.
The primers amplified a 446-bp PCR product from the human UROC28 cDNA.
The relative abundance of UROC28 in the tissues was studied by a
relative quantitative RT-PCR using ß-actin as a control. The PCR
mixture contained 2 µl of cDNA, 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 9.3),
50 mM KCl, 3 mM MgCl2,
200 µM dNTP, 1.25 units of Taq DNA polymerase (Life
Technologies), and 200 nM of sense and antisense primers in
a total of 50-µl reaction. The amplification was performed in a
thermal cycler (MJ Research), which included 1-min denaturing at
94°C, 1-min annealing at 56°C, and 1-min extension at 72°C. The
PCR was run for 35 cycles for UROC28 and 22 cycles for ß-actin. The
PCR products were run on a 1.2% agarose gel with ethidium bromide. The
UROC28 bands were quantitated by an IS-1000 image analyses system
(Alpha Innotech) and normalized with that of ß-actin control.
All of the normalized values are presented as the mean ± SD.
The filter for Northern hybridization was purchased from ClonTech and
was hybridized to the 446-bp [32P]-labeled
UROC28 cDNA probe. The ClonTech Multiple Tissue Northern blots
contained 2 µg of oligo(dT)-purified mRNA from different specific
normal human tissues. Hybridization, washing, and X-ray film exposure
were performed as described previously (26)
. After
stripping, the same filter was hybridized to the ß-actin probe.
Cell Culture and DHT Treatment.
LnCaP cell line was obtained from American Type Culture Collection
(Rockville, MD). The cells were cultured in RPMI 1640 with 10%
charcoal-stripped serum for 48 h first, then incubated with RPMI
1640 with 10% charcoal-stripped serum in the presence of 0, 0.1, 1,
10, or 100 nM DHT for 24 h, respectively. RNA was
isolated and subjected to RT-PCR analyses as described above.
In Situ Hybridization.
UROC28-specific antisense nucleotide probe (5'-TCT TAA CTC GGG GCA TTT
GGT CTT C-3') and the corresponding sense probe were synthesized and
labeled with biotin at the 3' ends. Sense probe was used as the
negative control. Hybridization was performed on formalin-fixed
paraffin sections using a MicroProbe System (Fisher Scientific).
Paraffin-embedded and formalin-fixed tissues and their corresponding
pathological diagnoses were obtained from the CHTN and Department of
Pathology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (Baltimore, MD). All of
the reagents and diluents used were obtained from Research Genetics
(Huntsville, AL). Briefly, paraffin sections in 5-µm thickness were
deparaffinized using Auto Dewax solution and dehydrated with alcohol.
Sections were then treated with Auto Blocker to block any endogenous
peroxidase activity. A pretreatment with pepsin solution for 3 min at
105°C was followed by probe (100-ng/ml) incubation. Hybridization was
carried out at 105°C for 5 min and then at 45°C for one h. Sections
were then washed with PostHyb Wash solution for 5 min at 45°C before
incubation with strepavidin-HRP for 5 min at 50°C and followed by two
changes of DAB substrate incubation for 5 min (50°C) each. Sections
were counterstained with hematoxylin for 1 min before dehydration and
mounting. Polydeoxythymidylic acid hybridization control was
performed in parallel to confer the general mRNA integrity in the
paraffin sections.
Immunohistochemistry.
Anti-UROC28 rabbit polyclonal antibody was produced using a synthetic
peptide as the immunogen, which corresponds to the predicted amino acid
54 to 74 of UROC28 (Research Genetics, Huntsville, AL). The antibody
was peptide-affinity purified, and immunohistochemistry was performed
on formalin-fixed paraffin sections using a MicroProbe System (Fisher
Scientific). After dewaxing and dehydration, sections were microwaved
with citrate buffer (pH 6.0) for two time for 5 min each. The sections
were washed with deionized water and PBS (pH 7.4), then
incubated with 0.5% Triton X-100 and 0.5% milk in PBS for 5 min at
room temperature. The sections were blocked with 5% milk in PBS
containing 0.1% Triton X-100 for 20 min, then incubated with the
rabbit polyclonal antibody diluted 1:1000 with PBS containing 0.5%
milk and 0.1% Triton X-100 at 4°C overnight in a humidified chamber.
After washing three times with PBS/0.1% Triton X-100, the sections
were sequentially incubated for 20 min each with SuperSensitive
biotinylated MultiLink secondary antibody, streptavidin-alkaline
phosphatase (Biogenex), and freshly prepared Vector Red chromogen
substrate (Vector Laboratories). The sections were
counterstained with hematoxylin for one min followed by dehydration and
mounting. Rabbit preimmune serum was used as the negative control.
Sequential tissue sections used for UROC28 in situ
hybridization were used for immunohistochemistry.
Western Slot Blot.
Serum specimens from 18 normal individuals, 15 biopsy-confirmed
patients with NEM, and 14 CaP patients with the clinical cancer
stage ranging from T1a to
T4 and Gleason scores ranging from 3 to 7 (average,
6), were studied. The normal sera were residual sera obtained from
healthy male blood donors from the Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI) of
Oklahoma City, OK, and donors confidentiality is strictly held under
guidelines at OBI. The patients sera (NEM and PCa) were residual
samples from Institutional Review Board-approved cancer biomarker
studies previously conducted at UroCor with collaborators from Johns
Hopkins Medical Institutions and University of Michigan Cancer Center.
The clinical diagnoses of these patients were provided by our urologist
collaborators. All of the patients personal identifications
were kept confidential and remain unknown to UroCor staff. Each serum
specimen was assayed in duplicate, and the CV was recorded. Twenty µl
of serum from each normal or patient test sample was diluted to 100
µl with Tris-buffered solution (TBS) and blotted in duplicate onto
nitrocellulose filter using a slot blot apparatus from Bio-Rad
Laboratories (Hercules, CA). After blocking with 5% nonfat milk, the
filter was incubated with the polyclonal UROC28 antibody described in
"Immunohistochemistry" in this section in 1:500 dilution overnight
at 4°C. The filter was then washed and incubated with 1:1000 alkaline
phosphate-conjugated goat antirabbit immunoglobulins (DAKO,
Carpinteria, CA) for 1 h., washed, and then incubated with
5-bromo-chloro-3-indolylphosphate petoluidine salt/nitroblue
tetrazolium chloride chromogen/substrate (Kirkegaard & Perry
Laboratories, Gaithersburg, MD). The alkaline phosphate signal
intensity of the UROC28 protein-antibody immune complexes bands were
quantitated by an IS-1000 image analyses system (Alpha Innotech). The
positive signal intensity was quantitated using relative absorbance
units based on optical density. The average of duplicate test samples
was used for analysis. The serially diluted synthetic UROC28 peptide
was used as the positive control standard for each slot blot
immunoassay. Any patients sera with an absorbance value outside the
linear range of detection from the peptide standard curve were diluted
appropriately and reassayed when necessary. Statistical analyses were
performed using the Stata v5.0 statistical software program (STATA
Corp., College Station, TX).
 |
RESULTS
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Cloning of UROC28 cDNA.
A modified agarose gel-based mRNA differential display method
(21)
was used to identify genes differentially expressed
in prostate cancer tissue. UROC28 was identified as one of several
genes overexpressed in prostate cancer by comparing display band
patterns between normal prostate and prostate cancer. The original
identified UROC28 cDNA fragment was determined to be
0.6 kb. After
cloning into pGEM-T plasmid vector, the fragment was then fully
sequenced. A GenBank search indicated that the UROC28 fragment did not
match any known genes in the database. The human tissue specificity and
the mRNA transcript size of UROC28 were evaluated using Northern blot
analysis. Northern hybridization of the UROC28 fragment to mRNAs from
eight different organs showed a major 2-kb band in colon, prostate,
small intestine, testes, and spleen, the expression was minimal in
thymus, ovary, and peripheral blood leukocytes. An additional band at
2.4 kb was seen in prostate, and also in spleen but with less
intensity, which indicated the possibility of two alternative splicing
variants for this gene (Fig. 1)
.

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Fig. 1. Expression of UROC28 mRNA in various human
tissues. Northern hybridization was performed on human Multiple Tissue
Blot II from Clontech (Palo Alto, CA). There are eight tissues with two
µg of mRNA per lane on the blot as indicated. The blot was hybridized
with 32P-labeled DNA probe prepared from the original
0.6-kb UROC28 fragment. Arrows, the two mRNA variants
(UROC28L and UROC28S for the long and short transcripts, respectively)
detected by the probe. The same filter was striped and hybridized with
ß-actin probe.
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The full-length cDNAs of the two alternative splicing mRNA
variants were cloned by cDNA library screening and sequencing. As shown
in Fig. 2
, the two mRNA variants are
identical for 1.96 kb of their 5' sequences, including the
5'-untranslated region, the complete open reading frame, and part of
the 3' untranslated region. They differ only at the end of the 3'
untranslated region starting at 1960 bp. Both mRNAs have polyadenylic
acid tails and the predicted polyadenylation sites. The two
mRNAs have the same open reading frame, encoding a protein of 135 amino
acids (Fig. 2)
. A strong Kozak consensus sequence is found preceding
the ATG initiation codon. Bioinformatics analyses indicate that there
is a possible transmembrane domain from aa34 to aa50, three PKC
phosphorylation sites at aa62 (SQK), aa89 (TMK), and aa94 (SMK), and
one myristylation site at aa118(GLECCL). In vitro
translation experiments using rabbit reticulocyte lysate with both cDNA
variants generated a single Mr
17,000 protein product, which is the predicted size from the open
reading frame (data not shown).

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Fig. 2. Nucleotide sequences and predicted amino acid sequence of
the two UROC28 transcript variants. The two variants share the same
1960-bp 5' sequence and the open reading frame.
Underlined, the polyadenylation sites of the two
variants. A, open reading frame and deduced amino acid
sequence of both of the UROC28 transcripts. B, the
different 3' end nucleotide sequence of the UROC28 long
transcript. C, the different 3' end nucleotide
sequence of the UROC28 short transcript. The full sequences of both
forms have been deposited in the GenBank database [accession
no. AF189269 (long transcript) and AF189270 (short
transcript)].
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Differential Expression of UROC28 in Prostate
Cancer.
The differential expression of UROC28 gene in prostate
cancer was first confirmed using primers unique to each variant in a
relative quantitative RT-PCR experiment. RT-PCR was performed on five
to six frozen tissues each from normal prostate, BPH, and prostate
cancer at different Gleason scores as well as from metastatic prostate
cancer specimens. As shown in Fig. 3
, the
expression of both UROC28 variants is low in all of the normal and BPH
tissues and is up-regulated in all of the prostate cancer and
metastatic cancer tissues tested in 35 PCR cycles.

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Fig. 3. Confirmation of UROC28 differential expression by
relative quantitative RT-PCR. The results of RT-PCR for UROC28 long and
short transcripts, and ß-actin control
are shown. NP: normal prostate tissues;
CaP6, prostate cancer at Gleason score 6;
CaP7, prostate cancer at Gleason score 7;
CaP9, prostate cancer at Gleason score 9;
Met, metastatic prostate cancer; NC,
negative control.
|
|
The differential expression of both UROC28 transcript variants in
prostate cancer was further investigated in an expanded panel of frozen
tissues. RNA was isolated from 8 normal prostate tissues, 20 BPH
tissues, 28 prostate cancer tissues with different Gleason scores, and
7 metastatic prostate cancer tissues. RT-PCR was performed using
primers unique to both variants, and the expression levels were
normalized with that of ß-actin. As
shown in Fig. 4
, both variants were
similarly up-regulated in prostate cancer and metastatic prostate
cancer tissues. A low level of expression for both variants was
observed in normal tissues and NMPH tissues. Both UROC28 transcript
variants were up-regulated 3- to 4-fold in prostate cancer with varying
Gleason scores, and 4- to 6-fold in metastatic prostate cancer tissues.

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Fig. 4. Expression of UROC28 in prostate cancer with different
Gleason scores and metastatic prostate cancer. RT-PCR was performed
with primers specific to each UROC28 variant (35 PCR cycles) and
ß-actin (22 PCR cycles). The RT-PCR bands were quantitated by
densitometric analyses, and the absorbance of each UROC28 variant was
normalized with that of ß-actin. NP, normal prostate;
CaP, prostate cancer (Gleason score);
Met, metastatic prostate cancer; n, the
number of tissues used in each sample group. All of the normalized
values are presented as the mean ± SD.
|
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Expression of UROC28 mRNA and Protein in Glandular Epithelial Cells
of Prostate and Breast Cancers.
In situ hybridization with biotin-labeled UROC28-specific
oligonucleotide probe with streptavidin-HRP and DAB substrate
demonstrated that UROC28 mRNA was preferentially expressed in prostate
and breast glandular or ductal epithelial cells (Fig. 5, EH)
. The reporter HRP
enzyme reacted with DAB and yielded a brown precipitate reflecting the
level of hybridized signals. Paraffin sections from prostate cancer
with different Gleason scores ranging from 6 to 9 were analyzed for the
cellular localization and relative expression level of UROC28 mRNA.
Elevated, yet heterogeneous, UROC28 mRNA hybridization signal was
observed in prostate cancer glandular epithelium. Fig. 5F
showed the elevated UROC28 mRNA signal in Gleason score 8 prostate
cancer glandular epithelia as compared with the adjacent or distant
prostate acini without evidence of malignancy (Fig. 5E)
.
UROC28 mRNA was expressed primarily in the basal cells of the benign
prostate acini (Fig. 5E)
. Polydeoxythymidylic acid
hybridization was performed on these prostate sections as a positive
control for the integrity of the mRNA in the tissue sections. In
situ hybridization analysis also showed the up-regulation of
UROC28 mRNA in intraductal breast cancer cells (Fig. 5H)
as
compared with breast tissue without pathological evidence of malignancy
(Fig. 5G)
. These observations are in concordance with the
PCR results described below.

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Fig. 5. Elevated levels of UROC28 protein and mRNA were detected
in glandular epithelial cells of prostate and breast cancers.
Immunostaining using UROC28-specific polyclonal antibody localized the
UROC28 protein (red immunostaining signal) in the
cytoplasm of glandular epithelia of (A) nonmalignant
prostate acini, (B) prostate cancer of Gleason scores of
8, (C) nonmalignant breast tissue, and
(D) metastatic intraductal breast cancer. Nuclear
localization of UROC28 protein was also observed in prostate cancer
epithelium (B). In situ hybridization on
serial tissue sections using biotinylated UROC28-specific
oligonucleotide probe colocalized the brown hybridization signal in
glandular epithelia in (E) nonmalignant prostate acini,
(F) Gleason score 8 prostate, (G)
nonmalignant breast tissue, and (H) metastatic
intraductal breast cancer. x400.
|
|
Rabbit polyclonal anti-UC 28 antibody immunostaining also demonstrated
the expression of UROC28 protein in prostate glandular epithelial
cells. This polyclonal antibody was raised against the putative
cytoplasmic region of the UROC28 protein. Positive immunostaining is
indicated (Fig. 5)
by the red precipitate from
alkaline phosphatase reporter enzyme and the substrate. Serial tissue
sections used in the in situ localization of UROC28 mRNA
were analyzed for the expression of UROC28 protein. Similar to the
in situ hybridization findings, increased level of UROC28
protein was observed in prostate cancer glandular epithelial cells
(Fig. 5B)
as compared with the prostate glandular epithelium
without pathological evidence of malignancy (Fig. 5A)
.
Elevated UROC28 protein was also noted in ductal epithelial cells in
breast cancer sections (Fig. 5D)
as compared with the breast
counterpart without pathological evidence of malignancy (Fig. 5C)
. UROC28 protein was localized primarily in the cytoplasm
of prostate and breast cancer glandular epithelial cells (Fig. 5
AD). However, distinct nuclear localization of UROC28
protein was also noted in prostate cancer glandular epithelia (Fig. 5B)
.
Expression of UROC28 Protein in Serum.
A Western slot blot protocol was used to investigate whether
UROC28 protein is present in sera of normal and prostate cancer
individuals. As shown in Fig. 6
, the mean
serum UROC28 protein level in individuals with prostate cancer is
significantly higher than both normal and NEM individuals at 95%
confidence interval (P < 0.001). Students
t test analysis demonstrated that the mean serum UROC28
protein level between BPH and prostate cancer was significantly
different (P = 0.0003). Also, the mean URCO28
levels between normal versus NEM and normal
versus prostate cancer were both significantly different
with a P < 0.0001. These Western slot blot assays performed
reproducibly demonstrating an interassay CV of 11% and an intraassay
CV of 8%.

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Fig. 6. Detection of UROC28 protein in serum samples by Western
slot blot. Solid bold horizontal lines in the box plots,
the mean serum UROC28 protein levels for each test group. Also
in the box plots, the 5th percentile, median, and 95th
percentile of the UROC28 protein levels. Solid circles,
the minimum and maximum for UROC28 protein levels for each test group.
Sera from prostate cancer patients with a clinical stage ranging from
T1a to T4 and Gleason scores of 37
(average, 6) were included.
|
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Expression of UROC28 in Other Cancer Tissues.
To investigate whether UROC28 gene is also
differentially expressed in cancer tissues other than prostate, RNAs
from six each of both frozen normal and cancer tissues of breast,
colon, lung, and bladder origins were obtained from the CHTN, and RNA
was prepared as described above. Relative quantitative RT-PCR was
performed to evaluate expression of the smaller UROC28 transcript,
which was shown to be expressed in several tissues by Northern
hybridization (Fig. 1)
. As shown in Fig. 7
, the expression of UROC28
gene was up-regulated more than 4-fold in breast cancer, and 2.5-fold
in bladder cancer, when compared with corresponding normal tissues.
However, the gene did not show significant differential expression in
lung and colon cancers.

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Fig. 7. Expression of UROC28 in various cancers. RNAs were
isolated from six each of both frozen normal and cancer tissues of
breast, colon, lung, and bladder origins and subjected to relative
quantitative RT-PCR analyses to evaluate expression of the smaller
UROC28 transcript. ß-actin RT-PCR was
performed on the same samples for normalization. All of the normalized
values are presented as the mean ± SD.
|
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Regulation of UROC28 Expression by DHT.
Because UROC28 is up-regulated in both prostate and breast cancers, and
hormones similarly regulate both prostate and mammary glands, we tested
whether the expression of this gene is regulated by androgen. LnCaP
cells were initially culture in RPMI 1640 supplied with 10%
charcoal-stripped serum for 48 h; then different amounts of DHT
(0, 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 nM) were added to the medium and
incubated for 24 h. RNAs were then isolated and subjected to
RT-PCR analyses. As shown in Fig. 8
,
expression of UROC28 mRNA is stimulated about 2- to 4- fold by DHT, and
the stimulation is DHT dose dependent.

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Fig. 8. Stimulation of UC28 expression by DHT in LnCaP cells. The
cells were cultured in RPMI 1640 with 10% charcoal- stripped serum for
48 h first, then incubated in the same medium with indicated
amount of DHT for 24 h. RNA was isolated and subjected to RT-PCR
analyses. ß-actin RT-PCR was performed on the same samples for
normalization. All of the normalized values are presented as the
mean ± SD.
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Chromosomal Localization of UROC28 Gene.
FISH chromosomal mapping was performed to determine the chromosomal
localization of UROC28 gene. As shown in Fig. 9
, based on the match of DAPI banding and
UROC28 FISH hybridization signal, UROC28 was mapped to the long arm of
chromosome 6. The detailed position was further determined based on the
summary from 10 photos (Fig. 9C)
, which mapped the gene to
chromosome 6, region q23-q24. Both FISH mapping (Fig. 9)
and
human genomic DNA Southern hybridization (data not shown) indicated
that a single copy gene encodes UROC28.

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Fig. 9. UROC28 FISH chromosomal mapping results. A,
the FISH signals on the chromosome; B, the same mitotic
figure stained with DAPI to identify chromosome 6; C,
diagram of FISH mapping results; , the double FISH signals
detected on human chromosome 6.
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DISCUSSION
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We report the cloning of a novel gene that is overexpressed in
prostate cancer and two other cancers (breast and bladder). The gene
transcribes two mRNA variants that share most of their sequence
including the whole open reading frame. They differ only at the end of
the 3' untranslated region. Whereas the small mRNA is expressed in most
of the tissue types tested, the larger mRNA variant is confined mainly
to prostate, with some expression in spleen (Fig. 1)
. In prostate, the
expression level of the smaller transcript is about twice that of the
larger transcript (Fig. 1)
. The fact that expression of the larger mRNA
transcript is much higher in prostate when compared with other tissues
implies a possible delicate control mechanism of the gene in this
tissue. Because both transcripts are similarly up-regulated in prostate
cancer (Fig. 4)
, they may be equally important in prostate
carcinogenesis. The exact roles of the different 3' untranslated
regions of the two transcripts remains to be determined.
The single copy of UROC28 gene is mapped to chromosome
6q2324 region. Genes in this chromosomal region that are
associated with prostate cancer have been reported previously
(27, 28, 29)
. Hyytinen et al. (27)
showed that loss of 6q24-qter was associated with
androgen independence and tumorigenicity. Srikantan et al.
found that loss of 6q2324 might be associated with some
prostate cancers (28)
. Cooney et al. indicated
that the proximal 6q deletions are related to prostate
cancer progression (29)
. Furthermore, the 6q2324region has also been implicated in other cancers. For example,
amplification of c-myb in 6q24 was shown
to correlate with pancreatic tumor progression (30)
; loss
of heterozygosity in this region was associated with progression of
breast and cervical cancers (31, 32, 33)
. Using RT-PCR,
in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemistry, we found
that the expression of both UROC28 mRNA and protein is also
overexpressed in breast and bladder cancers. The fact that UROC28 is
overexpressed in multiple cancer types and that the gene is localized
to chromosome 6q2324 implies that the gene may represent
another oncogene candidate in this large (megabases) chromosomal
region. However, loss of heterozygosity studies are often used to
locate tumor suppressor genes; thus, finding UROC28, an
oncogene candidate, in a region of chromosomal loss is somewhat
surprising.
The similar up-regulation of the gene in both prostate and breast
cancers deserves special attention, because of some common
characteristics of breast and prostate cancers. It is well known that
the growth and proliferation of both breast and prostate cancer cells
are modulated by androgens via common androgen receptor
(AR; Refs. 34, 35, 36
). Recently, several genes
have been reported to be regulated similarly in these two cancers,
including AR (34)
, BRCA1
(37)
, E-cadherin (38)
,
PSA (39)
, FGF-1 (40)
,
EGFR (41
, 42)
, HER2/neu (10
, 41
, 42)
, and Kai 1 (43
, 44)
.
Furthermore, expression of some of these genes is regulated by the same
mechanism, such as hypermethylation (38)
, in both
prostate and breast cancers. The up-regulation of UROC28
mRNA and protein levels in both prostate and breast cancers and the
stimulation of the gene by DHT further support the notion that similar
pathways may be involved in modulating the growth and progression of
these two cancers.
The correct diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer is
critical in definitive and curative management of this disease. It is
agreed that patients diagnosed early with organ-confined tumors
are curable
9095% of the time with radical prostatectomy
(45)
or about 8595% with radiation therapy
(46)
. Current clinical diagnostic dilemmas created for
prostate cancer detection surround the changing natural history of the
disease produced by PSA screening (47
, 48)
. There is a
significant amount (
6070%) of clinical stage
T1c disease (PSA >2.5 ng/ml and
nonpalpable disease) presenting at diagnosis that has variable
pathology present in the prostate organ (47
, 48)
. The
latter provides a new diagnostic and prognostic pretreatment challenge
at the time of diagnosis in terms of providing a more precise
determination of the extent of the patients disease
(45)
. The present widely used PSA assay cannot reliably
distinguish between prostate cancer and BPH, nor predict which prostate
cancer will progress rapidly. We have shown in this communication that
the serum UROC28 protein level is significantly different between
normal and BPH, and between BPH and prostate cancer individuals. These
preliminary results suggest that UROC28 may provide an alternative
serum marker either alone or in combination with other markers such as
PSA for a more accurate diagnosis of prostate cancer. The wide range of
UROC28 protein detected in the NEM sera might be attributable to the
possibility that some of these NEM cases might have contained occult
cancer, because an average of 25% of prostate cancer may be missed at
the first biopsy (49)
. More studies are under way to
further explore the potential clinical utility of UROC28 as a new serum
marker for prostate cancer.
In conclusion, we have demonstrated that the expression of
UROC28 gene is significantly up-regulated in primary as well
as metastatic prostate cancer tissues, with higher expression of the
gene observed in cancer tissues of higher Gleason scores and metastatic
tissues. We also demonstrated that UROC28 protein could be detected in
serum, and a higher serum UROC28 protein level was detected in prostate
cancer individuals compared with normal individuals. Results from
in situ hybridization and antibody immunostaining confirm
that the gene is up-regulated at the mRNA and protein levels in the
glandular epithelial cells of prostate cancer. Basal cells of the
prostate acini have been referred to as progenitor cells for prostate
glandular tissues. The loss of the basal cell layer and the
overexpression of UROC28 mRNA in cancer glandular epithelium
may imply a regulatory role for UROC28 and basal cells in prostate
carcinogenesis. The observation of nuclear localization of UROC28
protein in prostate cancer glandular epithelia may imply unique
tissue-specific regulatory mechanism of UROC28. Our findings support
the possibility that UROC28 gene may play a role in prostate
cancer progression, and that the increased expression of
UROC28 mRNA and protein may serve as potential new markers
for better management of prostate cancer.
 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
|
|---|
We would like to thank Sheryl Christofferson and Lei Gong for
providing technical support.
 |
FOOTNOTES
|
|---|
The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
1 Supported by UroCor, Inc. 
2 To whom requests for reprints should be
addressed, at UroCor, Inc., 840 Research Parkway, Oklahoma City, OK
73104. Phone: (405) 290-4200; Fax: (405) 290-4083; E-mail: rveltri{at}urocor.com 
3 The abbreviations used are:
CHTN, Cooperative Human Tissue Network; FISH, fluorescent in
situ hybridization; NMPH nonmalignant prostatic hyperplasia;
NEM, no evidence of malignancy; RT-PCR, reverse transcription-PCR; DHT,
dihydrotestosterone; DAPI, 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; HRP,
horseradish peroxidase; DAB, 3,3'-diaminobenzadine; CV, coefficient of
variation; BPH, benign prostatic hyperplasia; PSA, prostate-specific
antigen; CaP, prostate cancer. 
Received 2/ 4/00.
Accepted 10/18/00.
 |
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