Abstract
Molecular processes resulting in the malignant transformation from low- to high-grade astrocytoma remain poorly understood. Using reverse transcriptase PCR, we identified a gene that is differentially expressed in normal brain and low-grade astrocytoma compared to glioblastoma tissues. This gene is identical to human β2-chimaerin, which encodes a 468-amino acid GTPase-activating protein for p21rac. The gene was localized to human chromosome 7p15.3 by fluorescence in situ hybridization mapping. Human β2-chimaerin is expressed in a variety of human tissues, with the highest expression level detected in human brain and pancreas. RNase protection assays indicated that the expression level of this gene is high in all the normal brain and low-grade astrocytoma samples tested compared to malignant gliomas. The down-regulation of β2-chimaerin expression in the high-grade gliomas suggests that decreased expression of this gene may be a feature of progression in the development of malignant glioma.
Footnotes
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↵1 β2-chimaerin cDNA sequence can be accessed from GenBank by accession number 28926.
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↵2 The first two authors have contributed equally to this paper.
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↵3 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Department of Cancer Biology, NN1, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195.
- Received March 21, 1995.
- Accepted May 31, 1995.
- ©1995 American Association for Cancer Research.
Volume 55, Issue 15
