Deletions at the chromosome 3 common eliminated region 1 on 3p21.3 in human breast tumors

Excerpt

Chromosome 3 is abnormal in a variety of human cancers. An assay, based on a non-random elimination of human chromosome segments in mouse-human microcell hybrids during tumor growth in SCID mice, has been developed. It is called the Elimination test (Et), and is designed for the identification of chromosomal regions containing putative TSGs. A commonly lost segment, termed chromosome 3 common eliminated region 1 (C3CER1) (also referred to as CER1), was identified using the Et. This region spans ~2.4 Mb at 3p21.3 and contains 33 active genes, including the putative TSGs: LF, LIMD1 and RIS1. It was recently reported that the LIMD1 gene product functions in connection with pRB to suppress cell proliferation. Here, we addressed the question of whether the C3CER1 region at 3p21.3 is preferentially lost in actual human breast tumors, and whether the fragile nature of FRA3B induces terminal deletions leading to 3p14.2-pter losses or whether the eventual 3p21.3 losses are interstitial. We also analysed whether the LIMD1 gene was mutated in human breast tumors. …