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Protein elongation factor EEF1A2 is a putative oncogene in ovarian cancer

Nature Genetics volume 31, pages 301–305 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

We have found that EEF1A2, the gene encoding protein elongation factor EEF1A2 (also known as eEF-1α2), is amplified in 25% of primary ovarian tumors and is highly expressed in approximately 30% of ovarian tumors and established cell lines. We have also demonstrated that EEF1A2 has oncogenic properties: it enhances focus formation, allows anchorage-independent growth and decreases the doubling time of rodent fibroblasts. In addition, EEF1A2 expression made NIH3T3 fibroblasts tumorigenic and increased the growth rate of ES-2 ovarian carcinoma cells xenografted in nude mice. Thus, EEF1A2 and the process of protein elongation are likely to be critical in the development of ovarian cancer.

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Figure 1: Amplification of EEF1A2 in ovarian tumors detected by FISH.
Figure 2: Increased expression of EEF1A2 mRNA in ovarian tumors and cell lines a, We readily detected EEF1A2 mRNA in 3 of 11 ovarian tumor samples but not in normal ovary mRNA (N).
Figure 3: Oncogenic properties of EEF1A2.
Figure 4: EEF1A2 expression enhances tumorigenicity.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Al Abadi, R. Austin, J. Hanlon, S. Innocente, S. Lhotak, S. Popovic and E. Seidlitz for help with many of the assays and A. Bernstein, H. Ghosh, J. Hassell, H. Hirte, B. Muller, M. Rozakis-Adcock, G. Singh and P. Whyte for discussion and critical reading of the manuscript. We thank K. Dougherty and H. Blackborrow for secretarial assistance. We acknowledge the sharing of cell lines and information by P. Tonin, T. Hudson, D. Provencher and A.-M. Mes-Masson. This work was supported by funding from the National Cancer Institute of Canada and the Hamilton Regional Cancer Centre Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hamilton Regional Cancer Centre, Room 450, 699 Concession Street, Hamilton, L8V 5C2, Ontario, Canada

    Nisha Anand, Lisa A. Porter, I. Howard Cukier & Jonathan M. Lee

  2. Departments of Pathology, Oncology and Medical Biochemistry, The University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive Northwest, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    Sabita Murthy & Doug J. Demetrick

  3. Institute of Pathology, University of Munich, Thalkirchner Strasse 36, Muenchen, Germany

    Gudrun Amann & Joachim Diebold

  4. University of California San Francisco Cancer Center, 2340 Sutter Street, San Francisco, California, USA

    Meredith Wernick, Colin Collins & Joe W. Gray

  5. Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    Jonathan M. Lee

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Correspondence to Jonathan M. Lee.

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Anand, N., Murthy, S., Amann, G. et al. Protein elongation factor EEF1A2 is a putative oncogene in ovarian cancer. Nat Genet 31, 301–305 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng904

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