Is There Any Association Between Nek3 and Cancers with Frequent 13q14 Deletion?

Abstract

Chromosomal region 13q14 is frequently deleted in prostate cancer. nek3, a protein kinase related gene, is located on this region. Analysis of the coding region of nek3 showed an A insertion/deletion polymorphism in a stretch of adenines at the end of exon 9, with 2 alleles showing either 7 or 8 adenines. In addition we found a variant human NEK3 transcript, which lacks the entire exon 10 due to alternative splicing. The frequency of A₈ allele is statistically higher in prostate cancer samples (p < 0.001) than normal controls, indicating that tumor samples preferentially express a full length protein. On the contrary, normal samples have a higher frequency for the A₇ allele, expressing preferentially a shorter protein. To test if this association is a common feature in cancers with frequent 13q14 alterations, we analyzed cell lines established from oral, lung, and hepatocellular cancers. An association between nek3 A insertion/deletion polymorphism and cancers with alterations at 13q14 is observed.

Keywords:

• NEK3
• 13q14 deletions
• Polymorphism
• Alternative Splicing