EXPRESSION OF NM23 IN CELL-LINES DERIVED FROM PATIENTS WITH METASTATIC RENAL-CELL CARCINOMA

Reduced expression of nm23 has been associated with increased metastas es and decreased survival in a variety of malignancies. In the present study, the expression of nm23 was examined by Northern and Western bl ot analyses in a series of cell lines derived from patients with metas tatic renal cell carcinoma. Two of twelve (17%) informative cell Lines derived from 9 patients had loss of heterozygosity at Nm23-H1. Twenty -two renal cancer cell Lines derived from primary tumors, 5 cell lines derived from metastatic tumors and 4 short-term cultures of normal pr oximal renal tubular cells all expressed Nm23 mRNA in varying amounts. On average, the level of expression of Nm23 mRNA in short-term cultur es of benign proximal renal tubular cells was found to be similar to t he level seen in renal cancer cell lines. Twenty-eight cell lines deri ved from renal primary tumors and 8 cell Lines derived from metastatic tumors expressed both the Nm23-H1 and Nm23-H2 proteins. High or low r elative expression of nm23 at the mRNA or protein level did not correl ate with survival. The absence of any anomalous pattern of expression of the nm23 genes and the lack of correlation of expression with survi val suggests that nm23 does not play a central role in the progression of this tumor type.