P53 GENE-MUTATIONS IN OSTEOSARCOMAS IN THE DOG

Osteosarcomas in 18 dogs were examined for the presence of p53 mutatio ns in exons 4-8 by single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) anal ysis, followed by sequence analysis in tumors demonstrating abnormal b ands in the SSCP analysis. P53 mutations were found in four of the pri mary tumors in 17 dogs. Metastases studied in two of these dogs in whi ch the primary tumor contained only wild type p53 did not contain muta tions, nor those of one dog in which the primary tumor was not studied . The alterations that were found included three missense mutations an d one 3 bp insertion. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.