INFREQUENT MUTATIONS OF THE WT1 GENE IN PRIMARY CANCERS OF THE ADULT URINARY-TRACT

Polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR -SSCP) analysis of all of the ten exons of the WT1 gene and restrictio n fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the WT1 locus were p erformed on primary urinary tract cancers: seven renal pelvic cancers, one ureteral cancer, 11 bladder cancers, and 22 renal cell cancers. F our human bladder cancer cell lines (T24, JTC30, JTC32, and HUB41) and three human prostate cancer cell lines (PC-3, DU145, and LNCaP) were also examined. None of the primary cancers showed any apparent mutatio ns of the gene, whereas one base substitution of exon 5 was found in D U145 and gross alteration of the gene was recognized in HUB41. Heteroz ygosity of polymorphic exon 7 was retained in all of the 12 informativ e cases, and none of 10 informative cases showed loss of heterozygosit y at the WT1 locus in RFLP analysis. It is concluded that mutations of the WT1 gene may not be involved in the formation of malignant tumors of the adult urinary tract.