LOCALIZATION OF THE GENE FOR PIGMENT EPITHELIUM-DERIVED FACTOR (PEDF)TO CHROMOSOME 17P13.1 AND EXPRESSION IN CULTURED HUMAN RETINOBLASTOMACELLS

The gene for pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) was localized to chromosome 17 by the analysis of three independent somatic cell hybri d panels. Fluorescence in situ hybridization shows a specific hybridiz ation signal at the terminal portion of the short arm of chromosome 17 . PCR analysis of somatic cell hybrids containing specific regions of 17 was subsequently used to sublocalize PEDF to 17p13.1-pter. PEDF thu s maps to a region containing a number of cancer-related loci and thus must be considered a candidate gene for these cancers. Preliminary st udies with cultured human Y79 retinoblastoma cells indicate that expre ssion of PEDF is associated with relatively undifferentiated, prolifer ating cells rather than their differentiated, slow-growing counterpart s. This and the fact that the PEDF protein can act as a potent neurotr ophic differentiating agent suggest that PEDF is linked to proliferati ve events that terminate in final phenotypic determination within spec ific cell lineages. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.