ANALYSIS OF THE 11P13 WILMS-TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENE (WT1) IN OVARIAN-TUMORS

We have examined the status of the Wilms' tumor suppressor gene (WT1), residing at chromosome 11 band p13, in a total of 40 cancers of the f emale reproductive tract. Northern blot analysis revealed that the WT1 gene is expressed in a large percentage of ovarian tumors (75%) analy zed. Single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis was performed on all the tumors in this study in an attempt to detect mutations within the WT1 gene. Only silent mutations were detected within intron 7 of WT1 using this method. Loss of heterozygosity studies were performed a t the WT1 locus in several ovarian tumors and revealed that in the inf ormative cases, heterozygosity was retained.