Mutational and expression analysis of the p73 gene in melanoma cell lines

A novel p53-related gene, p73, was recently isolated and cytogenetically ma pped to chromosome region 1p36, Functionally, p73 expression induces p21(wa f) and suppresses tumor cell grow th. We mapped p73 using radiation hybrids and localized the gene to an interval that putatively harbors a melanoma t umor suppressor locus. We then analyzed p73 transcripts from 24 melanoma ce ll lines using reverse transcription-PCR/single strand conformation polymor phism and identified nine polymorphic sequence changes (three novel and six previously published polymorphisms); furthermore, we found evidence of bia llelic transcription in our cell lines. However, we did not detect any dele terious mutations. These data suggest that the p73 gene is unlikely to be e ssential in melanoma tumorigenesis.