A novel gene "Niban" upregulated in renal carcinogenesis: Cloning by the cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism approach

A modified AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) method was employe d to isolate genes differentially expressed in renal carcinogenesis of Tsc2 gene mutant (Eker) rats. One gene, selected for further investigation, was named "Niban" ("second" in Japanese), because it is the second new gene to be found after Erc (expressed in renal carcinoma) in our laboratory. Impor tantly, "Niban" is well expressed even in small primary rat Eker renal tumo rs, more than in progressed cell lines, and is also expressed in human rena l carcinoma cells, but not in normal human or rat kidneys. Chromosome assig nment was to RNO 13 in the rat, and HSA 1, This "Niban" gene is a candidate as a marker for renal tumor, especially early-stage renal carcinogenesis.