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Loss of imprinting of the insulin-like growth factor 2 and the H19 gene in testicular seminomas detected by real-time PCR approach

  • Genotoxicity and Carcinogenicity
  • Published:
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Abstract

IGF2 and H19 are imprinted genes in normal human tissue, but many studies have observed a loss of imprinting (LOI) of these genes in tumors as an epigenetic alteration of the DNA, that leads to a biallelic expression predisposing cells to carcinogenesis and tumor growth. The aim of this study was to test the reliability of LightCycler™-assisted Real-time PCR in detecting LOI of IGF2 and H19 in 39 patients with testicular germ cell tumors by comparing these results with the analysis generated by the golden standard restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). With LightCycler™-assisted Real-time PCR for IGF2 44% and for H19 49% of the patients were found to be heterozygous. This was consistent with the results obtained by RFLP, but surprisingly RFLP failed in more than 7% of the patients. In detecting LOI (for IGF2 in 41% and for H19 in 68% of the informative patients) the approach by RFLP was superior, since the results derived from LightCycler™-assisted Real-time PCR showed reliable results in 76 and 10% of the samples concerning IGF2 and H19, respectively. Again, no discrepancy between the results obtained by the two methods occurred. In sum, LightCycler™-assisted Real-time PCR is a sufficiently working approach for the rapid and reliable detection of heterozygosity of IGF2 or H19 gene and identification of LOI of IGF2 and thus may be helpful in conducting large epidemiological studies. However, for the identification of LOI of the H19 gene in this cohort it possesses only restrictive use.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medizinische Universitäts-Poliklinik Bonn, Wilhelmstrasse 35-37, 53111, Bonn, Germany

    Sebastian Stier, Thomas Neuhaus, Elisabeth Grünewald, Randolf Forkert, Hans Vetter & Yon Ko

  2. Department of Urology, Klinikum Kassel, Mönchebergstrasse 41, 34125, Kassel, Germany

    Peter Albers

  3. Institute for Pathology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, 53105, Bonn, Germany

    Nicolas Wernert

Authors
  1. Sebastian Stier
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  2. Thomas Neuhaus
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  3. Peter Albers
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  4. Nicolas Wernert
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  5. Elisabeth Grünewald
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  6. Randolf Forkert
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  7. Hans Vetter
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  8. Yon Ko
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Correspondence to Yon Ko.

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Sebastian Stier and Thomas Neuhaus contributed equally to this work.

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Stier, S., Neuhaus, T., Albers, P. et al. Loss of imprinting of the insulin-like growth factor 2 and the H19 gene in testicular seminomas detected by real-time PCR approach. Arch Toxicol 80, 713–718 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-006-0087-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-006-0087-z

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