Abstract.
Quox-1 is the only gene in the hox family whose expression occurs throughout the developing central nervous system. The differential expression of the Quox-1 gene was studied in normal human tissues and tumor tissues. Marked expression of Quox-1 was detected in early human embryos, LCE cells, and HeLa cells, with weak to zero expression being detected in various normal human tissues. Immunocytochemistry analysis further confirmed that the Quox-1 protein was absent in normal human leukocytes. However, high levels of Quox-1 product were found in leukocytes of acute lymphocyte leukemia patients and in patients with a subtype of acute nonlymphocyte leukemia. In addition, Southern blot analysis showed that the genomic DNA of LCE, HeLa, and normal human leukocyte cells had a DNA rearrangement of the Quox-1 gene, suggesting that the rearrangement of genomic DNA might be the cause of differential expression in normal human tissues and tumor tissues. The data implied that the overexpression of Quox-1 was associated with tumors, and that there may be links between the processes of embryogenesis and carcinogenesis.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Electronic Publication
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhu, F., Li, WX., Jiang, DH. et al. Differential expression of the Quox-1 gene in normal human cells, early human embryo, and tumor cells. Cell Tissue Res 308, 333–337 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-002-0540-0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-002-0540-0