Abstract
Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in tumour cells is generally accepted as 'exposing' recessive cancer genes. The short arm of chromosome 11 shows consistent LOH in Wilms' tumours along its entire length. Occasionally, however, only the 11p13 and/or the 11p15 regions are involved. Deletions of the 11p13 region consistently predisposes to Wilms' tumorigenesis. We have analysed the recently cloned WT1 gene from the 11p13 region exon-by-exon in five tumours previously shown to have undergone LOH for the 11p13 region, using single strand conformation polymorphism analysis (SSCP) and PCR sequencing. Our analysis using SSCP failed to identify any band shifts in the WT1 gene from these tumours. In addition we also sequenced the zinc finger region of WT1, which is the part of the gene most frequently showing mutations. Only the normal sequence was found in all of these tumours. These results demonstrate that LOH in Wilms' tumours is not always related to mutations in the WT1 genes and argues strongly that another gene, probably in the 11p15 region, may be more important in Wilms' tumorigenesis.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 24 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $10.79 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cowell, J., Groves, N. & Baird, P. Loss of heterozygosity at 11p13 in Wilms' tumours does not necessarily involve mutations in the WT1 gene. Br J Cancer 67, 1259–1261 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1993.235
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1993.235