Expression of the MAGE-1 gene in human hepatocellular carcinomas

Abstract

Objective: To further investigate the expression of MAGE-1 gene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: The tumors and adjacent liver tissue from 45 HCC patients and liver tissue from 28 non-HCC patients (16 with liver cirrhosis and 12 with normal liver) were characterized by RT-PCR. A 421 bp PCR product from a cDNA fragment spanning exons 1, 2 and 3 was sequenced. The HLA type was assayed by standard ELISA in 43 HCC patients. Results: Thirty-two of 45 tumor tissues from HCC patients expressed MAGE-1 mRNA (71.1%) . In contrast, MAGE-1 mRNA was not detected in adjacent tissues. Three were found to have point mutations at 3 identical sites resulting in the substitution of two amino acid re..