Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:O76050 (neu)
 3,969 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Amplification and/or overexpression of HER2/neu have been documented in many types of epithelial tumor and recently has been reported in sarcomas, particularly in osteosarcomas. But the role of HER2/neu alterations in soft tissue tumors remains poorly understood. Thus the present study investigates the expression of HER2/neu in 13 patients with synovial sarcoma (SS). In this study, HER2/neu mRNA levels were measured in frozen tissue samples using a real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay; protein expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry using an anti-HER2/neu polyclonal antibody. Six normal skeletal muscle specimens were used to establish basal levels of HER2/neu mRNA. HER2/neu transcripts were detected in all normal tissues and SSs. Four of 13 sarcomas (31%) demonstrated HER2/neu mRNA levels above the mean value, whereas 3 tumors (23%) displayed HER2/neu protein overexpression. Both membranous and cytoplasmic patterns of immunostaining were observed, and a strong correlation was found between protein expression and mRNA level (P = 0.01). Increased HER2/neu mRNA levels were significantly associated with a lower risk of developing recurrences (P = 0.02). Moreover, none of the patients with HER2/neu overexpression developed metastasis. Our data demonstrate that HER2/neu is expressed in SSs and that both membrane and cytoplasmic HER2/neu expression correlate with mRNA levels. Our results show that the presence of increased levels of HER2/neu in SSs is associated with a more favorable clinical course. Further studies are needed to assess the role of this oncogene in SSs and to evaluate the application of inhibitory humanized monoclonal antibodies in the treatment regimens for this malignancy.
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PMID:Molecular and immunohistochemical analysis of HER2/neu oncogene in synovial sarcoma. 1287 57

SS18-SSX fusion genes resulting from a chromosomal translocation t(X;18)(p11.2;q11.2) are a genetic hallmark of synovial sarcoma. Although such cytogenetic or molecular aberrations have mostly been detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization or reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, the expression of SS18-SSX has been poorly investigated at a cellular or tissue level. In this study, biotinylated tyramide (BT)-based in situ hybridization (ISH) was performed to detect SS18-SSX transcripts using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues from 15 synovial sarcomas. Digoxigenin-labeled cRNA probes flanking the fusion points of SS18-SSX1 and SS18-SSX2 were generated by in vitro transcription, and hybridized signals were detected by a streptavidin-biotin complex method after chemical enhancement with BT. The localizations of signals were compared with the immunohistochemical expressions of epithelial or neuroectodermal markers and those of cell adhesion including cytokeratins (CAM5.2, AE1/AE3, CK7), epithelial membrane antigen, E-cadherin, beta-catenin, c-erbB-2 (HER2/neu), CD56, and claudin-1. The ISH signals of the SS18-SSX transcripts were identified in 13 synovial sarcomas, and their fusion types correlated with those determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. In biphasic tumors, the ISH signals tended to localize to epithelial areas, whereas spindle-cell areas or monophasic fibrous tumors showed a less intense or focal expression pattern. Notably, the expression patterns of AE1/AE3, CK7, and c-erbB-2 often colocalized with the ISH signals (7 of 11 cases positive for each marker). Our results suggest that BT-based ISH can be used as a molecular technique for the detection of SS18-SSX using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues.
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PMID:Molecular detection of SS18-SSX fusion gene transcripts by cRNA in situ hybridization in synovial sarcoma using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue specimens. 1747 Nov 53