2005 Volume 14 Issue 2 Pages 330-332
To detect deletions of specific chromosome regions, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analysis is a sensitive method. In different types of human cancer, BRG1, a member of SWI/SNF complex proteins, located at 19p13.2, suggested to be a candidate tumor suppressor gene (TSG). We detected allelic deletion in 25 of 39 (64%) samples at 19p13 by using six microsatellite markers. The BRG1 specific microsatellite marker showed the highest LOH in tumor samples. As we couldn't detect any mutation of the BRG1 gene in oral cancers, we examined the mRNA expression level. During expression analysis we detected an alternative in frame splicing form of BRG1, which includes exon 26 is selectively decreased or lost in most tumor samples. This 33 aminoacid sequence of BRG1 protein shows very high homology with heterogenous nuclear ribonucleoprotein E. Thus may affect the function and level of BRG1 through modifications on post-transcriptional control.
