BCA2 is differentially expressed in renal oncocytoma: an analysis of 158 renal neoplasms.

The distinction between renal oncocytoma and renal cell carcinoma, especially chromophobe renal cell carcinoma and clear cell carcinoma with oncocytic features, is important due to the different biologic potentials of these tumors. RING E3 ligases have the subject of intense studies for their roles in many diseases including cancer and as potential therapeutic targets. All RING E3 ligases, including BCA2, contain a consensus protein sequence that would complex two or more zinc ions in the expressed protein.

Analysis of the HER2/neu gene amplification in microdissected breast cancer tumour samples.

The HER2/neu oncogene has been reported to be amplified in > 20% of invasive ductal carcinomas. In order to investigate the HER2/neu status in pure populations of breast cancer cells, a laser capture microdissection (LCM) system was used. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded breast tissue areas corresponding to normal ducts, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) were microdissected and genomic DNA was isolated by a modified proteinase K- phenol extraction method and subjected to PCR for HER2/neu analysis.