Epigenetic changes of pituitary tumor-derived transforming gene 1 in pancreatic cancer.

Background: Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease with abnormal genetic changes. The pituitary tumor-derived transforming gene (PTTG) is considered to be implicated in the tumorigenesis of cancers when the gene is epigenetically transformed. In this study, we investigated the relationships between aberrant expression and epigenetic changes of the PTTG1 gene in pancreatic cancer.

Methods: We chose 4 cell lines (PANC-1, Colo357, T3M-4 and PancTuI) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tissues. After using restriction isoschizomer endonucleases (MspI/HpaII) to digest the DNA sequence (5'-CCGG-3'), we performed PCR reaction to amplify the product. And RT-PCR was applied to determine the gene expression.

Results: The mRNA expression of the PTTG1 gene was higher in pancreatic tumor than in normal tissue. The gene was also expressed in the 4 PDAC cell lines. The methylation states of the upstream regions of the PTTG1 gene were almost identical in normal, tumor pancreatic tissues and the 4 PDAC cell lines. Some (5'-CCGG-3') areas in the upstream region of PTTG1 were methylated, while some others were unmethylated.

Conclusions: The oncogene PTTG1 was overexpressed in pancreatic tumor tissues and verified by RT-PCR detection. The methylation status of DNA in promoter areas was involved in the gene expression with the help of other factors in pancreatic cancer.