Upregulation of non-mutated H-ras and its upstream and downstream signaling proteins in colorectal cancer
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- Published online on: November 1, 2001 https://doi.org/10.3892/or.8.6.1409
- Pages: 1409-1413
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Abstract
We analyzed H-ras protein expression in 38 human colon cancers and the paired normal tissues. H-ras levels were significantly higher in the malignant tumor (average 0.19±0.27) than in its normal adjacent tissues (average 0.06±0.15) (p<0.05). The H-ras protein expressed in colon carcinomas contained activated form of H-ras without mutation, based on the findings obtained by RBD-binding (ras binding domain of Raf protein) assay and PCR-SSCP analysis. In addition, we found that H-ras expression was higher in female patients than male, and in cancers with distant metastasis compared to those with non-distant metastasis. Good correlation between H-ras expression levels and those of the upstream and downstream signaling proteins of EGFR, MEK and ERK was found, suggesting that H-ras may play a significant role in carcinogensis of colorectal cancer.