The chromosome region 17p shows frequently allele losses/mutations in colorectal cancers, and such frequent genetic alterations are a hallmark of the presence of tumor-suppressor gene. The RPH3AL, which is located at 17p13, has been identified from a candidate 17p13 medulloblastoma tumor suppressor locus. The aim of this study was to determine whether it is also altered in colorectal cancers. Mutational analyses of the RPH3AL gene were performed on DNA samples from 50 primary colorectal cancer specimens using polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism, and DNA sequencing. Six missense mutations producing amino acid substitution in coding region of the RPH3AL gene were detected in 50 primary colorectal cancer patients. The RPH3AL gene may play a role as a tumor-suppressor gene in fraction of colorectal cancers, but a minority show RPH3AL gene mutations. Somatic RPH3AL mutations were identified, providing support for an authentic role as tumor-suppressor gene in colorectal cancer, but only in a minority of cases.

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