Advances in Brief Mutation, Allelotyping, and Transcription Analyses of the p73 Gene in Prostatic Carcinoma1

A novel gene,/? 73, encoding a protein with significant homology top53, was recently identified at Ip36. To investigate penetrance of p 73 in prostatic carcinogenesis, mutation, allelotyping, and transcription analy ses of p73 were performed in prostatic carcinoma. No types of mutation causing amino acid substitutions or frameshifts were found in 106 cases examined. Loss of heterozygosity in the gene was found in 2 of 38 cases (5.3%). Various expression levels ofp73 a variant were observed in tumor compared with those in normal tissue. These data suggest that the p73 gene is not playing an essential role, but expression of p73 may associate with tumor growth in prostatic carcinogenesis.