Loss of heterozygosity at the calcium regulation gene locus on chromosome 10q in human pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosomal regions is crucial in tumor progression and this study aimed to identify genome-wide LOH in pancreatic cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) profiling data GSE32682 of human pancreatic samples snap-frozen during surgery were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus database. Genotype console software was used to perform data processing. Candidate genes with LOH were screened based on the genotype calls, SNP loci of LOH and dbSNP database. Gene annotation was performed to identify the functions of candidate genes using NCBI (the National Center for Biotechnology Information) database, followed by Gene Ontology, INTERPRO, PFAM and SMART annotation and UCSC Genome Browser track to the unannotated genes using DAVID (the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integration Discovery). RESULTS The candidate genes with LOH identified in this study were MCU, MICU1 and OIT3 on chromosome 10. MCU was found to encode a calcium transporter and MICU1 could encode an essential regulator of mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake. OIT3 possibly correlated with calcium binding revealed by the annotation analyses and was regulated by a large number of transcription factors including STAT, SOX9, CREB, NF-kB, PPARG and p53. CONCLUSIONS Global genomic analysis of SNPs identified MICU1, MCU and OIT3 with LOH on chromosome 10, implying involvement of these genes in progression of pancreatic cancer.