Identification of Gelatinases involved in the Rous sarcoma Virus-induced Tumors in Chicks

The present work is undertaken to study the expression of levels of gelatinases in tumorogenesis by Rous sarcoma virus(RSV) in layer chicks and explored the possibility of using gelatinases as potential biological markers in metastatic neoplasms. Two days old chicks (40) were divided into two groups (Gp I and Gp II). Gp-I (20) treated with Rous sarcoma virus for tumor induction. The Gp II (control) was inoculated with RPMI-1640. Tumors appeared earliest by three days post infection with RSV and were progressive leading to mortality of birds by twenty eight days. Distant tumors were observed in liver, heart, lung, and kidney on post mortem. A prominent band of gelatinase of around 75 kDa was detected in plasma of infected chicks by gelatin zymography. Results indicate over expression of gelatinases and are leaked into plasma on Rous sarcoma virus infection. Expression of gelatinases in primary tumors, metastasized liver, heart, lung and kidney and corresponding tissues in healthy control chicks was determined by RT-PCR analysis. Over expression of gelatinase gene was observed in metastaic tissues and primary tumors than control. The described assays could be used as a prognostic assay method for detection of proteases in metastatic neoplasms of animals.