Abnormalities And Related Mechanisms Of Fhit Gene In Human Lung Carcinogenesis

Lung cancer is the major cause of cancer deaths in the Western world. In China, the incidence of this disease has been increasing significantly for a couple of decades. It was reported that frequent deletion of fragments on short arm of chromosome 3 occurred in the early stage of pathogenesis of lung carcinoma.Fhit gene locates in 3p14.2. Abnormal alterations of Fhit gene were observed commonly in multiple epithelial tumors, particularly those resulting from exposure to environmental carcinogens. Loss of Fhit protein was detected in the precancerous bronchial lesions. Moreover, LOH at the Fhit locus and loss of Fhit protein were higher in lung cancer of smokers than that of nonsmokers, which indicated that Fhit gene may be a target of carcinogens in tabacoo smoke.Y cells were derived from noncancerous human bronchial epithelium and immortalized by SV40 LT gene transfection. Both normal and aberrant Fhit transcripts were observed in Y cells by reverse transcription-PCR. Furthermore, loss of expression of Fhit protein was detected in the cells by Western blotting. Therefore, this cell line represents an ideal model for testing effects of the Fhit expression. To get insight into the biological mechanisms in the lung carcinoma, Y cells were transfected by Fhit...