Abstract
Aquaporins (AQPs) are important in controlling water permeability. As AQP1 is known as a serum-responsive gene, we hypothesized that AQP expression may be involved in the development of human cancer. By reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction analysis, expression of AQPs 1, 3, and 5 was found in seven colon and colorectal cancer cell lines. Western blot analysis confirmed their expression in four of these cell lines. In situ hybridization demonstrated that during colorectal carcinogenesis, the expression of AQPs 1 and 5 was induced in early-stage disease (early dysplasia) and maintained through the late stages of colon cancer development. Expression of AQPs 1 and 5 was maintained even in metastatic lesions in the liver. These findings demonstrate that the expression of several AQPs is found in tumor cells and is associated with an early stage of colorectal cancer development. These novel observations suggest that multiple AQP expression may be advantageous to tumorigenesis, which may lead to a better understanding of colorectal carcinogenesis.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr Li K Su, who provided total RNA for the three colon cell lines used in this study. The study was supported in part by NIH/NCI Grant P50 CA96784-01 (to CM), American Cancer Society Grant RPG-98-054 (to LM), Fondation de France, AP-HP and Lilly Fondation Grant (to J-CS), Cancer Center Grant P30 CA 16620 (to MD Anderson Cancer Center), and Tobacco Research Fund from State of Texas (to MD Anderson Cancer Center).
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Moon, C., Soria, JC., Jang, S. et al. Involvement of aquaporins in colorectal carcinogenesis. Oncogene 22, 6699–6703 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1206762
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1206762
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