Chromosomal localization of the human urokinase plasminogen activator receptor and plasminogen activator inhibitor type‐2 genes: Implications in colorectal cancer

GRAHAM WEBB, MARK S. BAKER, JILLIAN NICHOLL, YAO WANG, GRAEME WOODROW, EGBERT KRUITHOF, WILLIAM F. DOE*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Abstract Activation of the proenzyme of urokinase (uPA) on the surface of cancer cells has been implicated in the initiation of focal proteolytic mechanisms that permit invasion and metastasis by colon cancers. The activity of uPA on the cell surface appears to be a function of the number of uPA‐specific receptors (uPAR) and the extent of inhibition of uPA by plasminogen activator inhibitors (PAI). The mapping of the genes coding for uPAR, and for PAI‐2, was performed to determine whether their chromosomal localization suggested their involvement in the genetic alterations associated with cancer cell DNA. This study confirms the localization of the human urokinase plasminogen activator receptor gene to chromosome 19q and, using in situ hybridization, provides a precise localization to chromosome 19q13.2. In addition, our results confirm the previous allocation of the human plasminogen activator inhibitor‐2 gene to a location 18q21.3 → 18q21.1, a location that corresponds to the commonest (>70%) somatic deletions found in colorectal carcinomas. The mapping of the uPAR and PAI‐2 genes enables the elucidation of their possible involvement in the genetic alterations that determine the invasive and metastatic phenotypes in colorectal cancer.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)340-343
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Volume9
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1994
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • chromosomal assignment
  • plasminogen activator inhibitor 2 (PAI‐2)
  • urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR)

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