PIWIL۲ and PL۲L۶۰ (Cancer/Testis genes) Expression in Breast Cancer

Background: Cancer/testis antigens (CTAs) are members of a group ofproteins which are normally expressed in testis germ cells and to a lesser extent inthe ovaries. Because of recent reports about their aberrant and specific expressionin some tumoral tissues, they may play a role as new candidates for targetedtherapy. Therefore, the study of the expression pattern of these biomarkers and itsrelationship with clinical features of the patients is a subject of great interest.Methods: In this study, expression of PIWIL۲ and genes was studied bymultiplex RT-PCR in ۶۵ breast tissue samples including ۳۰ invasive ductalcarcinomas (IDC), ۳۰ normal adjacent tissue samples and five normal breast tissuesamples and ۲ normal testicular tissue samples as positive controls. beta actin wasconsidered as internal control.Results: Results of gel electrophoresis analysis demonstrated no significantexpression of target genes in any sample except testis. Simultaneously, beta actinwas expressed in all the samples.Conclusions: The present study indicates lack of PIWIL۲ and PL۲L۶۰expression at mRNA level in breast cancer. Although cell lines can be used incancer research, they are not representative of tumor tissues. More studiesinvestigating the expression of these genes at protein level will help us decidewhether to apply these candidate genes as tumor markers or not.

Keywords:

PIWIL۲ , PL۲L۶۰ , cancer/testis antigens , breast cancer