Overexpression of RGC-32 in colon cancer and other tumors

Tumors often exhibit deregulation of the cell cycle and overexpression of cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). Response gene to complement (RGC)-32 is a substrate and regulator of CDC2 and its overexpression induces cell cycle activation. We investigated RGC-32 mRNA and protein expression in tumors with special emphasis in colon carcinoma. By using an expression array technique we found that 19% of tumor tissues showed increased RGC-32 mRNA expression over the levels of corresponding normal tissues. On the other hand, an increased RGC-32 protein was found in 70% of colon adenocarcinoma samples tested. In colon carcinomas, two major patterns of RGC-32 immunoreactivity were seen: staining of malignant epithelial cells only in some tumors and RGC-32 reactivity of both malignant epithelia as well as cells in the interstitium in others. Colonic epithelium obtained from normal individuals was consistently negative for RGC-32 protein. Overexpression of RGC-32 protein was found in other tumors including prostate, bladder, breast, lung, and other digestive tract tumors. RGC-32 expression was present in the same malignant epithelial cells that also expressed the proliferation marker Ki-67. Our data suggest that RGC-32 overexpression might be part of the deregulation of the cell cycle that is required for the growth of tumor cells.