Disease relevance of Fhit

• Western blot analysis revealed reduced expression of Fhit protein in six out of 10 adenocarcinomas (60%) [1].
• Alterations of the Fhit gene in hepatocellular carcinomas induced by N-nitrosodiethylamine in rats [2].

High impact information on Fhit

• Thus, in carcinogen-exposed rat tissues there is an overall association of Fhit expression with regulatory region methylation, and hypermethylation patterns did not vary with carcinogen [3].
• Treatment of rat cancer cells in vitro with the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor, 5'-Aza-2'deoxycytidine, for 4 d, increased Fhit expression and altered the methylation status [3].
• We previously observed decreased Fhit expression and Fhit promoter region hypermethylation in rodent tumors induced by various carcinogens, and noted that the 5' regulatory regions in the promoter, exon 1, and intron 1 were differentially methylated, depending on the tissue of origin [3].
• Fhit gene alterations in hepatocarcinogenesis induced by a choline-deficient L-amino acid-defined diet in rats [4].

Biological context of Fhit

• Hypermethylation patterns in the Fhit regulatory region are tissue specific [3].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Fhit

• Fourteen HCCs were obtained 42 wk after the beginning of the experiment; total RNA was extracted for the assessment of aberrant transcription of the Fhit gene by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis [2].

References