© 2009 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Polymorphisms within the putative micro-RNA binding sites of mesothelin gene are associated with the serum levels of the mesothelin-related protein.
1 Department of Endocrinology, Orthopaedics, Occupational Medicine, University of Pisa, Italy;
2 Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Italy
Correspondence to: ALESSANDRA BONOTTI, OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL OF PISA, VIA SANTA MARIA, 110, PISA, 56100, Italy; abonotti{at}yahoo.it
Accepted 23 September 2009
Serum mesothelin, also known as soluble mesothelin-related protein (SMRP), reportedly shows increased levels in epithelial-type Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM), but sometimes also arrives at high values in healthy asbestos-exposed subjects. This study is aimed to investigate whether single nucleotide polymorphisms in the 3'untranslated region (3'UTR) of the mesothelin-encoded gene (MSLN) are associated with the SMRP levels measured in serum. The 3'UTR of the mesothelin gene was genotyped in 59 healthy asbestos-exposed subjects, selected on the basis of their SMRP levels. Direct sequencing did not show any new polymorphism, but enabled us to genotype two known SNPs (rs1057147, rs57272256). Differences in the mean values of SMRP in wild-type and variant heterozygote groups were calculated. High levels of SMRP in healthy asbestos-exposed subjects were significantly associated with polymorphism rs1057147 (G < A). Regarding rs57272256, there was no statistically significant difference between wild-type and heterozygote groups. Our study suggests that rs1057147 polymorphism can affect mesothelin expression. Although these data need to be confirmed with a larger number of cases, this study warrants further research in order to better understand the relationship between mesothelin polymorphisms and SMRP.
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
- Full Text (Rapid PDF)
- Submit a response
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me when eLetters are posted
- Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
Google Scholar
PubMed
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
