• Mev Dominguez Valentin, Renata Canalle, Rosane de Paula Queiroz, and Luiz Gonzaga Tone.
• Genomic and Molecular Laboratory, Research Center, Hospital A. C. Camargo, São Paulo, Brazil. mev_dv@yahoo.com
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2009 Sep 1; 127 (5): 288294288-94.

Context And ObjectiveGenetic investigation of central nervous system (CNS) tumors provides valuable information about the genes regulating proliferation, differentiation, angiogenesis, migration and apoptosis in the CNS. The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of genetic polymorphisms (codon 31 and 3' untranslated region, 3'UTR) and protein expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A (CDKN1A) gene in patients with and without CNS tumors.Design And SettingAnalytical cross-sectional study with a control group, at the Molecular Biology Laboratory, Pediatric Oncology Department, Hospital das Clínicas de Ribeirão Preto.Methods41 patients with CNS tumors and a control group of 161 subjects without cancer and paires for sex, age and ethnicity were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Protein analysis was performed on 36 patients with CNS tumors, using the Western Blotting technique.ResultsThe frequencies of the heterozygote (Ser/Arg) and polymorphic homozygote (Arg/Arg) genotypes of codon 31 in the control subjects were 28.0% and 1.2%, respectively. However, the 3'UTR site presented frequencies of 24.2% (C/T) and 0.6% (T/T). These frequencies were not statistically different (P > 0.05) from those seen in the patients with CNS tumors (19.4% and 0.0%, codon 31; 15.8% and 2.6%, 3'UTR site). Regarding the protein expression in ependymomas, 66.67% did not express the protein CDKN1A. The results for medulloblastomas and astrocytomas were similar: neither of them expressed the protein (57.14% and 61.54%, respectively).ConclusionNo significant differences in protein expression patterns or polymorphisms of CDKN1A in relation to the three types of CNS tumors were observed among Brazilian subjects.

25 keywords...

hide…