WWOX tumor suppressor gene
Jilong Yang1 and Wei Zhang2
1Department of Bone and Soft Tissue Tumor, Tianjin Cancer Hospital and Institute, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China and 2Department of Pathology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Offprint requests to: Wei Zhang, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pathology, Unit 85, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd. Houston, Texas 77030, USA. e-mail: wzhang@mdanderson.org
Summary. Loss of heterozygosity and chromosomal rearrangement of the WWOX gene, which is located at 16q23.3-24.1, have been detected in ovarian, breast, hepatocellular, and prostate carcinomas and in other neoplasias. This gene, which spans the common chromosomal fragile site 16D, contains 9 exons and encodes a 46 kDa WWOX protein that contains 414 amino acids. The evidence from cancer cell lines and primary tumor tissues suggests that WWOX is a tumor suppressor gene and that its inactivation contributes to cancer development. The results from studies of WWOX gene knockout cancer cells and a WWOX knockout mouse model partly confirm this hypothesis. The nature of the various proteins that the WWOX protein can interact with, such as c-Jun, TNF, p53, p73, AP-2gamma, and E2F-1, suggests that WWOX plays a central role in tumor suppression through transcriptional repression and apoptosis, with its apoptotic function the more prominent of the two. However, there is not universal agreement that WWOX is a tumor suppressor gene. Further analysis is needed to reveal the true nature of WWOX. Histol Histopathol 23, 877-882 (2008)
Key words: WWOX gene, Tumor suppressor gene, Apoptosis
DOI: 10.14670/HH-23.877