Search:        >> Advanced Search
Guidelines | Subscriptions | About | exPRESS - Current - Archive | Business Information | Contact

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Al-Mulla, F. Articles by Anim, J. T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Al-Mulla, F. Articles by Anim, J. T. Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

BRCA1 Gene Expression in Breast Cancer : A Correlative Study between Real-time RT-PCR and Immunohistochemistry

Fahd Al-Mulla¹, Mahera Abdulrahman¹, Govindarajulu Varadharaj, Nadeem Akhter and Jehoram T. Anim

Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Kuwait

Correspondence to: Dr. Fahd Al-Mulla, Department of Pathology, Molecular Pathology Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, PO Box 24923, Safat 13110, Kuwait. E-mail: fahd{at}al-mulla.org

Breast cancer is a major cause of cancer-related mortality in women. There are major discrepancies concerning the usefulness of various antibodies in detecting breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1) protein and its subcellular localization. The aim of the present study was to determine the specificity and sensitivity of immunohistochemistry (IHC) as a screening method for demonstrating BRCA1 expression. BRCA1 gene expression in archival paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissues was studied simultaneously at the protein and mRNA levels, and the two findings were compared. Forty-eight archival paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissues were studied for BRCA1 gene expression at protein level by IHC using four different antibodies against different BRCA1 epitopes and at mRNA level using real-time RT-PCR. BRCA1 mRNA expression was reduced or absent in 79% of the samples, and this finding correlated significantly with loss of BRCA1 protein expression in 83% of breast cancer tissues using one BRCA1 antibody studied (AB-1, against N-terminus epitope). The specificity of this antibody was 91.3%, and its sensitivity was 66.6%. There was no significant correlation between BRCA1 mRNA and protein expression as demonstrated by the remaining three antibodies. Antibody 8F7 had the highest sensitivity of 100%, but its specificity was 30.4% if mRNA levels were considered as the reference standard. (J Histochem Cytochem 53:621–629, 2005)

Key Words: BRCA1 • breast cancer • immunohistochemistry • mRNA • protein • real-time RT-PCR

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				F. H. Vaz, P. M. Machado, R. D. Brandao, C. T. Laranjeira, J. S. Eugenio, A. H. Fernandes, and S. P. Andre Familial Breast/Ovarian Cancer and BRCA1/2 Genetic Screening: The Role of Immunohistochemistry as an Additional Method in the Selection of Patients J. Histochem. Cytochem., November 1, 2007; 55(11): 1105 - 1113. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. K. El-Tanani, F. C. Campbell, P. Crowe, P. Erwin, D. P. Harkin, P. Pharoah, B. Ponder, and P. S. Rudland BRCA1 Suppresses Osteopontin-mediated Breast Cancer J. Biol. Chem., September 8, 2006; 281(36): 26587 - 26601. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Guidelines | Subscriptions | About | exPRESS - Current - Archive | Business Information | Contact

The Journal of Histochemistry & Cytochemistry is owned, published, and licensed by The Histochemical Society © 2005