Faculty Bibliography

Uroplakins (UPs) are integral membrane proteins that are synthesized as the major differentiation products of mammalian urothelium. We have cloned the human UP-II gene and localized it on chromosome 11q23. A survey of 50 transitional cell carcinomas (TCCs) revealed a UP-II polymorphism but no tumor-specific mutations. Immunohistochemical staining using rabbit antisera against a synthetic peptide of UP-II and against total UPs showed UP reactivity in 39.5% (17 of 43 cases) of conventional TCCs, 12.8% (5 of 39) of bilharzial-related TCCs, and 2.7% (1 of 36) of bilharzial-related squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). The finding that fewer bilharzial TCCs express UPs than conventional TCCs (12.8 versus 40%) raised the possibility that the former are heterogeneous, expressing SCC features to varying degrees. Our data strongly support the hypothesis that urothelium can undergo at least three pathways of differentiation: (a) urothelium-type pathway; (b) epidermis-type pathway; and (c) glandular-type pathway, characterized by the production of UPs, K1/K10 keratins, and secreted glycoproteins, respectively. Vitamin A deficiency and mesenchymal factors may play a role in determining the relative contributions of these pathways to urothelial differentiation as well as to the formation of TCC, SCC, and adenocarcinoma, or a mixture thereof

TLS (FUS) and the related gene EWS encode the N-terminal portion of many fusion oncoproteins involved in human sarcomas and leukemia. TLS is an RNA-binding nuclear protein that is identical to hnRNP P2 and may be implicated in mRNA metabolism. When RNA polymerase II is inhibited, TLS immunostaining in the nucleus is dramatically altered, from its normal diffuse nucleoplasmic pattern to accumulation in dense nuclease-resistant aggregates. Co-immunostaining with antibodies to fibrillarin or p80 coilin and immunoelectron microscopy revealed that the TLS aggregates are associated with the nucleolus and are distinct from other known structures such as the coiled body or the interchromatin granule. Injection of cells with an oligodeoxynucleotide that disrupts splicing does not result in redistribution of TLS, indicating that the event is specific to inhibition of transcription. Oncoproteins that contain the N-terminal domain from either TLS, EWS or their Drosophila homologue, SARFH (CAZ), are also targeted to the same structure. These findings suggest a correlation between the topogenic and transforming activities of TLS and EWS N-termini and imply the existence of cellular targets that are shared by the germ-line encoded proteins and their oncogenic derivatives