1908

EDN3

ET-3|ET3|HSCR4|PPET3|WS4B;endothelin 3;EDN3;endothelin 3

endothelin-3|preproendothelin-3

20q13.2-q13.3

protein-coding

Neuroblastoma is a neural crest-derived tumor of childhood with a serious prognosis; only 20% of patients with stage 4 disease survive 5 years from diagnosis. Mechanisms involved in neuroblastoma development are unclear, but theengagement of many neuroblastoma-related gene(s) is suggested by specific chromosomal alterations. Most prominent among these is the amplification of the MYCN oncogene and the deletion of the 1p36 region. Other genetic aberrations have been discovered over the years such as deletions of 11q and 14q and gain of 17q.Although tumor aggressiveness greatly depends on the most frequent genetic abnormalities, to date no neuroblastoma-related gene has been discovered. Neuroblastoma usually occurs sporadically, but 1.5% of ALL diagnosed cases show familial recurrence with an autosomal dominant inheritance and incomplete penetrance. A comparison between hereditary and sporadic neuroblastomas led Knudson and Strong to gather that the two-hit hypothesis, proposed for retinoblastoma, could be applied to neuroblastoma. To determine if the 1p36 region harbors a predisposition gene for familial neuroblastoma, we carried out linkage analysis at 1p36 loci in two families with recurrent neuroblastoma. Similarly, we analyzed loci of chromosome 16, where a predisposition locus was recently mapped. We also analyzed markers located close to several candidate genes (RET, NF1, GDNF, GFRA1, EDNRB, and EDN3) involved to a different extent inother neurocristopathies. Our findings indicate that the candidate chromosomal regions and genes analyzed are not in linkage with neuroblastoma.

The WNT/beta-catenin pathway is involved in numerous human cancers. mutations ofthe CTNNB1 (beta-catenin) gene have also been detected in a subset of pediatric Wilms tumors, but the target genes of the deregulated WNT/beta-catenin pathway in these tumors have yet to be identified. To compare gene expression profiles of Wilms tumors with and without mutations of CTNNB1, we used 11.5-k cDNA microarrays. Most of the tumors (86%) had received preoperative chemotherapy as mandated by the European SIOP protocol. The comparison between Wilms tumors withand without CTNNB1 mutations revealed several target genes specifically deregulated in CTNNB1-mutated Wilms tumors. Among these, PITX2, APCDD1, and two members of the endothelin axis (EDN3 and EDNRA) are directly activated downstream targets of the WNT/beta-catenin pathway that may enhance proliferation of these tumor cells. In addition, several upstream inhibitors of WNT/beta-catenin signaling like WIF1 and PRDC were also strongly up-regulated in the CTNNB1-mutated Wilms tumors. This overexpression may be a negative feedback mechanism in tumors with uncontrolled WNT signaling. Moreover, we identified deregulated genes in both the retinoic acid and the RAS pathways, such as ATX/ENPP2 and RIS1, suggesting an association between these two pathways with that of WNT. In addition, the strong representation of muscle-related genes in the expression profile of CTNNB1-mutated Wilms tumors corresponded to histologically detectable areas of myomatous cells in these tumors that displayed intense and preferential nuclear beta-catenin antibody staining. This article contains Supplementary Material available at http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/1045-2257/suppmat.#CI- (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.