Expression of SNC73, a transcript of the immunoglobulin α-1 gene, in human epithelial carcinomas

Aim: To investigate the expression of SNC73, a transcript of the immunoglobulin α-1 gene (IgA1-H chain), in human epithelia-derived tumor cells. Methods: Total RNAs and cell lysates were prepared from five different human epithelial cell lines derived from lung, stomach, liver, skin, and breast, respectively. RT-PCR and immunoblot analysis of these five cell lines were done. Both RT-PCR and immunochemistry were used to detect the expression of SNC73 in these cell lines. We also examined the expression of SNC73 in normal epithelial cells of colon mucosa by in situ hybridization. RT-PCR and immunoblot analysis were used to determine whether the recombination activating gene1/2 (RAG1 and RAG2) is present. The expression of three immunoglobulin transcription factors, EBF, E2A and Pax5, and the heavy chain of IgA1 and two types of light chains of immunoglobulin (κ and λ) in the aforementioned cell lines were analyzed by RT-PCR and immunochemistry, respectively. All the RT-PCR products were analyzed by sequencing. Results: The results of RT-PCR and immunochemistry showed that both mRNA and protein of SNC73 were expressed in five human epithelia-derived cancer cell lines. These data were further confirmed in the normal epithelial cells of colon mucosa by in situ hybridization. Also, the heavy chain of IgA1 and κ light chain were detected in these cells, but no λ light chain was observed. Both RAG1 and RAG2 were expressed in these human epithelia-derived cancer cell lines and the sequence was identical to that expressed in pre-B and pre-T cells. In addition to RAG1 and RAG2, the mRNA in one of the immunoglobulin transcription factors, EBF, was also detected in these cell lines, and Pax5 was only expressed in SW480 cells, but no expression of E2A was observed in all the five cell lines. Conclusion: Immunoglobulin A1 is originally expressed and V(D)J recombination machine is also present in non-lymphoid cells, suggesting that V(D)J recombination machine mediates the assembly of immunoglobulin A1 in non-lymphoid cells as in prelymphocytes.