Rapid screen of human genes for relevance to cancer using fission yeast

A total of 437 human full-length cDNAs isolated by microarray analysis of liver and/or gastric cancer tissues were evaluated for their relevance to cancer using the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Overexpression of 161 human cDNAs in S. pombe caused growth inhibition and/or morphological changes, which can be considered as cancer-related phenotypes of S. pombe. Sixteen genes causing growth defects and morphological changes at the same time were chosen to validate their ostensible oncogenic properties. They were highly expressed in liver and/or gastric cancer cell lines. Also, when the mouse embryonic fibroblast cell type NIH3T3 was transfected with these genes, the proliferation rates of cells were increased by 32% to 120%. This study demonstrates that fission yeast can be used as an advantageous and powerful tool for the rapid screening of human genes relevant to cancer. Furthermore, the human genes screened can be tested further as diagnostic markers and potential therapeutic targets for liver and stomach cancers. They also can be studied further for the elucidation of mechanisms involved in carcinogenesis.