Abstract
We have found that EEF1A2, the gene encoding protein elongation factor EEF1A2 (also known as eEF-1α2), is amplified in 25% of primary ovarian tumors and is highly expressed in approximately 30% of ovarian tumors and established cell lines. We have also demonstrated that EEF1A2 has oncogenic properties: it enhances focus formation, allows anchorage-independent growth and decreases the doubling time of rodent fibroblasts. In addition, EEF1A2 expression made NIH3T3 fibroblasts tumorigenic and increased the growth rate of ES-2 ovarian carcinoma cells xenografted in nude mice. Thus, EEF1A2 and the process of protein elongation are likely to be critical in the development of ovarian cancer.
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Acknowledgements
We thank A. Al Abadi, R. Austin, J. Hanlon, S. Innocente, S. Lhotak, S. Popovic and E. Seidlitz for help with many of the assays and A. Bernstein, H. Ghosh, J. Hassell, H. Hirte, B. Muller, M. Rozakis-Adcock, G. Singh and P. Whyte for discussion and critical reading of the manuscript. We thank K. Dougherty and H. Blackborrow for secretarial assistance. We acknowledge the sharing of cell lines and information by P. Tonin, T. Hudson, D. Provencher and A.-M. Mes-Masson. This work was supported by funding from the National Cancer Institute of Canada and the Hamilton Regional Cancer Centre Foundation.
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Anand, N., Murthy, S., Amann, G. et al. Protein elongation factor EEF1A2 is a putative oncogene in ovarian cancer. Nat Genet 31, 301–305 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng904
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng904
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