Expression of int-2 mRNA in human tumors amplified at the int-2 locus

Gene amplification is a relatively frequent event in human malignant tumors and is believed to have an important function in neoplastic transformation and tumor progression. Our attention has been focused on the amplification and the expression of the int-2 gene for several reasons: (1) In the mouse mammary tumorigenesis int-2 is frequently activated by MMTV proviral integration. (2) The human homolog of int-2, located on chromosome 11q13, is frequently amplified in human primary tumors and is comprised in an amplification unit encompassing the hst gene, which is often coamplified; the amplification at the 11q13 locus in breast carcinomas correlates with a poor outcome of the disease. (3) int-2 and hst belong to the basic FGF gene family. All these observations raise the possibility that the human int-2 gene plays an active role in the neoplastic process, but this will prove to be true only if int-2 is expressed in human tumors. In the present study we used RNA:RNA in situ hybridization and Northern blot analysis to show that int-2 gene is expressed in a number of human carcinomas amplified at the same locus.