WTX (Wilms' tumor suppressor X chromosome) is a novel putative tumor suppressor gene in Wilms' tumor of kidney, its expression and function in other human cancers had not been explored. This study detected the expression of WTX in 459 cases of 15 organs of cancers and adjacent normal tissues by using immunohistochemical staining (IHC), and validated them by in situ hybridization (ISH) and quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). IHC and ISH data showed that WTX protein was generally expressed in normal tissues, but reduced expression in corresponding cancers. This study demonstrated that WTX downregulation is a common phenomenon in human cancers, WTX might be a general tumor-suppressor gene and biological marker of multiple cancer tissues. Apart from kidney, stomach is another target tissue of WTX gene. The germline and somatic mutations of WTX were screened in 12 gastric cancer patients and identified in one cases (8.3%). Mutation in the WTX gene might be one of the reasons of WTX loss in gastric cancer patients.
Keywords: Immunohistochemical staining; In situ hybridization; Tumor suppressor; Wilms’ tumor suppressor X chromosome (WTX).