The Peg3 gene is located on chromosome 19q (a region that is often abnormal in gliomas), and is one of a small number of imprinted genes that is expressed exclusively from the father’s copy of the gene under normal conditions. Dr. Johnson has recently shown that the Peg3 protein is involved in p53-mediated neuronal death occurring after radiation or chemotherapy exposure. Recent studies have shown that Peg3 expression is decreased in glioma cell lines due to abnormal genetic changes, and enforced overexpression of Peg3 decreases the ability of these cells to grow and form tumors. Although these data suggest that Peg3 may play an important role in brain tumor biology, none of these observations have been confirmed in patient tumor samples, and the relationship of Peg3 expression to the biology of gliomas in patients is not known. Over the past year, Dr. Johnson and his team have uncovered evidence for an inverse correlation between Peg3 mRNA expression and the degree of malignancy in human gliomas. They are now conducting studies to correlate Peg3 expression in human gliomas with clinical outcome and prognostic variables, and to understand the mechanism by which Peg3 mediates glioma cell death. These studies may thus identify Peg3 as a novel molecular target for the development of more effective therapies for gliomas.

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