[Mutation analysis of the p15 gene exon 2 in human primary hepatocarcinoma]

To investigate the role p15 gene plays in the pathogenesis of human primary hepatocarcinoma, 35 human hepatocarcinomas, 35 cases of adjacent non-cancerous liver cirrhosis and the blood cells of 10 normal human were analyzed for somatic mutation in p15 gene with PCR-SSCP. One case of adjacent non-cancerous liver cirrhosis showed abnormal migration single strand. In the hepatocarcinomas and in the other cases of adjacent non-cancerous liver cirrhosis, no mutation was found. Cloning and sequencing of the amplified abnormal migration single strand DNA revealed that it contained a wild type exon 2 of p15 gene in 345 bp length. The results indicate that the inaction of p15 gene by point mutation is a very uncommon event in human hepatocarcinoma.