Expression of ras (p21) protein in plasma from exposed workers and from patients with lung disease

Oncogenes are involved with the regulation of cellular proliferation and thus could be important in the development of many cancers. Cells transformed in culture by ras genes can be activated either by the introduction of specific point mutations or by overexpression of the normal proto-oncogene. The ras genes encode a protein of 189 amino acids (molecular mass 21 kDa) designated as p21. ras p21 proteins are contained in all eukaryotic cells on the inner surface of the plasma membrane. We measured ras p21 proteins in lung cancer patients, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and workers exposed to emissions from petrochemical plants and 1,3-butadiene and 1,3-butadiene/styrene. Proteins were separated by gel electrophoresis, transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane by Western blotting and detected by chemiluminescence. A monoclonal pan-ras antibody was used as the primary antibody. Optical densities of the peak area of the protein bands were calculated and values which were two standard deviations above negative control means were considered positive. Many of the cancer patients and some of the COPD patients gave positive responses, whilst exposed worker groups did not show statistically significant increases by comparison with the controls. Thus, an increase in ras oncoproteins could be a biomarker for cancer or the disease state in general, but it cannot be ruled out that it is a biomarker for exposure since many of the individuals examined were smokers exposed to cigarette smoke.