Differential expression of thymosin genes in human tumors and in the developing human kidney

Thymosins beta 4 and beta 10 are 2 structurally related polypeptides originally defined in the rat immune system. To date, no truly unambiguous functions have been formally ascribed to these small (less than 4.9 kDa) acidic proteins. Previous research has demonstrated relationships between expression of these genes and cell growth/differentiation. These observations prompted the present study which has used cDNA and synthetic oligonucleotide probes in combination with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to examine the differential expression of these 2 genes in normal and neoplastic human tissues and in the developing human kidney. Low levels of beta 4 and beta 10 mRNA species prevailed in normal tissues; in contrast, these gene transcripts were notably more abundant in malignant renal tumors and in the normal human embryonic kidney. These findings show that the thymosin beta 4 and beta 10 genes are constitutively expressed at higher levels in embryonic/neoplastic as compared to normal/benign tissues and that thymosin in beta 10 in particular may be a new molecular marker for renal-cell carcinoma as well as other malignancies.