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Updated: May 22, 2026

Defining Gene Functions in Tumorigenesis by Ex vivo Ablation of Floxed Alleles in Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor Cells
Published on: August 25, 2021
Functional analysis of the putative tumor suppressor PTPRD in neuroblastoma cells
O Clark1, F Schmidt, C H Coles
1Neural Development Unit, UCL Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK.
Abstract:
The gene encoding PTPδ is mutated or downregulated in human cancers including neuroblastoma. Here, we functionally tested the tumor-suppressive potential of PTPδ in neuroblastoma cell lines by reconstitution of both short and long PTPδ isoforms. We did not observe any significant difference in colony forming ability between cells expressing wild-type or catalytically inactive PTPδ. Although endogenous PTPδ expression was very low in neuroblastoma cells, it was also low in mouse embryo adrenal glands, suggesting that PTPδ may have little developmental function in early adrenal neuroblasts. This study, therefore, questions the significance of PTPδ as a tumor suppressor protein in neuroblastoma.
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