Development of quantitative RT-PCR assays for wild-type urokinase receptor (uPAR-wt) and its splice variant uPAR-del5

Abstract

The receptor for the serine protease urokinase-type plasminogen activator, uPAR (CD 87), plays an important role in tumor cell invasion and metastasis of solid malignant tumors. uPAR is a highly glycosylated, glycan lipid-anchored membrane protein, consisting of three homologous domains. Each individual domain is encoded by two exons: DI by exons 2+3, DII by exons 4+5, and DIII by exons 6+7. Beside the wild-type (wt) uPAR mRNA, two splice variants either lacking exon 5 (uPAR-del5) or both exons 4 and 5 (uPARdel4/ 5) have been described. Previously, we studied expression of the mRNA variant uPAR-del4/5 and uPAR mRNA encompassing exons 2, 3, and 4 (i.e. uPAR-wt plus uPAR-del5) applying real-time RT-PCR assays for quantification of the mRNA concentration. In the present paper, we established two additional specific, robust and highly sensitive RT-PCR assays, based on the LightCycler technology, to specifically quantify either uPAR-wt or its splice variant, uPARdel5. Expression of uPAR-wt and uPAR-del5 was analyzed in different human malignant cell lines (ovarian cancer cell lines OVMZ-6 and OVMZ-10; breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB 231, MDA-MB 231 BAG, MDA-MB 435, and aMCF-7; brain tumor cell line LN 18) as well as in a set of 174 breast cancer tissue samples. uPAR-del5 mRNA was found to be expressed very frequently at a rather low level (typically less than 1% of uPAR-wt mRNA). In tumor tissue from breast cancer patients, a statistically significant correlation between uPAR-del5 and uPAR-wt mRNA (r = 0.779; P < 0.001) was observed. There was no association between the expression level of either mRNA and clinical parameters such as nodal status, tumor size and grade. In estrogen receptor negative tumors, a significantly higher uPAR-del5 expression was found (P = 0.023). The two developed quantitative RT-PCR assays described here may aid further analysis of the function and clinical relevance of uPAR-wt and one of its splice variants, uPAR-del5, in malignant tumors.