Individual Projects  WWOX gene expression in Human
Hepatocellular Carcinoma  Ileana (Sandra) Aderca Senior Research
Technologist  The WW domain-containing oxidoreductase gene (or
WWOX) is a candidate tumor suppressor gene which is located in
the 16q23.1- 24.1 region on chromosome 16, within the common
fragile site, FRA16D, which is the second most active fragile
site in the human genome. Common fragile sites are regions of
relative genomic instability which are frequent sites of
deletions, breaks, and rearrangment of the genome.  A high
frequency of loss of heterozygosity and a number of homozygous
genomic deletions have been found in this region in various
cancers, including prostate, lung, breast, ovarian, and
hepatocellular cancer. Deletions or mutations in the coding
region are rarely found in the WWOX gene. A number of research
groups have identified the presence of multiple aberrant splice
variants of the gene. This project is pursuing the hypothesis
that the study of the splice variants will provide no