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Immunochemical analysis of the human chorionic gonadotrophin-like material secreted by 'normal' and neoplastic urothelial cells

R. K. Iles and T. Chard

ABSTRACT

Material with the immunochemical characteristics of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) is produced by bladder tumour cells in vitro and in vivo. In order to characterize this material further, media were collected from 17 cell cultures (three choriocarcinomas, seven bladder carcinomas and seven 'normal' urothelium). The hCG-like material was compared with pregnancy hCG and purified α- and β-subunits by specific radioimmunoassays. Media were also submitted to affinity chromatography and the fractions further analysed by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. It was shown that both the neoplastic and normal urothelium produced only free β-subunit-like material. This urothelial 'β-hCG' has the same molecular weight and electrophoretic mobility as that present in the intact hCG of pregnancy.

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1677/jme.0.0020107
Volume 2: Issue 2,
Pages:
107–112 (6 total)
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Molecular insights into the structure and function of human chorionic gonadotrophin

R K Iles and T Chard

Although discovered in the early 1930s, much of the biochemistry and molecular biology of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) has only recently been revealed. The sequence was described in 1973 (Bellisario et al. 1973; Carlsen et al. 1973), but the precise secondary and tertiary structures are still unknown. Only in the last 5 years has there been dramatic progress in the understanding of the molecular nature of this hormone. These studies shed light on many clinical aspects of the biology of hCG, including its association with non-trophoblastic epithelial cancers.

CG and the glycoprotein hormones

Chorionic gonadotrophin is a member of a group of four structurally homologous proteins commonly referred to as the glycoprotein hormones. As the name implies, the hormone protein chains are glycosylated; hCG contains approximately 30% carbohydrate by weight. The other members are luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). CG differs from the other glycoprotein

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1677/jme.0.0100217
Volume 10: Issue 3,
Pages:
217–234 (18 total)
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Amplification or rearrangement of the β-human chorionic gonadotrophin (β-hCG)—human LH gene cluster is not responsible for the ectopic production of β-hCG by bladder tumour cells

R. K. Iles, B. H. Czepulkowski, B. D. Young, and T. Chard

ABSTRACT

The β-subunit of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) is coded on chromosome 19 by the β-hCG-hLH gene cluster. Genomic DNA has been isolated from bladder tumour cell lines which ectopically express β-hCG. The β-hCG—hLH gene cluster was probed for possible rearrangement or amplification and cells karyotyped for chromosome 19 abnormalities. No rearrangement or amplification of the gene cluster and no consistent abnormalities of chromosome 19 were found. The expression of β-hCG by bladder tumours is therefore likely to be the result of altered gene regulation and not a rearrangement or amplification of this gene cluster.

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1677/jme.0.0020113
Volume 2: Issue 2,
Pages:
113–117 (5 total)