Downregulated In Multiple Cancer 1 (DMC1)

Frequent allelic losses within 17q25.1 in a variety of human cancers suggest the presence of 1 or more tumor suppressor genes in this region. Furthermore, a locus for tylosis with esophageal cancer (TOC) lies within the same region. The putative product of DMC1 is an integral membrane protein of 788 amino acids belonging to the class of so-called 'inside-out' membrane proteins; it lacks a signal sequence but contains an N-terminal cytoplasmic domain, a single transmembrane peptide, and a C-terminal extracellular domain. Harada et al. (2001) documented loss of DMC1 expression in 2 of 10 breast cancer cell lines, in 7 of 10 cervical cancer lines, in 7 of 13 hepatocellular cancer lines, in 3 of 7 lung cancer lines, in 3 of 6 thyroid cancer lines, in 2 of 6 gastric cancer lines, and in 2 of 4 renal cell cancer lines.