Figure 10.

p53 mRNA variants are differentially expressed in tumors from patient to patient. Total RNA from 30 breast tumors were provided by Tayside Tumour Bank. Reverse transcription was performed as described in Materials and Methods using primer RT1 and 400 ng of total RNA. The p53 cDNAs were amplified by PCR using appropriate primers as described in Material and Methods and on schema of the p53 gene structure. p53γ, Δ133p53β, and Δ133p53γ mRNAs were not detected (data not shown). Actin was used a control. Tumors expressing mutant p53 are marked in bold: tumor 3 (mutant p53 K132 → R), tumor 7 (mutant p53 R248 → Q), tumor 9 (mutant p53 K132 → N), tumor 13 (mutant p53 V216 → M), and tumor 19 (mutant p53 R248 → Q). All the other tumors express wild-type p53.