Figure 3.

Expression of p14^ARFand p73 in cervical epithelium. RT–PCR was performed as described in Materials and Methods. (A) p73 is over-expressed in HPV 16 positive cervical SCC. A single variant of p73 (p73α) is predominantly expressed in both normal (N) and malignant (T) cervical epithelium. The presence of equivalent amounts of cDNA in each sample was verified by amplification of β-actin as shown. (B) Cervical SCC express both full-length and Δ2 forms of p73. RT–PCR for p73Δ2 was performed as described in Materials and Methods. Amplification products were resolved on 2% agarose gels, then hybridized with oligonucleotide probes derived from exon 2 (upper blot) or exon 3 (lower blot). Hybridization with the probe from exon 2 detects only the full-length transcript, whereas the probe derived from exon 3 detects both the full-length and Δ2 forms of p73. In all cases N=normal tissue, T=tumour. Lanes N6 to T9 are four matched cases of normal and tumour. Lanes 10–13 are four examples of cervical SCC, shown without matched normal tissue. The presence of equivalent amounts of cDNA in each reaction was confirmed by amplification of β-actin as shown in the lower panel.