Protein Tyrosine Kinase and Phosphatase Expression Profiling in Human Cancers

Alterations of protein tyrosine kinase and tyrosine phosphatase are often associated with uncontrolled cell growth and cellular transformation. Because of the large number of tyrosine kinase/phosphatase genes in such gene family, it is essential to use an efficient and simple approach to obtain comprehensive protein tyrosine kinase and protein tyrosine phosphatase expression profiles. Knowledge of such an overall expression pattern of tyrosine kinases/phosphatases in a given cancer cell represents the first step in understanding key components involved in the sequential events of tumor progression. In this article, we described a novel approach by using degenerate PCR primers according to the consensus catalytic motifs in order to amplify protein tyrosine kinase/phosphatase molecules from cancer cells by reverse-transcription polymerase-chain-reaction. An improved profiling approach (RAGE) was also described by utilizing restriction enzyme digestion and electrophoresis for quick and efficient kinase/phosphatase profiling.