Functional genomics of a novel colon carcinoma-related gene (CCRG)

Recently Dr. Narayanan's laboratory, utilizing bioinformatics approaches, identified a novel gene which may play a role in colon cancer. This gene in view of its expression specificity was termed Colon Carcinoma Related Gene (CCRG). The CCRG belongs to a novel class of secreted molecules with a unique cysteine rich motif. The function of CCRG however, remains unknown. The basis of this project revolved around establishing the putative function (functional genomics) of CCRG. The rationale for the project was to test a hypothesis that CCRG may offer a growth advantage to cancer cells. The availability of diverse tumor-derived cell lines, which were CCRG negative offered a possibility to study the consequence of enforced expression of CCRG. A breast carcinoma cell line was transfected with an exogenous CCRG expression vector and the stable clones were characterized. The stable transfectants of CCRG showed enhanced growth and a partial abrogation of serum growth factor(s) requirement. These results provide a framework for future experiments to further elucidate the function of CCRG.