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Expression of Melanin-Concentrating Hormone Receptor Messenger Ribonucleic Acid in Tumor Tissues of Pheochromocytoma, Ganglioneuroblastoma, and Neuroblastoma¹

Department of Molecular Biology and Applied Physiology (K.Ta., M.S., T.K., S.S.), Second Department of Internal Medicine (K.To., O.M., F.S.), Health Administration Center (N.T.), and Departments of Pediatric Oncology (Y.H.) and Pathology (H.S.), Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575; and Department of Internal Medicine, National Iwate Hospital (M.S.), Ichinoseki, Iwate 021-0015, Japan

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Kazuhiro Takahashi, M.D., Department of Molecular Biology and Applied Physiology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 2–1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan. E-mail: ktaka-md{at}mail.cc.tohoku.ac.jp

Expression of melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) receptor messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) was studied by RT-PCR and Northern blot analysis in human brain; pituitary; adrenal glands; tumor tissues of adrenal tumors, ganglioneuroblastomas, and neuroblastomas; and various cultured tumor cell lines. RT-PCR analysis showed that MCH receptor mRNA was widely expressed in brain tissues, pituitary, normal portions of adrenal glands (cortex and medulla), tumor tissues of adrenocortical tumors (12 of 13 cases), pheochromocytoma (all 7 cases), ganglioneuroblastoma (1 case), neuroblastoma (all 5 cases), and various cultured tumor cell lines (6 of 7 cell lines), including 2 neuroblastoma cell lines. Northern blot analysis showed the expression of MCH receptor mRNA (2.4 kb) only in the tumor tissues of 5 pheochromocytomas, 1 ganglioneuroblastoma, and 4 neuroblastomas, indicating that the expression levels of MCH receptor mRNA are much higher in these tumors than in the other tissues. These findings raised the possibility that MCH or MCH-like peptides may be related to the pathophysiology of these neural crest-derived tumors.

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