6p21 rearrangements in uterine leiomyomas targeting HMGA1

Abstract To quantify the expression of HMGA1 mRNA in uterine leiomyomas, the expression of HMGA1 was analyzed in a series including tumors with aberrations of chromosome 6 ( n = 7) and cytogenetically normal tumors ( n = 8) as a control group by quantitative reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction. The average expression level in the 6p21 group was found to be 5.6 times higher than that in the control group, and with one exception, all cases with 6p21 alteration revealed a high expression of HMGA1 mRNA than cytogenetically normal tumors. Nevertheless, compared to fibroids with a normal karyotype, the upregulation of the HMGA1 mRNA in these cases was much less strong than that of HMGA2 mRNA in case of 12q14∼15 aberrations identified in previous studies.