TWIST1 is thought to be a novel oncogene. Understanding the molecular
mechanisms regulating the TWIST1 gene expression profiles in tumor cells may give
new insights regarding prognostic factors and novel therapeutic targets in veterinary
oncology. In the present study we partially isolated the TWIST1 gene in Felis catus and
performed comparative studies. Several primer combinations were used based on the
alignments of homologous DNA sequences. After PCR amplification, three bands were
obtained, purified and sequenced. Several bioinformatic tools were utilized to carry out
the comparative studies. Higher similarity was found between the isolated TWIST1 gene
in Felis catus and Homo sapiens (86%) than between Homo sapiens and Rattus
norvegicus or Mus musculus (75%). Partial amino acid sequence showed no change in
the four species analyzed. This confirmed that coding sequences presented high
similarity (~96%) between man and cat. These results give the first insights regarding
the TWIST1 gene in cat but further studies are required in order to establish, or not, its
role in tumor formation and progression in veterinary oncology.
Keywords: Animal model, coding gene, comparative analysis, expression
profiles, Felis catus, first TWIST1 isolation in cat, gene localization, in silico
mapping, metastatic spread, molecular mechanisms, mutations, oncogene,
overexpression, phylogenetic analysis, prognostic factors, protein prediction,
therapeutic target, tumor formation, TWIST1 gene, veterinary oncology.
