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¹ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and ² Shands Cancer Center, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida; ³ Division of Urology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Jacksonville, Florida; and ⁴ Department of Pathology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan

Requests for reprints: Susan K. Boehlein, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610. Phone: 352-392-0032; Fax: 928-962-0569. E-mail: sboehlei{at}ufl.edu

Previous studies have shown a statistically significant correlation between human carcinomas and monoclonal antibody detection of a Mycoplasma hyorhinis–encoded protein known as p37. A potential mechanism of p37 is that it might promote invasion and metastasis. Recombinant p37 enhanced the invasiveness of two prostate carcinoma and two melanoma cell lines in a dose-dependent manner in vitro, but did not have a significant effect on tumor cell growth. Furthermore, the increased binding to cell surfaces and the enhanced invasive potential of cancer cells from exposure to p37 could be completely reversed by preincubation of the cancer cells with an anti-p37 monoclonal antibody. Sequence comparisons, followed by three-dimensional molecular modeling, revealed a region of similarity between p37 and influenza hemagglutinin A, a sialic acid–binding protein that plays a critical role in viral entry. Binding of p37 to prostate carcinoma cells was found to be at least partially sialic acid dependent because neuraminidase treatment decreased this binding. Taken together, these observations suggest that M. hyorhinis can infect humans and may facilitate tumor invasiveness via p37. These results further suggest that p37 may be a molecular target for cancer therapy.

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Note: S.M. Schuster is currently at Keck Graduate Institute, Claremont, CA 91711.

⁵ G. Fareed, personal communication.

Received 2/ 8/05; revised 4/12/05; accepted 4/29/05.