| DEGA / AMIGO 2 , a leucine rich repeat family member , differentially expressed in human gastric adenocarcinoma : effects on ploidy , chromosomal stability , cell adhesion / migration and tumorigenicity . ^^^ BLAST searches revealed DEGA to be an exact match to AMIGO 2 , a recently identified , but functionally uncharacterized protein related to AMIGO , a leucine rich repeat containing cell adhesion molecule implicated in axon tract development . ^^^ In this report , we show that DEGA / AMIGO 2 mRNA is differentially expressed in approximately 45 % of tumor versus normal tissue from gastric adenocarcinoma patients . ^^^ Stable expression of a DEGA / AMIGO 2 antisense construct in the gastric adenocarcinoma cell line , AGS , led to altered morphology , increased ploidy , chromosomal instability , decreased cell adhesion / migration , and a nearly complete abrogation of tumorigenicity in nude mice . ^^^ These findings suggest a potential etiologic role for DEGA / AMIGO 2 in gastric adenocarcinoma . . ^^^ |