OCI-5/GPC3, a glypican encoded by a gene that is mutated in the Simpson-Golabi-Behmel overgrowth syndrome, induces apoptosis in a cell line-specific manner

OCI-5/GPC3 is a member of the glypican family. Glypicans are heparan sulfate proteoglycans that are bound to the cell surface through a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol anchor. It has recently been shown that the OCI-5/GPC3 gene is mutated in patients with the Simpson-Golabi-Behmel Syndrome (SGBS), an X-linked disorder characterized by pre- and postnatal overgrowth and various visceral and skeletal dysmor-phisms. Some of these dysmorphisms could be the re-sult of deficient growth inhibition or apoptosis in cer-tain cell types during development. Here we present evidence indicating that OCI-5/GPC3 induces apopto-sis in cell lines derived from mesothelioma (II14) an