Polymorphism in promoter of mif gene and risk of bladder cancer

The aim of this book chapter is to present the latest basic research on the role of polymorphism in the promoter of Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and risk of bladder cancer. MIF gene lies on chromosome 22q11.2 and regulation is controlled by the two polymorphic sites in the promoter region. The first site consists of the CATT repeat at -794 which repeats 5-8 times and the second site is a single nucleotide polymorphism at -173(G/C) which associated with enhanced promoter activity in some cancer cell lines and the activity is proportional increased MIF levels in serum. MIF enhances of macrophage transcription, activation and viability, coupled with its inhibitory effects on anti-tumor cell cytotoxic lymphocytes, suggests that MIF overexpression in developing malignancies may act in concert to facilitate increased tumor growth which presents an important link between inflammation and cancer due to its pro-inflammatory role. MIF binds to extracellular domain of CD74with high affinity and initiates a signaling cascade.