Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death of all gynecologic tumors, associated with widespread peritoneal dissemination and malignant ascites. Key to this is the ability to form multicellular spheroids (MCS); however, the tumor-specific factors that regulate MCS formation are unclear. p70 S6 kinase (p70S6K), which is a downstream effector of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt, is frequently constitutively active in ovarian carcinoma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe recently discovered small interfering RNA (siRNA) holds great promise in cancer therapy. However, efficient and safe delivery systems are required for the development of new therapeutic paradigms. Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality of all gynecologic tumors, and there is an urgent need for specific and effective therapies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProteomics
April 2005
Contamination of shellfish with paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins (PST) produced by toxic harmful algal blooms (HABs) have been negatively affecting the shellfish and aquaculture industries worldwide. Therefore, accurate and early identification of toxic phytoplankton species is crucial in HABs surveillance programs that allow fish-farmers to take appropriate preventive measures in shellfish harvesting and other aquaculture activities to overcome the negative impacts of HABs on human health. The identification of toxic dinoflagellates present in the water is currently a time-consuming operation since it requires skillful taxonomists and toxicologists equipped with optical and scanning electron microscopes as well as sophisticated equipment, for example, high-performance liquid chromotography-fluorescence detection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVitellogenesis in the mature female crab Charybdis feriatus occurs all year round during which active synthesis of the vitellogenin (Vg) precursor occurs. Several polypeptides from the ovaries were shown to be immuno-reactive to the shrimp vitellin (Vn) antibody. N-terminal amino acid sequence determination revealed that several ovarian polypeptides and one polypeptide secreted by the hepatopancreas were identical to part of the C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSimultaneous comparison of differentially expressed protein profiles of Prorocentrum triestinum grown under different growth phases and growth conditions indicated the presence of phase-specific and stress-responsive proteins, respectively. Correlation studies on these proteins in relation to cell division phasing patterns and to models of phytoplankton growth inferred the possible functions. Most notable among these proteins were groups of proteins thought to trigger or mediate cells through specific phases of division of this alga, e.
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