ELISA measurement for urinary 3-hydroxyproline-containing peptides and its preliminary application to healthy persons and cancer patients.

Background/aim: We reported that endogenous urinary 3-hydroxyproline (3-Hyp) is useful for cancer screening because cancer invasion involves the destruction of basement membrane. A simple and sensitive assay is desired.

Patients And Methods: An ELISA method using a specific antibody against a synthetic peptide of 10 amino acids including 3-Hyp corresponding to the amino acid sequences of collagen type IV alpha chain was applied to urine samples from 180 healthy controls and 22 cancer patients.

Gene transfer of human hepatocyte growth factor into rat skin wounds mediated by liposomes coated with the sendai virus (hemagglutinating virus of Japan).

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) regulates cell growth, cell motility, and morphogenesis in various types of cells, including epithelial and endothelial cells, indicating that it probably promotes epithelial repair and neovascularization during wound healing. To better understand the effects of HGF on wound healing, we performed human HGF-gene transfer into skin wounds in rats. The rat HGF mRNA levels, and human and rat HGF protein concentrations in the wounds in HGF gene-transfer rats were significantly elevated at 3 days, 3 to 14 days, and 3 and 14 days after gene transfer, respectively.