Human Tousled kinase 1 (TLK1) plays an important role in chromatin remodeling, replication, and DNA damage response and repair. TLK1 activity is immediately, but transiently, downregulated after genotoxic insult, and its recovery is important for exit from checkpoint arrest and cell survival after radiation. The data in this article compliments research presented in the paper titled, "Tousled kinase activator, gallic acid, promotes DNA repair and suppresses radiation cytotoxicity in salivary gland cells" [1].
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this project was to demonstrate that an oncolytic herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) can replicate in a tissue- and tumor-specific fashion through both transcriptional (prostate-specific promoter, ARR(2)PB) and translational (5'-untranslated regions (5'UTRs) of rFGF-2) regulation of an essential viral gene, ICP27. We generated two recombinant viruses, ARR(2)PB-ICP27 (A27) and ARR(2)PB-5'UTR-ICP27 (AU27) and tested their efficacy and toxicity both in vitro and in vivo. The ARR(2)PB promoter caused overexpression of ICP27 gene in the presence of activated androgen receptors (ARs) and increased viral replication in prostate cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In view of the limited success of available treatment modalities for a wide array of cancer, alternative and complementary therapeutic strategies need to be developed. Virotherapy employing conditionally replicative adenoviruses (CRAds) represents a promising targeted intervention relevant to a wide array of neoplastic diseases. Critical to the realization of an acceptable therapeutic index using virotherapy in clinical trials is the achievement of oncolytic replication in tumor cells, while avoiding non-specific replication in normal tissues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Tousled-like kinase 1B (TLK1B), a mammalian threonine kinase, facilitates the repair of DNA breaks. Eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) overexpression leads to the upregulation of TLK1B. Doxorubicin, commonly used in the adjuvant setting for breast cancer, causes DNA breaks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: In a prospective trial, to determine if eIF4E overexpression in breast cancer specimens is correlated with VEGF elevation, increased tumor microvessel density (MVD) counts, and a worse clinical outcome irrespective of nodal status.
Summary And Background Data: In vitro, the overexpression of eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) up-regulates the translation of mRNAs with long 5'-untranslated regions (5'-UTRs). One such gene product is the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
Objective: A previous study of patients with stage I to III breast cancer showed that those patients whose tumors were in the highest tertile of eIF4E overexpression experienced a higher risk for recurrence. This study was designed to determine whether high eIF4E overexpression predicts cancer recurrence independent of nodal status by specifically targeting patients with node-positive disease.
Methods: The prospective trial was designed to accrue 168 patients with node-positive breast cancer to detect a 2.
Introduction: The overexpression of eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E), a critical component of the "RNA helicase" necessary for the initiation of protein synthesis of mRNAs with long 5' prime untranslated regions (5'UTRs), can result in malignant transformation. In a prospective study on breast cancer outcome of women with stage I to III disease, eIF4E overexpression was an independent predictor of cancer recurrence (RR = 7.3, CI = 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To validate the authors' initial hypothesis-generating observation that eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) protein elevation predicts a higher cancer recurrence rate in patients with stage 1 to 3 breast cancer.
Summary Background Data: Tumor size and nodal status continue to be the two most important independent prognostic markers in breast cancer, despite well-documented limitations. In a previous smaller retrospective study, eIF4E, important in the regulation of protein synthesis of mRNAs with long or complex 5' untranslated regions, appeared promising as an independent predictor of breast cancer recurrence.