Expression and mutation analyses of P53R2, a newly identified p53 target for DNA repair in human gastric carcinoma.

p53R2, a recently identified putative tumor suppressor located at 8q23.1, encodes a protein with striking similarity to a small subunit of ribonucleotide reductase. p53R2 is directly induced by wild-type p53 and involved in the p53 checkpoint for repair of damaged DNA, raising the possibility that mutational inactivation of p53R2 may contribute to the development and progression of human malignancies.

Apoptosis and proliferation in hepatocarcinogenesis related to cirrhosis.

Background: Dysplastic nodules (DNs) recently have been identified as preneoplastic lesions of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To test an alternative hypothesis regarding DN development, in which we have suggested that DNs develop as an infiltrating clonal expansion in advance of, or parallel to cirrhosis, the authors investigated the rates of apoptosis and proliferation in human hepatocarcinogenesis.

Methods: The authors performed terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay and proliferation cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) staining in 11 low-grade DNs, 8 high-grade DNs including 3 cases with HCC subnodules, 10 small HCCs, and 29 cases of surrounding cirrhotic nodules.

Induction Chemotherapy Followed by Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy in Locoregional Esophageal Cancer.

Purpose: The object of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of induction chemotherapy followed by concomitant chemoradiotherapy in locoregional esophageal cancer.

Materials And Methods: Between December 1992 and December 1999, 43 patients with locoregional esophageal cancer were enrolled in this phase II trial. Patients were treated with 2-cycles of induction chemotherapy followed by concomitant chemoradiotherapy.

Nitric oxide prevents the IFN-gamma/LPS-induced hepatotoxicity in a protein kinase G-independent manner.

Although it has been well known that the role of LPS on hepatotoxicity is mediated through TNF-alpha, the direct cytotoxic effect of LPS on IFN-gamma-primed hepatocytes has not yet been clearly demonstrated. Here, we demonstrate that the IFN-gamma-mediated death of murine embryonic liver BNL CL2 cells is potentiated by LPS (0.5 microg/ml).

Xenobiotic response in humanized double transgenic mice expressing tetracycline-controlled transactivator and human CYP1B1.

The cytochrome P450 enzymes (P450s or CYPs) are a superfamily of hemeproteins that catalyze the monooxygenation of a wide range of endobiotic and xenobiotic substrates. A typical strategy in toxicological research and testing involves applying a toxicant at high doses for a short period to homogeneous animals under controlled conditions. However, the conditions of this approach have very little in common with actual human exposure.

Frequent epigenetic inactivation of RASSF1A by aberrant promoter hypermethylation in human gastric adenocarcinoma.

Methylation associated inactivation of RASSF1, a putative tumor suppressor identified at 3p21.3, has been frequently observed in several human malignancies, including lung and breast cancers. To explore the penetrance of RASSF1 in gastric carcinogenesis, we performed expression and mutation analyses of 3 isotypes of RASSF1 (A, B, and C) in 150 gastric specimens, including 15 carcinoma cell lines.

The nsdD gene encodes a putative GATA-type transcription factor necessary for sexual development of Aspergillus nidulans.

The ability to reproduce both sexually and asexually is one of the characteristics of the homothalic ascomycete Aspergillus nidulans. Unlike the other Aspergillus species, A. nidulans undergoes sexual development that seems to be regulated by internal and external stimuli.

The IsdA gene is necessary for sexual development inhibition by a salt in Aspergillus nidulans.

Using one of 17 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) previously identified as specific to the late sexual developmental (LSD) stage of Aspergillus nidulans, a gene for the subject EST was isolated. The determined DNA sequences revealed an open reading frame encoding a 356 amino acid polypeptide which does not share a sequence similarity to previously identified genes or proteins. The isolated gene was named lsdA (late sexual development), since it was expressed abundantly at the LSD stage.

cDNA sequence and gene expression of storage protein-2--a juvenile hormone-suppressible hexamerin from the fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea Drury.

We isolated and sequenced a cDNA clone corresponding to storage protein-2 (SP-2) from the fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea. The cDNA for SP-2 (2572 bp) codes for a 747-residue protein with a predicted molecular mass of 88.5 kDa.

Effects of age and strain on small intestinal and hepatic antioxidant defense enzymes in Wistar and Fisher 344 rats.

Age- and strain-associated alterations in intestinal and hepatic antioxidant defense enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST), and lipid peroxidation were examined in Wistar and F344 rats of both strains aged 2 weeks, 2.5, 10 and 23 months. In the small intestine, activities of SOD and GSH-PX and lipid peroxidation were not affected by age or strain difference.

Enhanced iron uptake of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by heterologous expression of a tadpole ferritin gene.

We genetically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae to express ferritin, a ubiquitous iron storage protein, with the major heavy-chain subunit of tadpole ferritin. A 450-kDa ferritin complex can store up to 4,500 iron atoms in its central cavity. We cloned the tadpole ferritin heavy-chain gene (TFH) into the yeast shuttle vector YEp352 under the control of a hybrid alcohol dehydrogenase II and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase promoter.

Differential expression of house-keeping genes of Aspergillus nidulans during sexual development.

The rpl3 gene and the rpl37 gene for Aspergillus nidulans ribosomal protein L3 (RPL3) and RPL37, which were identified as located on chromosome I and chromosome III, respectively, were isolated from chromosome-specific cosmid libraries. The nucleotide sequences of both of the rpl3 gene and the rpl37 gene identified the ORFs of 392 amino acids and 92 amino acids, respectively. Both of the two genes were present in a single copy.

The rpl16a gene for ribosomal protein L16A identified from expressed sequence tags is differentially expressed during sexual development of Aspergillus nidulans.

We obtained 305 expressed sequence tags (ESTs), which are from the poly(A) site to the most proximal MboI site, from mycelia at the early sexual developmental (ESD) stage of Aspergillus nidulans. By comparison of these ESTs with those obtained previously from the vegetative stage and from the late sexual developmental stage followed by Northern blot analyses, genes of 17 ESTs were identified as being expressed more abundantly at the ESD stage than at the vegetative stage. Five of 17 genes were expressed more abundantly in the presence of the veA gene or the nsdD gene, suggesting that these 5 genes may be involved in sexual development.

The increment of purine specific sodium nucleoside cotransporter mRNA in experimental fibrotic liver induced by bile duct ligation and scission.

We investigated the expression profiles of rat fibrotic liver induced by bile duct ligation and scission (BDL/S) using the 3'-directed cDNA libraries. The possibility that the 3'directed cDNA library represents the mRNA population faithfully was examined by northern blots. During the northern analysis based on fibrotic liver expression profile, we found for the first time that purine specific sodium nucleoside cotransporter (SPNT) was upregulated in BDL/S-induced fibrotic liver.

B-cell lymphoma in a patient with WHIM syndrome.

WHIM syndrome is a rare congenital familial syndrome consisting of warts, hypogammaglobulinemia, infections, and myelokathexis. We describe a 30-year-old man with WHIM syndrome, in whom red dermal facial nodules developed. The diagnosis of B-cell lymphoma was established with biopsy and immunohistochemical studies.

Mammary gland tumor in transgenic mice expressing targeted beta-casein/HPV16E6 fusion gene.

The human papillomaviruses (HPV)-16 and HPV-18 referred to as high-risk HPVs are strongly associated with anogenital malignancies as well as benign epithelial cysts. It has been demonstrated that transgenic mice carrying HPV-16 E6-E7 under the control of the MMTV LTR developed malignant tumors including salivary gland carcinoma, lymphoma, skin histiocytomas and testicular tumors in a non-mammary gland specific manner. Another regulatory unit of rat beta-casein gene can confer the expression of fusion gene preferentially in the mammary glands of transgenic mice in a developmentally regulated manner.

BodyMap: a collection of 3' ESTs for analysis of human gene expression information.

BodyMap is a collection of site-directed 3' expressed sequence tags (ESTs) (gene signatures, GSs) that contains the transcript compositions of various human tissues and was the first systematic effort to acquire gene expression data. For the construction of BodyMap, cDNA libraries were made, preserving abundance information and histologic resolutions of tissue mRNAs. By sequencing 164,000 randomly selected clones, 88,587 GSs that represent chromosomally coded transcripts have been collected from 51 human organs and tissues.

Malignant papillary neoplasms of the intrahepatic bile ducts: CT and histopathologic features.

OBJECTIVE. We describe the CT and pathologic features of malignant papillary neoplasms of the intrahepatic bile ducts in 15 patients. CONCLUSION.

Purification and characterization of chitin-binding proteins from the hemolymph of sweet potato hornworm, Agrius convolvuli.

Three chitin-binding proteins (CBPs: CBP9, CBP15, CBP66) were identified from the larval hemolymph of sweet potato hornworm, Agrius convolvuli. Two (CBP9 and CBP15) of them have been isolated and purified by gel filtration (Superdex HR 75), cation-exchange chromatography (Mono S), and reverse-phase chromatography (muRPC PC 2.1/3).

Solution structure of a new hypothalamic neuropeptide, human hypocretin-2/orexin-B.

Orexin-A and orexin-B (also called hypocretin-1 and hypocretin-2, respectively) are novel hypothalamic neuropeptides encoded by a single mRNA transcript; they stimulate food intake. We have determined the three-dimensional solution structure of human hypocretin-2/orexin-B using two-dimensional 1H-NMR data and dynamical simulated annealing calculations. On the basis of NOEs, 3JHNalpha coupling constants and hydrogen-deuterium exchange rates together with chemical shift indices, human hypocretin-2/orexin-B was deduced to consist of two alpha-helices connected with a short linker in both H2O and 30% trifluoroethanol solutions.

Development of a new photoinitiation system for dental light-cure composite resins.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to explore the synergistic effect of combining camphorquinone (CQ) with 1-phenyl-1,2-propanedione (PPD) as a new photoinitiator.

Methods: A BisGMA, UDMA, TEGDMA monomer mixture was made light-curing with CQ and/or PPD plus 0.2 wt.