Transcriptionally active chromatin has an high level of histone acetylation, a post-transcriptional modification known to alter nucleosomal conformation increasing the accessibility of transcription factors to DNA. Recent studies have led new interest in histone acetylase and deacetylase because of their role as transcription factors. Sodium butyrate, a known reversible inhibitor of histone deacetylase, modulates a large number of genes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn Burkitt's Lymphoma there is an up-regulation of the c-myc oncogene caused by its translocation from chromosome 8 to chromosome 14, often close to the E mu enhancer of the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus (IgH). In Burkitt's Lymphoma cells, a peptide nucleic acid complementary for a specific unique E mu intronic sequence selectively blocked the expression of the c-myc oncogene under E mu control but not of other c-myc alleles. This Peptide Nucleic Acid also inhibited IgM expression in B cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCD10 constitutes a favourable prognostic marker for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Since correlations between CD10, cell cycle and apoptotic abilities were demonstrated in various cell types, we investigated whether differences existed in the cycling/apoptotic abilities of CD10-positive and CD10-negative B acute lymphoblastic leukaemia cells. Twenty-eight cases of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (mean age of 6.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeptide nucleic acids (PNA) are synthetic homologs of nucleic acids in which the phosphate-sugar polynucleotide backbone is replaced by a flexible polyamide. In this study, a PNA construct was employed as an anti-gene agent in intact cells in culture. The cell lines studied were derived from Burkitt's lymphomas (BL) that presented a translocated and hyperexpressed c-myc oncogene.
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