Identification of differentially expressed genes in microsatellite stable HNPCC and sporadic colon cancer.

Background: Some sporadic colon cancers and hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) have been known by a constitutional defect in mismatch gene repair (MMR) and dysfunction in of this MMR system, which lead to an aberrant phenotype that can cause microsatellite instability. However, the clinicopathologic features of still existing microsatellite stable (MSS) colon cancer remain to be investigated.

Method: We compared the gene expression patterns of nine tumor tissues of HNPCC and nine tumor tissues of sporadic colon cancer with their adjacent pathologically normal, MSS tissues by modified differential display-polymerase chain reaction, selected four potential marker genes, and confirmed their reproducibility by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction.

Clinical validity of the lung cancer biomarkers identified by bioinformatics analysis of public expression data.

Identification of molecular markers often leads to important clinical applications such as early diagnosis, prognosis, and drug targeting. Lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, still lacks reliable molecular markers. We have combined the bioinformatics analysis of the public gene expression data and clinical validation to identify biomarker genes for non-small-cell lung cancer.

The signature from messenger RNA expression profiling can predict lymph node metastasis with high accuracy for non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: The extent of regional lymph node (LN) metastasis is the most important factor in the evaluation of resectability and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to increase the chance of complete cure. The authors attempted to deduce a group of genes from the analysis of mRNA expression profiles of the tumor tissues of NSCLC patients with or without LN metastasis, and make a classification model for better prediction of LN metastasis.

Methods: The authors analyzed mRNA expression profiles of 79 NSCLC patients with or without LN metastasis, and deduced the gene signature for the predictive model of LN metastasis in lung cancer.

Determination of substrate specificity and putative substrates of Chk2 kinase.

Chk2/hCds1, the human homolog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rad53p and Schizosaccharomyces pombe Cds1p, plays a critical role in the DNA damage checkpoint pathway. While several in vivo targets of Chk2 have been identified, the other target proteins of Chk2 responsible for multiple functions, such as cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, and apoptosis, remain to be elucidated. We utilized the GST-peptide approach to identify physiological substrates for Chk2.