P-glycoprotein and multidrug resistance-associated protein-1 expression in acute myeloid leukemia: Biological and prognosis implications.

Background: Despite the advances in the cure rate for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a considerable number of patients die from the disease due to the occurrence of multidrug resistance (MDR). Overexpression of the transporter proteins, such as P-glycoprotein (Pgp) and multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP), confers resistance to the treatment of these leukemias.

Methods: To analyze the expression of the Pgp and MRP1 in patients with AML and determine their correlation between expression and demographic, clinical, and laboratorial variables, bone marrow and peripheral blood samples from 346 patients with a diagnosis of AML were assessed for the expression of Pgp and MRP1 by flow cytometry.

Application of high-resolution array platform for genome-wide copy number variation analysis in patients with nonsyndromic cleft lip and palate.

Background: Although more than 14 loci may be involved in the development of nonsyndromic cleft lip and palate (NSCLP), the etiology has not been fully elucidated due to genetic and environmental risk factor interactions. Despite advances in identifying genes associated with the NSCLP development using traditional genetic mapping strategies of candidate genes, genome-wide studies, and epidemiologic and linkage analysis, microarray techniques have become important complementary tools in the search for potential causative oral clefts genes in genetic studies. Microarray hybridization enables scanning of the whole genome and detecting copy number variants (CNVs).

No association between SNP309 promoter polymorphism in the MDM2 and cervical cancer in a study from northeastern Brazil.

Background: A functional variant in the MDM2 promoter (a T/G substitution, SNP309) was found to be associated with increased expression of MDM2 gene products and at significantly earlier age onset of tumors in both hereditary Li-Fraumeni individuals and sporadic cancer patients. We tested the hypothesis that this functional variant was associated with either risk or early age diagnosis of cervical cancer in a Brazilian population.

Methods: A primer-introduced restriction analysis PCR assay was used to genotype the MDM2 SNP309 of 72 cervical carcinoma patients and 100 healthy women.