Polymorphisms in the genes encoding members of the tristetraprolin family of human tandem CCCH zinc finger proteins.

The three known mammalian CCCH tandem zinc finger proteins of the tristetraprolin (TTP) class have recently been demonstrated to be mRNA-binding proteins. The prototype, TTP, functions in normal physiology to promote the instability of the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor mRNAs. Conversely, these mRNAs are stabilized in TTP-deficient mice, leading to an inflammatory phenotype characterized by overproduction of these cytokines.

Polymorphisms in human soluble epoxide hydrolase.

Human soluble epoxide hydrolase (hsEH) metabolizes a variety of epoxides to the corresponding vicinal diols. Arachidonic and linoleic acid epoxides are thought to be endogenous substrates for hsEH. Enzyme activity in humans shows high interindividual variation (e.

Identification of 127 amino acid substitution variants in screening 37 DNA repair genes in humans.

The repair of damaged DNA requires the function of multiple proteins in generally damage-specific, nonredundant pathways. The relationship of DNA repair to cancer susceptibility is obvious in "cancer families," in which low frequency, high penetrance, loss-of-function variant alleles of genes with roles in the repair of damaged DNA have been associated with a high risk of disease. More important for the cancer incidence in the general population, many individuals exhibit reduced (60-75% of normal) repair capacity phenotypes that have been associated with several-fold increases in individual cancer risk.