Comparative Effectiveness of Structural versus Regulatory Protein Gene Transfer on Articular Chondrocyte Matrix Gene Expression.

Objective: The production of extracellular matrix is a necessary component of articular cartilage repair. Gene transfer is a promising method to improve matrix biosynthesis by articular chondrocytes. Gene transfer may employ transgenes encoding regulatory factors that stimulate the production of matrix proteins, or may employ transgenes that encode the proteins themselves.

Lysophosphatidic acid stimulates cell migration, invasion, and colony formation as well as tumorigenesis/metastasis of mouse ovarian cancer in immunocompetent mice.

We have already established human xenographic models for the effect of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) on tumor metastasis in vivo. The purpose of this work is to establish a preclinical LPA effect model in immunocompetent mice. We first characterized the mouse epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cell line ID8 for its responsiveness to LPA in cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and compared these properties with those of human EOC.

Abnormalities in osteoclastogenesis and decreased tumorigenesis in mice deficient for ovarian cancer G protein-coupled receptor 1.

Ovarian cancer G protein-coupled receptor 1 (OGR1) has been shown to be a proton sensing receptor in vitro. We have shown that OGR1 functions as a tumor metastasis suppressor gene when it is over-expressed in human prostate cancer cells in vivo. To examine the physiological functions of OGR1, we generated conditional OGR1 deficient mice by homologous recombination.

Ovarian cancer G protein-coupled receptor 1, a new metastasis suppressor gene in prostate cancer.

Background: Metastasis is a process by which tumors spread from primary organs to other sites in the body and is the major cause of death for cancer patients. The ovarian cancer G protein-coupled receptor 1 (OGR1) gene has been shown to be expressed at lower levels in metastatic compared with primary prostate cancer tissues.

Methods: We used an orthotopic mouse metastasis model, in which we injected PC3 metastatic human prostate cancer cells stably transfected with empty vector (vector-PC3) or OGR1-expressing vector (OGR1-PC3) into the prostate lobes of athymic or NOD/SCID mice (n = 3-8 mice per group).

Novel, potent and selective cyclin D1/CDK4 inhibitors: indolo[6,7-a]pyrrolo[3,4-c]carbazoles.

The synthesis and CDK inhibitory properties of a series of indolo[6,7-a]pyrrolo[3,4-c]carbazoles is reported. In addition to their potent CDK activity, the compounds display antiproliferative activity against two human cancer cell lines. These inhibitors also effect strong G1 arrest in these cell lines and inhibit Rb phosphorylation at Ser780 consistent with inhibition of cyclin D1/CDK4.