An isolated intracardiac echogenic focus as a marker for aneuploidy.

Objective: This study was undertaken to evaluate the relationship of an isolated fetal intracardiac echogenic focus in a population of patients with a mixed risk for aneuploidy when presenting for prenatal diagnosis.

Study Design: All women referred to our institution for screening ultrasound were prospectively evaluated for the presence of an intracardiac echogenic focus in the fetal heart. Each patient was evaluated for the presence of clinical risk factors including ultrasound findings, biochemical screening, and maternal age.

A post-ubiquitination role for MDM2 and hHR23A in the p53 degradation pathway.

Abrogation of ubiquitin/proteasome-dependent turnover of p53 is critical for its activation. UbL-UBA proteins, including human homolog of Rad23 (hHR23) proteins, may regulate proteasomal degradation of substrates such as p53, due to their ability to interact with both ubiquitinated substrates and the proteasome. siRNA-mediated depletion of hHR23A or hHR23B in human cell lines accelerated p53 degradation.