Clobenpropit enhances anti-tumor effect of gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer.

Aim: To evaluate the anti-tumor effect of clobenpropit, which is a specific H3 antagonist and H4 agonist, in combination with gemcitabine in a pancreatic cancer cell line.

Methods: Three kinds of human pancreatic cancer cell lines (Panc-1, MiaPaCa-2, and AsPC-1) were used in this study. Expression of H3 and H4 receptors in pancreatic cancer cells was identified with Western blotting.

The role of quantitative NPTX2 hypermethylation as a novel serum diagnostic marker in pancreatic cancer.

Objectives: The majority of pancreatic cancers are found to be unresectable, and the only chance for cure lies on early detection and complete resection. Several genes have been discovered to be aberrantly methylated in primary pancreatic cancer tissue, and this cancer DNA can be detected in the plasma. The aims of this study were to develop a novel diagnostic marker based on epigenetic characteristics of pancreatic cancer.

Effects and mechanisms of the combination of suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid and bortezomib on the anticancer property of gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer.

Objectives: Earlier studies that dealt with the combination therapy of gemcitabine and histone deacetylation inhibitors for pancreatic cancer revealed unsatisfactory results. The activation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) was referred as one of the attributable causes, and we attempted to overcome this resistance by the addition of a proteasome inhibitor.

Methods: The influences of suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (vorinostat, SAHA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, and bortezomib, a novel selective antagonist of 26S proteasome, with or without gemcitabine on cell growth and apoptosis and the expressions of related proteins were observed in pancreatic cancer cell lines (MiaPaCa-2 and ASPC-1).

Determining the global DNA methylation status of rat according to the identifier repetitive elements.

A large portion of the genome represents repetitive elements. Identifier (ID) elements, the major elements of short interspersed repetitive elements, are widespread with about 150 000 copies in the rat genome. Each ID element contains six CpG dinucleotides, which might account for the global methylation status of rat.

Quantification of CpG methylation at the 5'-region of XIST by pyrosequencing from human serum.

Aberrant methylation of X (inactive)-specific transcript (XIST) is common in serum derived from human prostate and testicular germ cell tumors. The direct quantification of XIST methylation is urgently required for clinical application because human serum contains both normal and cancer-originated XIST DNA. We directly quantitated the methylation percentage of three CpG sites (+947, +956, +971) from the 5'-region of XIST by pyrosequencing.

Estimating the total mouse DNA methylation according to the B1 repetitive elements.

Measuring the degree of methylation of the B1 element in mouse may represent the global DNA methylation status because about 30,000 copies of the B1 element are randomly dispersed in the total mouse genome. Six CpG dinucleotides are located within each 163 bp size of B1 element, and each CpG dinucleotide was partially methylated. We quantitated the DNA methylation of the B1 repetitive elements by performing PCR for the methylation specific PCR (MSP) and also by the pyrosequencing.

The analysis of X-chromosome inactivation-related gene expression from single mouse embryo with sex-determination.

Chromatin remodeling by histone and DNA modification is important for the initiation of X-chromosome inactivation (XCI). In this study, a thorough transcriptional analysis of five XCI-related genes was performed by single cell reverse-transcribed PCR. An analysis of the XCI-related gene (Xist, Tsix, SUV39H1, SET7, and DNMT1) expression was performed to investigate the initiation process of XCI from early mouse single embryo (1-cell, 2-cell, 4-cell, 8-cell, and blastocyst).