DNA detection of JC and BK virus in archival urine cytospin slides.

To identify decoy cells, cytological examination was performed in urine cytospin slides. Decoy cells are related to Polyomaviruses (JC virus [JCV] and BK virus [BKV]), which are recognized worldwide due to potential infection and morbidity in kidney transplant recipients. Cytologically, it is difficult to evaluate the cytopathic effect of JCV and BKV in urine of patients with urothelial neoplasia.

Epstein-Barr virus and human papillomavirus infection in vulvar lichen sclerosus.

Objective: We investigated the presence of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human papillomavirus (HPV) in patients with vulvar lichen sclerosus (LS).

Materials And Methods: We investigated the presence of HPV and EBV from 34 vulvar biopsies of patients with LS who had had no previous treatment and from 17 normal vulvar brushings used as controls. We used polymerase chain reaction to amplify DNA sequences of these viruses.

Evaluation of DAPK gene methylation and HPV and EBV infection in cervical cells from patients with normal cytology and colposcopy.

Objective: Evaluation of promoter methylation of the death-associated protein kinase (DAPK) gene and HPV and EBV infections in cervical cells from patients with normal cytology and colposcopy.

Study Design: Twenty women, who had been patients at the Institute of Gynecology of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) for routine examinations and who showed normal cytology and colposcopy, were selected for this work. Cervical brushings were used for DNA extraction, and the analysis of methylation patterns of the DAPK gene was done through chemical modification with sodium bisulfite.

Recent advances in the molecular genetics of malignant gliomas disclose targets for antitumor agent perillyl alcohol.

Tumors of glial origin such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) comprise the majority of human brain tumors. Despite advances in surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, the prognosis for patients with malignant glioma has not improved, emphasizing the need for a search for new chemotherapeutic drugs. Deregulated p21-Ras function, as a result of mutation, overexpression, or growth factor-induced overactivation, contributes to the growth of GBM.

HLM/OSBP2 is expressed in chronic myeloid leukemia.

Oxysterols are oxygenated derivatives of cholesterol that have been shown to influence a wide variety of cellular processes including sterol metabolism, lipid trafficking, apoptosis and more recently, cell differentiation. The oxysterol binding proteins (OSBPs) comprise a large conserved family of proteins in eukaryotes with high affinity for oxysterols, but their precise function has not been defined yet. One member of this family in humans, HLM/OSBP2 protein, has recently been reported as a potential marker for solid tumor dissemination and worse prognosis in these cases.