Colorectal cancer is among the leading causes of cancer death in the USA. The polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), including core components SUZ12 and EZH2, represents a key epigenetic regulator of digestive epithelial cell physiology and was previously shown to promote deleterious effects in a number of human cancers, including colon. Using colon cancer stem cells (CCSC) isolated from human primary colorectal tumors, we demonstrate that SUZ12 knockdown and treatment with DZNep, one of the most potent EZH2 inhibitors, increase apoptosis levels, marked by decreased Akt phosphorylation, in CCSCs, while embryonic stem (ES) cell survival is not affected.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFColorectal cancer is ranked among the top leading causes of cancer death in industrialized populations. Polycomb group proteins, including Suz12 and Ezh2, are epigenetic regulatory proteins that act as transcriptional repressors of many differentiation-associated genes and are overexpressed in a large subset of colorectal cancers. Retinoic acid (RA) acts as a negative regulator of PcG actions in stem cells, but has shown limited therapeutic potential in some solid tumors, including colorectal cancer, in part because of retinoic acid receptor β silencing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLynch syndrome, also known as hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC), is the most common known genetic syndrome for colorectal cancer (CRC). MLH1/MSH2 mutations underlie approximately 90% of Lynch syndrome families. A total of 24% of these mutations are missense.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimicrob Agents Chemother
September 2003
The multiresistance transposon Tn1331, which mediates resistance to several aminoglycosides and beta-lactams, includes the aac(6')-Ib, aadA1, bla(OXA-9), and bla(TEM-1) genes. The nucleotide sequence of aac(6')-Ib includes a region identical to that of the bla(TEM-1) gene. This region encompasses the promoter and the initiation codon followed by 15 nucleotides.
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