Time trends in glioblastoma multiforme survival: the role of temozolomide.

Background: In 2005, maximum safe surgical resection, followed by radiotherapy with concomitant temozolomide (TMZ), followed by adjuvant TMZ became the standard of care for glioblastoma (GBM). Furthermore, a modest, but meaningful, population-based survival improvement for GBM patients occurred in the US between 1999 (when TMZ was first introduced) and 2008. We hypothesized that TMZ usage explained this GBM survival improvement.

Krev1 interaction trapped-1/cerebral cavernous malformation-1 protein expression during early angiogenesis.

Object: Molecular genetic studies of cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM) have identified three loci, CCM1-3, that can lead to CCM when mutated. Examination of the CCM1 locus established KRIT1 (Krev1 Interaction Trapped genre 1) as the CCM1 gene. Despite the identification of KRIT1 as the gene mutated in CCM1, little has been learned regarding its function.

Mutational analysis of 206 families with cavernous malformations.

Object: A gene contributing to the autosomal-dominant cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM) phenotype, KRIT1 (an acronym for Krev Interaction Trapped 1), has been identified through linkage analysis and mutation screening. The authors collected blood samples from 68 patients with familial CCM and 138 patients with apparently sporadic CCM as well as from their families, in an effort to characterize the prevalence and spectrum of disease-causing sequence variants in the KRIT1 gene.

Methods: The authors used single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis to identify genomic variants in KRIT1, which were sequenced to determine the specific mutation.

KRIT1, a gene mutated in cerebral cavernous malformation, encodes a microtubule-associated protein.

Mutations in Krev1 interaction trapped gene 1 (KRIT1) cause cerebral cavernous malformation, an autosomal dominant disease featuring malformation of cerebral capillaries resulting in cerebral hemorrhage, strokes, and seizures. The biological functions of KRIT1 are unknown. We have investigated KRIT1 expression in endothelial cells by using specific anti-KRIT1 antibodies.