Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the second most common cancer worldwide. MicroRNAs are a group of non-coding, single stranded RNAs of ~ 22 nucleotides, which regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Circulating miRNAs have been found as potential blood based predictive biomarkers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArch Immunol Ther Exp (Warsz)
September 2008
It is becoming increasingly evident that cancer constitutes a group of diseases involving altered stem-cell maturation/differentiation and the disturbance of regenerative processes. The observed malignant transformation is merely a symptom of normal differentiation processes gone astray rather than the primary event. This review focuses on the role of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in three common but also relatively under-investigated cancers: head and neck, ovarian, and testicular cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeutral endopeptidase (NEP/CD10) is a cell surface zinc metalloprotease cleaving peptide bounds on the amino terminus of hydrophobic amino acids and inactivating multiple physiologically active peptides. Loss or decrease in NEP/CD10 expression have been reported in many types of malignancies, but the role of NEP/CD10 in pancreatic carcinoma has not yet been identified. Using real-time RT-PCR, flow cytometry as well as immunohistochemistry, NEP/CD10 expression was quantified in both pancreatic carcinoma cell lines and in tumor specimens obtained from patients with primary pancreatic carcinomas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Fetal microchimerism (MCH) has been implicated in the etiology of autoimmune diseases such as autoimmune thyroiditis. The goal of the study was to reliably estimate the number of fetal engrafted cells and to further investigate factors influencing the development of MCH.
Methods: Quantitative real-time PCR amplification using Y-chromosome specific (DYS14) and autosomal (beta-globin) loci was performed on thyroid gland specimens.
We investigated the expression of H1, H2 relaxin and INSL-3, mRNA and protein, and LGR7 and LGR8 transcripts in human C-cell hyperplasia, primary medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) tissues, MTC metastases, and the human MTC-TT and mouse MTC-M cell lines. Relaxin-like peptide hormones were detected in C-cell hyperplasia and in MTC tissues, but were absent in human normal parafollicular C-cells of benign goiter tissues. In contrast to calcitonin, mRNA, and immunoreactive protein, no differences in the expression of relaxin and INSL3 were observed in MTC tissues of different pTNM classification or between primary and metastatic MTC tissues studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the sixth most common malignant tumor worldwide. No significant better progress has been made in the treatment of OSCCs during the last decades. The heterodimeric CD97 protein is a epidermal growth factor seven-transmembrane family member and was identified as a dedifferentiation marker in thyroid carcinomas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCD82 (KAI1) and CD63 (ME491) are highly glycosylated proteins which belong to the transmembrane 4 superfamily (TM4SF). CD82 has been implicated as a possible prostate cancer metastasis suppressor gene, whereas CD63 is involved in the progression of human melanoma cancer. Down-regulation of both CD82 and CD63 expression has been associated with the metastatic potential of several solid tumors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe heterodimeric CD97 protein is a member of the EGF-TM7 family of class II seven-transmembrane (7TM) receptors of 75-90 kDa and structurally related to the secretin receptor family. CD97 is expressed on leucocytes, lymphocytes and in cells of the hematopoietic system. The precise role for CD97 is still unknown.
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