Suppression of the Testis-Specific Transcription of the ZBTB32 and ZNF473 Genes in Germ Cell Tumors.

The family of genes containing C2H2 zinc finger domains, which has more than 700 members, is one of the largest in the genome. Of particular interest are C2H2 genes with potential tissue-specific transcription, which determine the functional properties of individual cell types, including those associated with pathological processes. The aim of this work was to identify C2H2 family genes with tissue-specific transcription and analyze changes in their activity during tumor progression.

A Universal Tumor-Specific Promoter for Cancer Gene Therapy.

An artificial double tandem tumor-specific promoter based on survivin and human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene promoters was constructed. Studies in in vitro and ex vivo therapeutic systems showed that the designed promoter exhibits a high activity in tumor cells, which is comparable to the activity of the CMV constitutive promoter.

Identification of some human genes oppositely regulated during esophageal squamous cell carcinoma formation and human embryonic esophagus development.

Here we directly compared gene expression profiles in human esophageal squamous cell carcinomas and in human fetal esophagus development. We used the suppression subtractive hybridization technique to subtract cDNAs prepared from tumor and normal human esophageal samples. cDNA sequencing and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis of RNAs from human tumor and the normal esophagus revealed 10 differentially transcribed genes: CSTA, CRNN, CEACAM1, MAL, EMP1, ECRG2, and SPRR downregulated, and PLAUR, SFRP4, and secreted protein that is acidic and rich in cysteine upregulated in tumor tissue as compared with surrounding normal tissue.