Specific association between alcohol intake, high grade of differentiation and 4q34-q35 deletions in hepatocellular carcinomas identified by high resolution allelotyping.

One of the most frequent deletions in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is that involving the long arm of chromosome 4 (30 to 70% of the cases). These chromosomal deletions are closely related to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. A tumor suppressor gene (TSG) located on 4q has been proposed in liver carcinogenesis, but has not been identified as yet.

A new recurrent and specific cryptic translocation, t(5;14)(q35;q32), is associated with expression of the Hox11L2 gene in T acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

FISH identified a cryptic t(5;14)(q35;q32) in T acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), whereas it was not observed in B ALL samples. This translocation is present in five out of 23 (22%) children and adolescents with T ALL tested. RanBP17, a gene coding for a member of the importin beta protein family, and Hox11Like2, an orphan homeobox gene were mapped close to the chromosome 5 breakpoints and CTIP2, which is highly expressed during normal T cell differentiation, was localized in the vicinity of the chromosome 14 breakpoints.

SIAH-1 promotes apoptosis and tumor suppression through a network involving the regulation of protein folding, unfolding, and trafficking: identification of common effectors with p53 and p21(Waf1).

We have previously described biological model systems for studying tumor suppression in which, by using H-1 parvovirus as a selective agent, cells with a strongly suppressed malignant phenotype (KS or US) were derived from malignant cell lines (K562 or U937). By using cDNA display on the K562/KS cells, 15 cDNAs were now isolated, corresponding to genes differentially regulated in tumor suppression. Of these, TSAP9 corresponds to a TCP-1 chaperonin, TSAP13 to a regulatory proteasome subunit, and TSAP21 to syntaxin 11, a vesicular trafficking molecule.

Identification of muscle-specific calpain and beta-sarcoglycan genes in progressive autosomal recessive muscular dystrophies.

The autosomal recessive forms of limb-girdle muscular dystrophies are encoded by at least five distinct genes. The work performed towards the identification of two of these is summarized in this report. This success illustrates the growing importance of genetics in modern nosology.

Activation of the human homologue of the Drosophila sina gene in apoptosis and tumor suppression.

Developmentally regulated genes in Drosophila, which are conserved through evolution, are potential candidates for key functions in biological processes such as cell cycle, programmed cell death, and cancer. We report cloning and characterization of the human homologue of the Drosophila seven in absentia gene (HUMSIAH), which codes for a 282 amino acids putative zinc finger protein. HUMSIAH is localized on human chromosome 16q12-q13.