Potential Diagnostic Significance of Salivary Copper Determination in Breast Cancer Patients: A Pilot Study.

Determination of the copper content in the saliva of breast cancer patients was carried out to assess the potential diagnostic and prognostic value. The malignant group included 75 breast cancer patients; the benign group included 87 patients with fibroadenomas; and the control group included 20 volunteers without breast pathology. All participants had 1 ml of saliva collected prior to treatment.

Identification of salivary volatile organic compounds as potential markers of stomach and colorectal cancer: A pilot study.

Objectives: The purpose of the pilot study was to determine the potential diagnostic capabilities for the analysis of oxygen-containing salivary volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in stomach and colorectal cancer.

Methods: Saliva samples of 11 patients with stomach cancer, 18 patients with colorectal cancer, and 16 healthy volunteers were analyzed through capillary gas chromatography. The levels of lipid peroxidation products and catalase activity were determined in all samples.

[The processes of lipoperoxidation and endogenous intoxication in saliva in central and peripheral lung cancer.].

The aim of the study was to establish the patterns of changes in the parameters of endogenous intoxication and lipoperoxidation processes in the saliva of patients with lung cancer, depending on the form of tumor growth (central, peripheral or mediastinal cancer). Materials and methods: in the case - control study was attended by 562 volunteers, who were divided into 2 groups: main (lung cancer, n = 347) and control group (relatively healthy, n = 2015). Questioning, biochemical saliva study and histological verification of the diagnosis carried out to all participants.

Internal cleavages of the autoinhibitory prodomain are required for membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase activation, although furin cleavage alone generates inactive proteinase.

The functional activity of invasion-promoting membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) is elevated in cancer. This elevated activity promotes cancer cell migration, invasion, and metastasis. MT1-MMP is synthesized as a zymogen, the latency of which is maintained by its prodomain.

Inflammatory proprotein convertase-matrix metalloproteinase proteolytic pathway in antigen-presenting cells as a step to autoimmune multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system with autoimmune etiology. Susceptibility to MS is linked to viral and bacterial infections. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play a significant role in the fragmentation of myelin basic protein (MBP) and demyelination.

Engineering a leucine zipper-TRAIL homotrimer with improved cytotoxicity in tumor cells.

Successful cancer therapies aim to induce selective apoptosis in neoplastic cells. The current suboptimal efficiency and selectivity drugs have therapeutic limitations and induce concomitant side effects. Recently, novel cancer therapies based on the use of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) have emerged.

Biochemical evidence of the interactions of membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) with adenine nucleotide translocator (ANT): potential implications linking proteolysis with energy metabolism in cancer cells.

Invasion-promoting MT1-MMP (membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase) is a key element in cell migration processes. To identify the proteins that interact and therefore co-precipitate with this proteinase from cancer cells, we used the proteolytically active WT (wild-type), the catalytically inert E240A and the C-end truncated (tailless; DeltaCT) MT1-MMP-FLAG constructs as baits. The identity of the pulled-down proteins was determined by LC-MS/MS (liquid chromatography tandem MS) and then confirmed by Western blotting using specific antibodies.

Matrix metalloproteinase-26 is associated with estrogen-dependent malignancies and targets alpha1-antitrypsin serpin.

Proteases exert control over cell behavior and affect many biological processes by making proteolytic modification of regulatory proteins. The purpose of this paper is to describe novel, important functions of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-26. alpha1-Antitrypsin (AAT) is a serpin, the primary function of which is to regulate the activity of neutrophil/leukocyte elastase.

Cellular membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) cleaves C3b, an essential component of the complement system.

Neoplasms have developed numerous strategies to protect themselves against the host immune system. Membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) is strongly associated with many cancer types and is up-regulated in the aggressive, metastatic neoplasms. During the past few years, there has been an increasing appreciation of the important, albeit incompletely understood, role of MT1-MMP in cancer.

Non-proteolytic, receptor/ligand interactions associate cellular membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase with the complement component C1q.

Membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP), a prototypic member of the membrane-tethered MMP family, is an essential component of a cellular proteolysis apparatus. Recognition of protein cleavage targets followed by proteolysis is a main function of MT1-MMP. For the first time, however, we present evidence that MT1-MMP and other structurally related membrane MMPs bind C1q, the recognition unit of the first component of complement C1 that initiates activation of the classical pathway of complement.

The hemopexin-like C-terminal domain of membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase regulates proteolysis of a multifunctional protein, gC1qR.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) including membrane type 1 MMP (MT1-MMP) can degrade extracellular matrix and cell surface receptor molecules and have an essential function in malignancy. Recently, we established a functional link between MT1-MMP and the receptor of complement component 1q (gC1qR). The gC1qR is known as a compartment-specific regulator of diverse cellular and viral proteins.

An alternative processing of integrin alpha(v) subunit in tumor cells by membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase.

Membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) and alpha(v)beta(3) integrin are both essential to cell invasion. Maturation of integrin pro-alpha(v)chain (pro-alpha(v)) involves its cleavage by proprotein convertases (PC) to form the disulfide-bonded 125-kDa heavy and 25-kDa light alpha chains. Our report presents evidence of an alternative pathway of pro-alpha(v) processing involving MT1-MMP.

Processing of integrin alpha(v) subunit by membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase stimulates migration of breast carcinoma cells on vitronectin and enhances tyrosine phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase.

Recently, we have shown that membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) exhibits integrin convertase activity. Similar to furin-like proprotein convertases, MT1-MMP directly processes a single chain precursor of alpha(v) integrin subunit (pro-alpha(v)) into the heavy and light alpha-chains connected by a disulfide bridge. To evaluate functionality of MT1-MMP-processed integrins, we examined breast carcinoma MCF7 cells co-expressing alpha(v)beta(3) integrin with either the wild type or mutant MT1-MMP in a variety of migration and adhesion tests.

MT1-MMP initiates activation of pro-MMP-2 and integrin alphavbeta3 promotes maturation of MMP-2 in breast carcinoma cells.

We evaluated cellular mechanisms involved in the activation pathway of matrix prometalloproteinase-2 (pro-MMP-2), an enzyme implicated in the malignant progression of many tumor types. Membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) cleaves the N-terminal prodomain of pro-MMP-2 thus generating the activation intermediate that then matures into the fully active enzyme of MMP-2. Our results provide evidence on how a collaboration between MT1-MMP and integrin alphavbeta3 promotes more efficient activation and specific, transient docking of the activation intermediate and, further, the mature, active enzyme of MMP-2 at discrete regions of cells.

Motility mutants of Vibrio cholerae O1 have reduced adherence in vitro to human small intestinal epithelial cells as demonstrated by ELISA.

Vibrio cholerae must colonize the human small intestine to cause diarrhoeal disease. V.cholerae strains N16961 (EI Tor, Inaba) and 395 (classical, Ogawa) adhered to the epithelial cell surface and the mucus layer of isolated human small intestinal epithelial cells.

[Analysis of the symptoms of ischemic heart disease with a lesion of the trunk of the left coronary artery by using an automated information system].

Using an information system, the authors compared the results of the examination of 169 patients with coronary heart disease and left coronary artery trunk lesions and of 605 patients without such lesions. The functioning of the system was controlled by a complex of programmes designed according to the modular principle. It comprises the following modules: modules of the formation and control of the data pool, modules of the formation of sub-pools according to a given set of signs and modules of data processing.

[Automated pathologicoanatomic archives in a heart surgery center].

The dialog informational system "Automatized pathology archives" is presented which allows an accumulation of data, search when requested regardless of the complexity of request and analysis of complications and causes of the cardiosurgical patients death in a selected set of documents. The system contains data about patients dying in the institute since 1956. The advantages of the dialog working regimen are stressed that permits a physician-investigator not having specific experience to use directly the data bank and system program.

[Lethal and mutagenic action of solar radiation on model microbiological test systems].

Lethal, mutagenic and recombonogenic action of the solar radiation on the model microorganisms--phage T4, bacteria Escherichia coli and ascomycet Aspergillus nidulans--has been studied. A considerable lethal effect of the solar radiation on phage T4 and E. coli was found.

[Automated information system on ischemic heart disease].

An information system on the results of clinical examination of patients with chronic ischemic heart disease is described. The bulk of information contains data on 590 patients who had undergone coronarography. A standarized chart of block structure of the comprehensive examination of the patient was used to obtain full and homogeneous information.

[Experience in creating an automated pathoanatomic archive in prosection at the A. N. Bakulev Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR].

An information system "Automatic pathological anatomy archive" has been created in the cardiac surgery center existing 22 years. A special card has been developed for resording of the results of morphological examinations and the main information on the patient, which is filled by the dissector after autopsy. Treatment of the data contained in the information mass stipulates an urgent search of the cases according to the set of data indicated in the request, interpretation of the content of unified cards for the selected cases, calculation of per cent ratios, etc.

Mechanism of the mutagenic action of hydroxylamine. X. Certain specificities in the mutagenesis of N-hydroxy and N-methoxy analogs of cytosine and adenine derivatives.

In contrast with N4-methoxycytidine, N6-methoxyadenosine and the corresponding 2'-deoxynucleosides, N4-hydroxycytidine readily penetrates cells of Escherichia coli. Apparently this explains the non-mutagenicity of the N-methoxy compounds when added to an E. coli suspension, and the potent mutagenic effects of the N4-hydroxy analogs under the same conditions.

In vitro repair of UV-or x-irradiated bacteriophage T4 DNA by extract from blue-green alga Anacystis nidulans.

The cell-free extract from blue-green alga Anacystis nidulans contains enzymatic activities which repair in vitro transforming DNA of bacteriophage T4 damaged by UV light or X-rays. The repair effect of the extract was observed with double-stranded irradiated DNA but not with denatured irradiated DNA. The level of restoration of the transforming activity depends on the protein concentration in the reaction mixture and on the dose of irradiation.