Uterine artery embolization using progressively larger calibrated gelatin sponge particles.

Purpose: To assess the effectiveness and safety of uterine artery embolization (UAE) using progressively larger calibrated gelatin sponge particles for symptomatic uterine fibroids.

Material And Methods: Thirty patients with symptomatic uterine fibroids underwent UAE. Calibrated gelatin sponge particles were used in all patients, beginning with 355-500 μm particles, progressively increasing to 500-710 μm and finally to 710-1000 μm particles.

Hepatitis C virus Core protein overcomes all-trans retinoic acid-induced cell growth arrest by inhibiting retinoic acid receptor-β2 expression via DNA methylation.

Aberrant promoter methylation of tumor suppressor genes including retinoic acid receptor-β2 (RAR-β2) is frequently detected in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-associated hepatocellular carcinoma; however, the mechanism and its significance are relatively unknown. Here, we showed that HCV Core induced promoter hypermethylation of RAR-β2 to inhibit its expression via up-regulation of DNA methyltransferases 1 and 3b. Under the condition, all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) failed to activate p16 expression and thus could not inactivate the Rb-E2F pathway.

All-trans retinoic acid activates E-cadherin expression via promoter hypomethylation in the human colon carcinoma HCT116 cells.

All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) inhibits the invasive and metastatic potentials of various cancer cells; however, the underlying mechanism is unclear. Here, we show that ATRA activated E-cadherin expression via promoter hypomethylation to facilitate Sp1 binding on its recognition sites in human colon carcinoma HCT116 cells. This effect was mediated by retinoic acid receptor-β2, as demonstrated by knock-down experiments using a specific siRNA.