Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.7.48 (transcriptase)
 9,479 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The membrane glycoprotein CD44 may be associated with aggressive behavior, dissemination, and poor prognosis of a variety of human tumors. In order to extend our knowledge on the expression and significance of CD44 in cells of the dispersed neuroendocrine system we investigated a spectrum of 134 neuroendocrine tumors, including pituitary adenomas, medullary thyroid carcinomas, parathyroid adenomas, pheochromocytomas, neuroblastomas, small-cell lung carcinomas, and bronchopulmonary, pancreatic, and gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors immunohistochemically for CD44 standard and variant exon-encoded gene products (CD44v3, -v4, -v5, -v6, -v9). Furthermore, we compared protein expression with that of CD44 mRNA by reverse-transcriptase PCR and Southern blot hybridization in a subset of tumors. Our results show that CD44 expression is correlated with the "histogenetic origin" of the appropriate neuroendocrine neoplasm. Endoderm-derived tumors generally express 3'-end CD44 variant exon-containing isoforms, whereas neural crest-derived tumors rarely are positive for CD44. Furthermore, we provide evidence that CD44 expression is not correlated with metastatic disease or a particular hormonal phenotype but exhibits an association with the degree of cellular differentiation. Thus, CD44 is not useful as marker for malignancy or prognosis. The number of patients with clinical follow-up data in our study was too small to allow definite conclusions about a possible correlation between CD44 expression and prognosis. But CD44 may help to better classify neoplasms with an unclear neuroendocrine phenotype.
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PMID:CD44 isoform expression in the diffuse neuroendocrine system. II. Benign and malignant tumors. 898 43

To identify candidate genes involved in the aggressive behavior of worker honeybees, we used the differential display method to search for RNAs exclusively detected in the brains of aggressive workers that had attacked a hornet. We identified a novel, 10,152-nucleotide RNA, termed Kakugo RNA. Kakugo RNA encodes a protein of 2,893 amino acid residues that shares structural features and sequence similarities with various picorna-like virus polyproteins, especially those from sacbrood virus, which infects honeybees. The Kakugo protein contains several domains that correspond to the virion protein, helicase, protease, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase domains of various picorna-like virus polyproteins. When the worker bee tissue lysate was subjected to sucrose density gradient centrifugation, Kakugo RNA, except for the material at the bottom, was separated into two major peaks. One of the peaks corresponded to the position of Kakugo mRNA, and the other corresponded to the position of the poliovirus virion. These results suggest that the Kakugo RNA exists as an mRNA-like free RNA and virion RNA in the honeybee. Furthermore, injection of the lysate supernatant from the attacker heads into the heads of noninfected bees resulted in a marked increase in Kakugo RNA. These results demonstrate that Kakugo RNA is a plus-strand RNA of a novel picorna-like virus and that the brains of aggressive workers are infected by this novel virus. Kakugo RNA was detected in aggressive workers but not in nurse bees or foragers. In aggressive workers, Kakugo RNA was detected in the brain but not in the thorax or abdomen, indicating a close relation between viral infection in the brain and aggressive worker behaviors.
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PMID:Novel insect picorna-like virus identified in the brains of aggressive worker honeybees. 1472 64

The vasopressin 1b receptor (Avpr1b) is one of two principal receptors mediating the behavioral effects of vasopressin (Avp) in the brain. Avpr1b has recently been shown to strongly influence social forms of aggression in mice and hamsters. This receptor appears to play a role in social recognition and motivation as well as in regulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Most of these studies have been performed in knockout mice, a species in which the localization of the Avpr1b has not been described, thus precluding correlations with the behaviors. We performed in situ hybridization histochemistry (ISHH) with specific probes and found especially prominent expression within the CA2 pyramidal neurons of the hippocampus, with much lower expression in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus and amygdala. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) confirmed expression in those as well other areas in which the ISHH was not sensitive enough to detect labeled cells (e.g. piriform cortex, septum, caudate-putamen and lower brainstem areas). Mouse Avpr1b transcript levels were not altered in the CA2 field by restraint stress or adrenalectomy. Finally, ISHH and RT-PCR showed expression of the Avpr1b gene in the rat and human hippocampi as well. We suggest that the CA2 field may form or retrieve associations (memories) between olfactory cues and social encounters.
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PMID:The vasopressin 1b receptor is prominent in the hippocampal area CA2 where it is unaffected by restraint stress or adrenalectomy. 1702 67

Iflavirus RNA was detected in honeybee colonies displaying unduly aggressive behavior and with no evidence of morphological alterations. Sequence analysis of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) revealed that the iflavirus strain was more similar (> 99% aa) to Deformed Wing Virus (DWV), that has been associated with morphological alterations in bees, rather than to the newly-described Kakugo Virus (KV) (about 95% aa), that has been associated with increased aggressiveness. Therefore, the iflavirus strain detected in the Italian hives genetically resembled DWV but was apparently associated with a KV-like phenotype. RT-PCR detected the iflavirus RNA in the abdomen of the workers, and only in one case was the virus detected in the head. No viral RNA was detected in the drones, a pattern of virus distribution across the honeybee casts that is in apparent conflict with the higher rates of infestation of drones by the mite Varroa distructor. The identification of a virus with apparently intermediate features between DWV and KV open new perspectives on the patho-biological role of iflaviruses in honeybees.
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PMID:Detection of a honeybee iflavirus with intermediate characteristics between kakugo virus and deformed wing virus. 1912 97