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

Cancers from patients with tumor-induced hypercalcemia usually produce a circulating factor that mimics the parathyroid hormone activity, termed parathyroid hormone-related protein. Incidence of tumor-induced hypercalcemia appears to be high in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, and the presence of parathyroid hormone-related protein have been shown in some primary esophageal cancers. In the present study, we have investigated the presence of parathyroid hormone-related protein in a patient with metastasized squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus complicated with tumor-induced hypercalcemia. Protein was searched by immunohistochemistry, and messenger RNA was investigated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and S1 nuclease assay. Both messenger RNA and protein were detected in hepatic metastases, whereas normal esophageal mucosa and primary cancer did not express detectable protein or messenger RNA using the S1 nuclease assay. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was positive in all these tissues, including normal esophageal mucosa. In conclusion, the present case suggests that tumor-induced hypercalcemia due to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma may be caused by parathyroid hormone-related protein mostly released by liver metastases.
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PMID:Parathyroid hormone-related protein in an esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with tumor-induced hypercalcemia. 904 Feb 21

To determine the expression of multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) gene and its role in gastric and colon cancers, we analyzed 10 gastric and 10 colon non-drug-selected cell lines and a similar number of tissue samples of these cancers. We compared the expression of MRP and mdrl mRNA in cell lines and tissues using reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. In mdrl-negative cells, the relationship between the level of MRP gene expression and sensitivity to anticancer drugs was examined. The effect of verapamil, an MRP-modulating agent, was also examined in these cells. The expression of MRP gene in gastric cancer cell lines varied from a low to a high level, but mdrl was not detected in any of these cell lines. Colon cancer cell lines expressed low to intermediate levels of MRP gene, and half of the cells co-expressed low to high levels of mdrl. In tissue samples, the expression pattern of the two multidrug resistance (MDR) genes was broadly similar to that described for the cell lines, except that most of the gastric cancer tissue samples did express low levels of mdrl. No significant correlation was observed between the level of MRP gene expression and sensitivity to anticancer drugs in gastric and colon cell lines. However, verapamil significantly increased the sensitivity to etoposide, doxorubicin and vincristine in cells highly expressing MRP gene. Our results indicate that MRP gene may be important in conferring MDR in gastric and colon cancer cells.
Jpn J Cancer Res 1996 Dec
PMID:The multidrug resistance-associated protein gene confers drug resistance in human gastric and colon cancers. 904 62

Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction has been used to analyze the expression of 2 latent genes (EBNA-1 and LMP-1) and one replicative gene (BZLF-1) of Epstein-Barr virus in mononuclear cells from bone marrow and peripheral blood of healthy donors. EBV-gene transcription was detected in 8 out of 15 bone-marrow samples. Among these, 5 allowed the detection of latency-associated transcripts in the absence of BZLF-1 expression. Only one sample showed positivity for expression of both latent and lytic genes. In 2 cases, BZLF-1 was the only transcript detected. In peripheral blood, 4 out of 7 samples showed evidence of EBNA-1 transcription; LMP-1 was expressed in 5 samples, and in 2 cases concomitant expression of EBNA-1 and BZLF-1 was detected. These results provide a direct demonstration by RT-PCR of EBV-gene transcription in bone-marrow-resident viral infected cells and suggest, in contrast to previous studies on peripheral blood, that LMP-1 and BZLF-1 are frequently transcribed also in absence of EBV-related disease. The heterogeneous viral gene expression found makes it difficult to define a pattern of viral latency in vivo which coincides with that described for lymphoblastoid or Burkitt's-lymphoma cell lines at different stages of differentiation.
Int J Cancer 1997 Mar 04
PMID:Transcription of latent and replicative Epstein-Barr-virus genes in bone-marrow and peripheral-blood mononuclear cells of healthy donors. 905 50

The EWS gene is fused in Ewing sarcoma-like tumors by a chromosomal translocation to one of the four ETS-family genes: FLI1, ERG, ETV1, and E1AF. The orientation of EWS and FLI1 on chromosomes 22 and 11, respectively, is 5' centromeric and 3' telomeric, whereas that of ERG on chromosome 21 is the reverse. Although 10% of Ewing-family tumors express the EWS-ERG fusion transcript, there have been no reports on tumors with t(21;22)(q22;q12) identified by banding cytogenetics. We found the karyotype 50, XY, +8, +8, +12, +mar in all metaphase cells from a tumor. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis performed on the tumor and direct sequencing of the products identified the EWS-ERG fusion transcript. Subsequent two-color fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis with EWS and ERG clones showed the fused signals on the der(21) chromosome, but no ERG signals on the chromosome 22 homologs. Thus, our RT-PCR and FISH analyses indicated that the chromosome 22 fragment containing the 5' portion of EWS had been inverted and inserted into chromosome 21 and had fused to the 3' portion of ERG. This subtle chromosome aberration could not be identified by routine cytogenetics. A chromosomal inversion/insertion has also been described in acute leukemia with the MLL-AF10 fusion gene, and this may be a common pathway for producing fusion of reverse-oriented genes in leukemias and solid tumors.
Genes Chromosomes Cancer 1997 Mar
PMID:EWS-ERG fusion transcript produced by chromosomal insertion in a Ewing sarcoma. 907 76

A t(11;22)(p13;p12) chromosomal translocation, juxtaposing the Wilms' tumor (WT1) and Ewing's sarcoma (EWS) genes, is the cytogenetic hallmark of desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT), a primitive multiphenotypic sarcoma arising in serosal tissues. Chimeric transcripts generated by this rearrangement encode an aberrant transcription factor that fuses the 5' region of EWS with a 3' WT1 segment. We describe the insertion of a LINE-I DNA mobile genetic element at the genomic breakpoint of a DSRCT chromosomal translocation. A 480 bp heterologous DNA segment with homology to the LINE-I DNA consensus sequence was located between EWS intron 8 and WT1 exon 8 in the productively rearranged allele. Sequence homology corresponded to the LINE-I ORF-2, which encodes a protein with reverse-transcriptase activity. The heterologous inserted fragment was not evident in the germline of normal tissue from the patient, suggesting that transposition occurred in somatic cells, possibly during the process of chromosomal rearrangement. This case represents the first example of LINE-I DNA transposition at the fusion site of a tumor-associated chromosomal rearrangement.
Genes Chromosomes Cancer 1997 Mar
PMID:LINE-I element insertion at the t(11;22) translocation breakpoint of a desmoplastic small round cell tumor. 907 77

Thymidylate synthase (TS) provides the only de novo source of thymidylate for DNA synthesis and is a key target for cancer chemotherapeutic agents. We investigated the TS gene expression by semiquantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in metastatic melanoma and compared the results with those from control tissues. The relative TS/beta-actin level ratios were 0.5, 0.9, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 (mean 0.5) in skin, lymph node, thyroid, muscle, and spleen, respectively. In metastatic melanoma samples, the ratios varied from 0.9 to 2.7 (mean 2.0). The differences of expression levels between these two groups of samples were statistically highly significant (p = 0.0000713). A similar statistical significance (p = 0.0002) was observed between patients achieving a complete response and patients who had progressive disease despite immunochemotherapy. There was no clear relationship between a high TS/ beta-actin ratio and the S phase fraction, as all melanomas had a high S phase fraction.
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PMID:Increased thymidylate synthase gene expression in metastatic melanoma. 907 87

Scatter factor (SF), also known as hepatocyte growth factor, is angiogenic in systemic tissue, and SF titers correlate with the malignancy and metastatic phenotype of certain systemic cancers. Human gliomas express SF and its receptor c-met, but their role in the malignant progression of these tumors has not been defined. To examine this, 9L glioma cells that express c-met but not SF were transfected with human SF cDNA, and their behavior in vitro and in vivo was examined. SF gene expression was detected in conditioned medium of 9L-SF but not in control 9L-neo-transfected cell lines, by reverse transcriptase-PCR, immunoblot, ELISA, and scatter activity assays. Gliomas derived from 9L-SF and control 9L-neo cell lines implanted in the caudate/putamen of Fisher 344 rats (intracranially) and in the flanks of SCID/Beige mice (subcutaneously) were examined. Extracts from intracranial (i.c.) gliomas contained elevated levels of SF protein as determined by ELISA (1 to 5.5 ng SF/mg protein), whereas no SF was detected in control tumors. Reverse transcriptase-PCR of RNA from i.c. gliomas revealed that only 9L-SF gliomas expressed SF and both 9L-neo and 9L-SF gliomas expressed the c-met SF receptor. By postimplantation Day 14, 9L-SF i.c. gliomas were approximately 5-fold larger than 9L-neo control tumors (p < 0.001). Subcutaneous 9L-SF glioma growth was also greater than that in controls, although the differences were more variable. SF-producing i.c. gliomas contained elevated levels of 48-kd urokinase (3.5-fold) and 92-kd type IV collagenase (2.8-fold), both enzymes that correlate with the malignant progression of human gliomas (p < 0.001). SF-producing and control 9L cell lines did not differ in rates of proliferation, thymidine incorporation, or adhesion-independent growth in vitro. Conditioned medium from 9L-SF cells stimulated thymidine incorporation into microvessel brain endothelial cells 3- to 4-fold higher than did CM from 9L-neo controls (p < 0.001). Intracranial 9L-SF gliomas were more angiogenic than controls based on elevated peak (2.25-fold; p < 0.005) and mean (1.7-fold; p < 0.008) blood vessel densities. These results suggest that SF production by glioma cells enhances glioma malignancy in vivo, in part, by paracrine mechanisms involving glioma-associated angiogenesis.
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PMID:Scatter factor/hepatocyte growth factor gene transfer enhances glioma growth and angiogenesis in vivo. 911 17

The expression and activity of aromatase was evaluated in 19 individuals with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and 26 prostatic carcinoma (PC) patients to elucidate the possible biological significance of in situ estrogen production in the development of human prostatic disorders. Marked aromatase immunoreactivity was observed in proliferative stromal cells, especially those around hyperplastic glands in 18 (95%) BPH patients and in stromal cells surrounding carcinomatous glands in 18 (69%) PC patient specimens. The percentage of aromatase-positive stromal cells did not differ between BPH and PC. No significant correlation was apparent between the percentage of aromatase-positive cells and either the extent of carcinoma differentiation or surgical stage in the PC patients. Quantitation of aromatase activity by the [3H] water assay yielded values of 27.23 +/- 6.87 and 26.52 +/- 9.12 fmol/hr/mg of protein for BPH (nine patients) and PC (nine patients), respectively. Reverse transcriptase and polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed that the mean aromatase mRNA content was 1.671 +/- 0.82 and 1.11 +/- 0.51 attomole/ng of total RNA (tRNA) for BPH (seven patients) and PC (four patients), respectively. There were no significant differences in aromatase activity or aromatase mRNA concentration between PC and BPH. The alternative use of multiple exons 1 of the aromatase gene was also examined. Predominant aromatase gene transcripts contained exon 1b in three of four of PC specimens and two of three BPH specimens examined, in contrast to the use of exon 1d previously described in normal prostate. Unlike breast and endometrium, therefore, aromatase expression in human prostate was not associated with malignancy. However, overexpression of aromatase, possibly attributable to abnormal gene regulation, may result in estrogen production in situ and play a role in the induction or development of human prostatic disorders.
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PMID:Aromatase in hyperplasia and carcinoma of the human prostate. 914 Jan 25

The association of increased metallothionein (MT) gene expression in breast cancer with metastasis and poor prognosis has led us to investigate the hypothesis that inhibition of MT gene expression may elicit antiproliferative effects in breast carcinoma MCF7 cells. To monitor the effect of downregulation of MT protein on growth, MCF7 cells were transiently transfected by electroporation with an 18-mer MT antisense phosphorothioate oligomer (AO) or an 18-mer random oligomer (RO). The MT-AO is complementary to the region 7 bases downstream from the AUG translational start site of the hMT-IIA gene. Transfection of MCE7 cells with the AO inhibited cell growth by 50-60% at 72 hours when compared to control cells or the cells transfected with RO. The AO-induced growth inhibition was associated with alterations in morphology suggestive of apoptotic cell death. This was further confirmed by DNA linker cleavage into oligonucleosomal fragments and decreased bcl-2 protein levels in AO-transfected cells as opposed to the RO-transfected cells. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that AO induced a 2-fold increase in the levels of c-fos and p53 transcripts in comparison to RO which had no significant effect. Conversely, c-myc transcripts were decreased by 2.5-fold in the AO-transfected cells when compared to the controls. Furthermore, MCF7 cells transfected with an expression plasmid pBAcNEO-sMT-IIA encompassing human MT-IIA cDNA, constitutively driven by beta-actin promotor, caused a 2.5-fold increase in intracellular levels of MT, as judged by PCR and western blot analysis, in comparison to the cells transfected with pBAcNEO plasmid. In contrast to the AO-induced growth inhibition, overexpression of cytoplasmic MT increased the cell multiplication by 2-fold compared with control cells or the cells transfected with the control plasmid 72 hours post-transfection. Moreover, the effects of AO on oncogene expression were reversed on increased expression of MT. These data suggest that overexpression of MT potentiates the growth of MCF7 cells, whereas downregulation of MT elicits antiproliferative effects.
Cancer Gene Ther
PMID:Antisense down-regulation of metallothionein induces growth arrest and apoptosis in human breast carcinoma cells. 917 39

Matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) is a member of the family of matrix-degrading metalloproteinases that are believed to contribute to the complex process of cancer invasion and metastasis. The secretion level of MMP-7 as assayed by immunoblot analysis was low but distinct in the culture medium of a human colon carcinoma cell line, WIDr, whereas none of the fibroblasts secreted the detectable level of MMP-7. The coculture of WiDr with various human fibroblasts from orthotopic (colon) and ectopic (thyroid, brain, lung, and skin) organs significantly stimulated the secretion of MMP-7 compared with the cultures of individual cells. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis and RNA blot analysis suggested that this enhancement occurred at a pretranslational level. The extent of the stimulation was widely varied by the fibroblasts used and was dependent on the cellular ratios and density in the coculture. There may exist a tendency that fibroblasts of orthotopic origin stimulate more extensively than do those of ectopic origin. Moreover, in the coculture of high cell density, normal fibroblasts from the ectopic organs reduced the MMP-7 secretion. The stimulation of MMP-7 secretion may be partially mediated through soluble factor(s); however, direct cell-cell interactions would be required for maximum stimulation. The enhanced MMP-7 secretion was also observed in coculture of colon fibroblasts with other colorectal carcinoma cell lines such as RCM-1 and SW837, which secreted hardly detectable levels of MMP-7 in the individual culture. These results suggest that MMP-7 secretion by colon carcinoma cells is influenced by specific interactions between the carcinoma cells and host fibroblasts.
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PMID:Modulation of matrix metalloproteinase-7 (matrilysin) secretion in coculture of human colon carcinoma cells with fibroblasts from orthotopic and ectopic organs. 922 Apr 95


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