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)

Several antitumor substances that effectively inhibited the growth of ascites and solid tumor cells transplanted in mice were isolated from pine cone NaOH extract by acid- and ethanol-precipitation. These antitumor substances were also potent antiviral agents against human immunodeficiency virus, herpes simplex virus and influenza virus; they induced antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcal aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Candida albicans, and induced antiparasite activity against Hymenolepis nana in mice. Chemical analysis of these substances by IR, UV, NMR, ESR and partition chromatography on cellulose-TLC plate disclosed that they had lignin-related structures complexed with sugars or polysaccharides. Chlorinated decomposition of the lignin portion significantly reduced their antiviral activity. In agreement with this, the antiviral activity of synthesized lignins prepared by polymerization of phenylpropanoid precursors was comparable to that of the undecomposed counterparts of the pine cone extract. Acid hydrolysis of the polysaccharide portion significantly reduced the ability of the substances to induce antitumor and antimicrobial activities in mice. With an appropriate eliciting agent, intravenous administration of natural lignified substances transiently induced endogenous production of a cytotoxic factor (possibly tumor necrosis factor) in normal mice. Their priming activity was significantly higher than that of their component units or degradation products. These data suggest the importance of conjugating lignins with polysaccharides for in vivo expression of various kinds of immunopotentiating activity. As possible explanations for their induction of a variety of immunopotentiating activities, these natural and synthetic lignins stimulated macrophage NBT-reducing activity, polymorphonuclear cell (PMN) iodination and splenocyte DNA synthesis and inhibited poly (ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase, RNA-dependent DNA polymerase (reverse transcriptase) and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase activities.
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PMID:Antitumor, antiviral and immunopotentiating activities of pine cone extracts: potential medicinal efficacy of natural and synthetic lignin-related materials (review). 164 35

We have amplified herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) DNA sequences from individual latently infected mouse trigeminal ganglia by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. This report presents two useful modifications in the PCR technique. The first involves the use of two sets of closely spaced, oppositely oriented oligonucleotide primers and two rounds of 20-40 PCR cycles, first with the more widely spaced outer primers and then with the internal nested primers. This method enhanced the sensitivity of PCR detection as shown by assays of HSV-1 sequences in human brain. The second modification was designed to detect selectively HSV-1 sense or anti-sense RNA transcripts when both are present by adding a single primer during an initial reverse-transcriptase-mediated cDNA synthesis reaction. After destruction of the RNA template, standard PCR is initiated by the addition of the second primer and thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase (Taq). We show here applications of both of these modifications to amplify HSV-1 sequences from nervous system tissue.
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PMID:Application of polymerase chain reaction assays to studies of herpes simplex virus latency. 185 Nov 47

5-(Phosphonomethyl)-1H-tetrazole and a number of related tetrazoles have been prepared and their effects on the replication of Herpes Simplex Viruses-1 and -2 have been investigated as well as their abilities to inhibit the DNA polymerases induced by these viruses and the RNA transcriptase activity of influenza virus A. Contrary to an earlier report, 5-(phosphonomethyl)-1H-tetrazole was not an efficient inhibitor of the replication of HSV-1 and HSV-2 in tissue culture. Analogues of 5-(phosphonomethyl)-1H-tetrazole were also devoid of significant antiviral activity. Only 5-(phosphonomethyl)-1H-tetrazole and 5-(thiophosphonomethyl)-1H-tetrazole inhibited the influenza virus transcriptase, and both were more effective as inhibitors than phosphonoacetic acid under the same conditions. The DNA polymerases induced by HSV-1 and HSV-2 were inhibited slightly by 5-(phosphonomethyl)-1H-tetrazole and to a lesser extent by its N-ethyl analogue and 3-(phosphonomethyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole. None of these compounds were as effective as phosphonoacetic acid. 5-(Thiophosphonomethyl)-1H-tetrazole was a better inhibitor of the DNA polymerase induced by HSV-1 than 5-(phosphonomethyl)-1H-tetrazole.
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PMID:The antiviral activity of tetrazole phosphonic acids and their analogues. 241 98

Two human strains (AD-169 and C87) and one simian strain (GR2757) of cytomegalovirus (CMV) have been purified from the extracellular fluids of virus-infected cultures by sedimentation through a sucrose gradient followed by brief centrifugation in a preformed gradient of CsCl. Enveloped virus particles were located in the density region, 1.219 g/cm(3), and nucleocapsids at 1.263 g/cm(3). Purified viral DNA, both human and simian, sedimented in the region of 55S in neutral sucrose gradients with herpes simplex type I DNA as a marker; the molecular weight of the CMV DNA was estimated as approximately 10(8). The density of the viral DNA determined by analytical ultracentrifugation was 1.716 g/cm(3) for the human strains and 1.710 g/cm(3) for the simian strain. Tritiated viral complementary RNA synthesized in vitro with Escherichia coli transcriptase has been used for detection and localization of viral genome in membrane hybridization and in situ cytohybridization. Newly synthesized viral DNA appeared 24 h after infection and localized at two acrocentric areas; later the viral DNA distributed in a band resembling intranuclear inclusions 48 to 70 h after infection. Total DNA synthesis began to increase 24 h after infection and reached its peak at 70 h; RNA synthesis increased at 13 h, and reached its peak at 24 to 33 h. The viral DNA was also labeled with (3)H-TTP by repair-synthesis in vitro with Kornberg's enzyme in order to analyze the purity of the DNA and for detection of viral DNA by DNA-DNA reassociation kinetics.
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PMID:Human cytomegalovirus. I. Purification and characterization of viral DNA. 412 79

Clinical resistance to antiviral drugs requires that a virus evade drug therapy yet retain pathogenicity. Thymidine kinase (TK)-negative mutants of herpes simplex virus are resistant to the drug, acyclovir, but are attenuated for pathogenicity in animal models. However, numerous cases of clinical resistance to acyclovir have been associated with viruses that were reported to express no TK activity. We studied an acyclovir-resistant clinical mutant that contains a single-base insertion in its tk gene, predicting the synthesis of a truncated TK polypeptide with no TK activity. Nevertheless, the mutant retained some TK activity and the ability to reactivate from latent infections of mouse trigeminal ganglia. The mutant expressed both the predicted truncated polypeptide and a low level of a polypeptide that comigrated with full-length TK on polyacrylamide gels and reacted with anti-TK antiserum, providing evidence for a frameshifting mechanism. In vitro transcription and translation of mutant tk genes, including constructs in which reporter epitopes could be expressed only if frameshifting occurred, also gave rise to truncated and full-length polypeptides. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis coupled with open reading frame cloning failed to detect alterations in tk transcripts that could account for the synthesis of full-length polypeptide. Thus, synthesis of full-length TK was due to an unusual net +1 frameshift during translation, a phenomenon hitherto confined in eukaryotic cells to certain RNA viruses and retrotransposons. Utilization of cellular frameshifting mechanisms may permit an otherwise TK-negative virus to exhibit clinical acyclovir resistance.
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PMID:A net +1 frameshift permits synthesis of thymidine kinase from a drug-resistant herpes simplex virus mutant. 820 8

Homologues of herpes simplex virus ICP4 are important genes for the activation of many herpesviruses. We detected transcripts of the Marek's disease virus serotype 1 homologue of ICP4 (MDV1 ICP4) by in situ hybridization (ISH). Using a digoxigenin-labeled-RNA (DIG-RNA) probe, MDV1 ICP4 transcripts were detected in c.a. 90% of MDV1-infected chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF) cells when cytopathic effect was reached to 90% of the CEF cells and in 0.35% of MDCC-MSB-1 (MSB-1) cells, at a frequency similar to that for MD antigen-positive MSB-1 cells. Using the same in situ procedure, we detected abundant MDV1 ICP4 transcripts in the feather follicle epithelium (FFE) and some lymphoid cells in the liver, kidney and peripheral nerve of infected chickens. The subcellular localization of the transcripts appeared to vary: MSB-1 cells had them in the nucleus, infected CEF cells and FFE had them in the nucleus and cytoplasm, and lymphoid cells contained them in the cytoplasm. The MDV1 ICP4 transcripts were also detected in the FFE and lymphoid cells in the liver by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Detection of MDV1 ICP4 transcripts by RT-PCR indicated the existance of MDV1 ICP4 transcripts-positive cells in these tissues. And these data suggested that DIG-RNA-ISH can detect MDV transcripts on paraffin sections and provide information about their subcellular localization.
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PMID:Detection of transcripts of Marek's disease virus serotype 1 iCP4 homologue (MDV1 ICP4) by in situ hybridization. 891 96

The herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene (HSV-TK) in combination with ganciclovir (GCV), is currently being used in gene therapy-based clinical trials for cancer treatment. Its therapeutic effect is based on a "bystander effect" whereby HSV-TK gene-modified tumor cells are toxic to nearby unmodified tumor cells when exposed to the antiviral drug GCV. We have recently hypothesized that the in vivo mechanism of this bystander effect is due to alterations in the tumor microenvironment in response to release of cytokines and an infiltration of leukocytes after treatment with HSV-TK gene-modified tumor cells and GCV, which results in tumor regression. Expression of B7, a recently identified costimulatory molecule that is important for T-cell stimulation, has been shown to be modulated by stimulatory cytokines interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and inhibited by interleukin-10. In the present study, we investigated whether the cytokines released after HSV-TK and GCV treatment could include the expression of the costimulatory molecules B7-1 and B7-2 and the adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 in the tumor. Furthermore, we investigated whether this altered environment affected the antitumor properties of host lymphocytes. An in vitro model was developed to establish the effects of HSV-TK gene-modified tumor cells and GCV on tumor infiltrating cells. The murine macrophage cell line (IC21) was exposed to either supernatants or cell lysates collected from a mixture of HSV-TK-transduced (KBALB-STK) and non-transduced (KBALB) murine fibrosarcoma tumor cells previously exposed to GCV (experimental). Immunohistochemical analysis showed a significant expression (P < .0001) of B7-1 and B7-2 post exposure of IC21 cells to either supernatant or lysate. In contrast, the level of expression in IC21 cells exposed to the control lysate or supernatant remained unchanged for B7-1 and B7-2. In vivo analysis for B7-1 and B7-2 expression by immunohistochemistry in tumor tissues from experimental mice receiving HSV-TK gene-modified tumor cells and GCV treatment showed a significant expression of B7.1 (35%, P < .0001) and B7.2 (38.2%, P < .0001) on tumor-infiltrating mononuclear cells. In contrast, tumor-bearing control animals showed low levels of B7-2 expression (5.8%), whereas B7-1 was undetectable, as confirmed by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. In addition, a significant up-regulation of ICAM expression (50%) on tumor tissues was observed in the experimental group (P = .0317) as compared with the control group (25%). Furthermore, T cells isolated from experimental mice showed a significant in vitro proliferative response (p = .0202) when exposed to syngeneic tumor cells as compared with the control group. These data demonstrated that the use of HSV-TK gene-modified tumor cells and GCV as a suicide gene in the treatment of an intraperitoneal tumor resulted in the expression of the B7 costimulatory molecules and ICAM-1 adhesion molecule and enhanced proliferative response of host T cells. These findings help to understand the mechanism of tumor cell killing in vivo using HSV-TK gene-modified tumor cells.
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PMID:Expression of costimulatory molecules: B7 and ICAM up-regulation after treatment with a suicide gene. 898 40

Lymphocytic myocarditis is thought to be a virus-induced disease. T cells expressing the alpha-beta T-cell receptor seem to play a central role in the pathogenesis and to mediate tissue injury in this disease. A case of active fulminant myocarditis is described, which was analyzed by immunohistochemical, molecular biologic, and serologic methods. Infiltration of the heart tissue predominantly by gamma-delta T cells was detected by immunohistochemistry. No evidence of viral disease could be obtained by in situ hybridization with different enterovirus-specific DNA probes; by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction using specific primers for enteroviruses, adenoviruses, herpes simplex viruses, influenza A and B viruses, and cytomegaloviruses; or by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and electron microscopy. Because gamma-delta T cells may have an autoimmune capacity, we propose that these cells may trigger autoimmune myocarditis. These findings may be important in order to identify subgroups of patients who may benefit from immunosuppressive therapy.
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PMID:Active fulminant myocarditis characterized by T-lymphocytes expressing the gamma-delta T-cell receptor: a new disease entity? 929 89

An equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) mutant was constructed by inserting a lacZ expression cassette into the intergenic region upstream of gene 62 (glycoprotein L; gL) and downstream of gene 63 (a homologue of the herpes simplex virus transcriptional activator ICP0). The recombinant lacZ62/63-EHV-1 had similar growth kinetics in cell culture to those of the parental wild type (wt) virus, with indistinguishable cytopathic effects and plaque morphology. Reverse transcriptase PCR confirmed that the lacZ insertion did not interfere with transcription of gL and immunoblot analysis indicated there was no modification to late gene expression as monitored by synthesis of EHV-1 glycoproteins C and D. The parental EHV-1 isolate HVS25A used here had almost identical nucleotide sequence to that published for isolate Ab4, in a 1200 bp region surrounding the insert, but lacked a HindIII site corresponding to Ab4 position 109,048. The lacZ62/63-EHV-1 caused respiratory disease in BALB/c mice with clinical signs, histopathology and virus titres in lungs throughout days 1-5 post infection similar to those induced by wt EHV-1. X-gal staining for beta-galactosidase expression in murine lungs clearly demonstrated EHV-1 infection in cells of the bronchiolar epithelium and pulmonary parenchyma, with a peak of infection evident at day 2 post infection, when up to 50% of bronchioles demonstrated blue-staining and thus virus-infected epithelial cells. The construction of this replication competent virus carrying a reporter gene identifies a site for insertion of foreign genes and will facilitate studies on the pathogenesis of EHV-1.
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PMID:An equine herpesvirus 1 mutant with a lacZ insertion between open reading frames 62 and 63 is replication competent and causes disease in the murine respiratory model. 985 3

Erythema multiforme follows administration of several drugs or infection with various agents, including herpes simplex virus, a syndrome designated herpes simplex virus associated erythema multiforme. Lesional skin from 21 of 26 (81%) herpes simplex virus associated erythema multiforme patients was positive for herpes simplex virus gene expression as evidenced by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction with primers for DNA polymerase and/or immunohistochemistry with DNA polymerase antibody. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry studies indicated that herpes simplex virus associated erythema multiforme lesional skin from 16 of 21 (76%) DNA polymerase positive herpes simplex virus associated erythema multiforme patients was also positive for interferon-gamma, a product of T cells involved in delayed-type hypersensitivity (p < 0. 0001 by Pearson correlation coefficient). Interferon-gamma signals were in infiltrating mononuclear cells and in intercellular spaces within inflammatory sites in the epidermis and at the epidermis/dermis junction. Herpes simplex virus lesional skin was also positive for DNA polymerase [five of five (100%)] and interferon-gamma [four of five (80%)], but lesional skin from drug-induced erythema multiforme patients was negative. Lesional herpes simplex virus associated erythema multiforme keratinocytes also stained with antibody to transforming growth factor-beta [14 of 23 (61%)] and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor waf [12 of 18 (67%)]. Staining was also seen in keratinocytes from herpes simplex virus lesions [five of five (100%)], but not in normal skin. By contrast, staining with antibody to tumor necrosis factor-alpha, another pro-inflammatory cytokine, was seen in seven of 11 (64%) drug-induced erythema multiforme patients, but not in herpes simplex virus or herpes simplex virus associated erythema multiforme patients, and lesional keratinocytes from drug-induced erythema multiforme patients were negative for transforming growth factor-beta and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor waf. We interpret the data to indicate that herpes simplex virus associated erythema multiforme pathology includes a delayed-type hypersensitivity component and is mechanistically distinct from drug-induced erythema multiforme.
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PMID:Herpes simplex virus associated erythema multiforme (HAEM) is mechanistically distinct from drug-induced erythema multiforme: interferon-gamma is expressed in HAEM lesions and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in drug-induced erythema multiforme lesions. 1057 38


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