Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.7.49 (reverse transcriptase)
31,746 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We report a case of a human gastric composite tumor occurring seven years after a partial gastrectomy for a low grade B cell MALT lymphoma. Histological examination of the tumor revealed two intimately intermingled components: 1. A moderately to poorly differentiated tubulo-acinar adenocarcinoma with signet-ring cells; and 2. Isolated or clustered small neuroendocrine cells without atypia expressing chromogranin A, somatostatin and/or glucagon, serotonin (5-HT) and, the 5-HT2B receptors. In addition to immunohistochemical detection, the presence of 5-HT2B receptors was shown pharmacologically through [125I]-DOI binding. Since 5-HT2B receptors have been demonstrated to have autocrine functions and, mitogenic and transforming properties, these results suggest a role of 5-HT in neuroendocrine malignant transformation. On the other hand, the expression of somatostatin and the detection by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of somatostatin receptor subtypes 2, 3, and 5, which have been shown to be involved in tumor regression, might account for the long evolution of this case (> 5 yr). This case illustrates the importance of local humoral modulation in tumor growth. Moreover, ultrastructural results favor a unique origin of the tumor cells from one amphicrine cell type.
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PMID:Histological, immunohistochemical, ultrastructural and biochemical study of human gastric composite tumor: expression of the serotonin-2B receptor by the neuroendocrine component. 1147 72

Modifications of mucosal phospholipids have been detected in samples from patients with Helicobacter pylori-positive gastritis. These alterations appear secondary to increased phospholipase A2 activity (PLA2). The cytosolic form of this enzyme (cPLA2), normally involved in cellular signaling and growth, has been implicated in cancer pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate cPLA2 expression and PLA2 activity in the gastric mucosae of patients with and without H. pylori infection. In gastric biopsies from 10 H. pylori-positive patients, cPLA2 levels, levels of mRNA as determined by reverse transcriptase PCR, levels of protein as determined by immunohistochemistry, and total PLA2 activity were higher than in 10 H. pylori-negative gastritis patients. To clarify whether H. pylori had a direct effect on the cellular expression of cPLA2, we studied cPLA2 expression in vitro with different human epithelial cell lines, one from a patient with larynx carcinoma (i.e., HEp-2 cells) and two from patients with gastric adenocarcinoma (i.e., AGS and MKN 28 cells), incubated with different H. pylori strains. The levels of cPLA2, mRNA, and protein expression were unchanged in Hep-2 cells independently of cellular adhesion or invasion of the bacteria. Moreover, no change in cPLA2 protein expression was observed in AGS or MKN 28 cells treated with wild-type H. pylori. In conclusion, our study shows increased cPLA2 expression and PLA2 activity in the gastric mucosae of patients with H. pylori infection and no change in epithelial cell lines exposed to H. pylori.
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PMID:In vivo and in vitro studies of cytosolic phospholipase A2 expression in Helicobacter pylori infection. 1150 Apr 64

Lung tumors frequently exhibit altered expression of oncogenes and/or tumor suppressor genes. Although some of these alterations are believed to arise from chemical exposure, the ability of specific chemicals to cause distinct changes in gene expression is not well characterized. We previously reported the development of a quantitative reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction (RT/PCR) method for measuring c-myc mRNA levels, and reported that c-myc proto-oncogene expression is significantly increased in small-cell lung carcinoma cells. In the present study, quantitative RT/PCR was used to assess the effect of model toxins cycloheximide (CHX), a protein synthesis inhibitor, and N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), a DNA alkylating agent, on c-myc mRNA levels in normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) and lung adenocarcinoma (A549) cells. Expression of c-myc was evaluated at 1-100 microM CHX and MNNG and was compared to the cytotoxic response as measured by the neutral red assay. Cycloheximide elicited a dose-dependent increase in c-myc mRNA levels in NHBE and A549 cells, but did not alter expression of the housekeeping gene beta-actin. A maximum increase for c-myc expression (200% of control) was observed 5 h after treatment with noncytotoxic concentrations. In contrast, MNNG elicited a dose-dependent decrease in c-myc expression in A549 cells, but no significant change in c-myc was observed in NHBE cells. The results from this study suggest that the quantitative RT/PCR method may be an appropriate technique for monitoring gene expression changes following chemical exposure. Hence, these types of studies may assist in the identification of specific chemicals which may induce the genetic alterations involved in the development of lung cancer as well as provide information relevant to the interactive effects of chemicals within complex mixtures.
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PMID:Quantification of changes in c-myc mRNA levels in normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) and lung adenocarcinoma (A549) cells following chemical treatment. 1150 50

Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection is usually accompanied by an increased plasma level of gastrin, a potent mitogen able to induce cyclooxygenase (COX)-2. This study examined (a) the seroprevalence of HP, its cytotoxic protein, CagA, and cytokines (tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukins 1beta and 8) in 80 patients with colorectal cancers, before and after the removal of tumor, compared with 160 age- and gender-matched controls; (b) the gene expression of gastrin and its receptors (CCKB-R) in the cancer tissue, (c) the plasma levels and tumor tissue contents of gastrin, and (d) the mRNA expression of COX-1, COX-2, and apoptotic proteins (Bax and Bcl2) in cancer tissue and intact colonic mucosa. Anti-HP IgG, anti-CagA IgG seroprevalence, and cytokine levels were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay tests; gene expressions of gastrin, CCKB-R, COX-1, COX-2, Bax, and Bcl2 by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; and gastrin by radioimmunoassay. The seroprevalence of HP, especially that expressing CagA, was significantly higher in cancer patients than in controls and did not change 1 week after tumor resection while plasma cytokines were significantly reduced after this operation. Both gastrin and CCKB-R mRNA were detected in the cancer tissue and the resection margin; similarly, COX-2 mRNA was expressed in most of cancers and their resection margin but not in intact colonic mucosa, where only COX-1 was detected. The colorectal cancer tissue contained several folds more immunoreactive gastrin than cancer resection margin and many folds more than the intact colonic mucosa. We conclude that colon adenocarcinoma and its resection margin overexpress gastrin, its receptors, CCKB-R, and COX-2, and that HP infection may contribute to colonic cancerogenesis via overexpression of gastrin and COX-2, which may account for the stimulation of the tumor growth and the reduction in apoptosis as documented by enhanced mRNA expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl2 over proapoptotic Bax proteins.
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PMID:Helicobacter pylori infection, gastrin, cyclooxygenase-2, and apoptosis in colorectal cancer. 1151 78

The c-met proto-oncogene, encoding the hepatocyte growth factor receptor, can be activated by various mechanisms. These include, among others, gene amplification with concomitant overexpression and the tpr-met oncogenic rearrangement. In the case of gastric cancer, contradictory results on the presence of the tpr-met oncogenic rearrangement have been published. The current study aimed therefore to assess the prevalence of tpr-met expression in Caucasian gastric adenocarcinomas, to evaluate the importance of this oncogene in their carcinogenesis. In addition, the level of c-met expression was determined, to evaluate the role of this alternative mode of activation of the proto-oncogene. A series of Caucasian gastric adenocarcinomas (n=43) and normal gastric mucosal samples (n=14) was analysed for tpr-met and c-met expression. Expression of tpr-met mRNA in the samples was performed by two reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays, with excellent correlation. The specificity of both methods was confirmed by direct sequencing of the PCR products of the MNNG-HOS cell line, which is known to contain the rearrangement. The level of c-met expression was assessed using semi-quantitative RT-PCR assays and immunohistochemistry (IHC). None of the normal gastric mucosal or gastric adenocarcinoma samples expressed tpr-met mRNA, as determined by both RT-PCR assays. Seventy per cent of the adenocarcinomas showed overexpression of c-met, according to elevated c-met mRNA levels, compared with the expression level of normal gastric mucosa. A significant correlation was found between the level of c-met mRNA and protein expression. In conclusion, these results strongly suggest that tpr-met activation does not play a role in Caucasian gastric carcinogenesis, while overexpression of the c-met gene occurs in the majority of Caucasian gastric adenocarcinomas.
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PMID:Absence of tpr-met and expression of c-met in human gastric mucosa and carcinoma. 1152 50

Elevated 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase expression supports synthesis of prenyl pyrophosphate intermediates required for tumor growth. In this study, the copy number of HMG-CoA reductase mRNA was determined in solid tumor and leukemic cell lines using competitive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Reductase mRNA was increased about eight-fold in Caco2 human colon adenocarcinoma cells compared with that in CCD18 normal colon cells. We also found a 50-fold enhancement of reductase mRNA in stimulated human lymphocytes compared with unstimulated cells. In CEM human leukemia cells, reductase mRNA was increased 8.6 times compared with that in stimulated lymphocytes. Greater low density lipoprotein receptor mRNA was also observed in tumor cells compared with normal counterparts. We hypothesized that elevated reductase mRNA was due to attenuation of sterol-mediated control of tumor reductase promoter activity. We first compared the methylation status of CpG dinucleotides in the promoters of reductase and p16 tumor suppressor genes from solid tumor, leukemic, and normal cells. As reported for other tumor cells the p16 promoter region was hypermethylated in Caco2 and CEM cells but was hypomethylated in corresponding normal cells. However, reductase promoter sequences in both normal and tumor cells were hypomethylated, demonstrating that methylation is not involved in sterol-independent reductase regulation. We addressed altered transcription factor binding to the tumor cell reductase promoter by transiently transfecting Caco2 and CCD18 with a plasmid vector containing a hamster HMG-CoA reductase promoter fused to the luciferase gene. We found that increased reductase mRNA was partially due to an approximately three-fold higher reductase promoter activity in Caco2 than in CCD18, measured by luciferase reporter assays. Thus, differential binding of transcription factor or factors on the tumor cell reductase promoter attenuates normal sterol-mediated regulation of reductase activity.
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PMID:Sterol-independent regulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase in tumor cells. 1174 27

Between June 4th and June 20th 1996 rotavirus, adenovirus, and astrovirus (HAstrV) were investigated in fecal samples from 27 children under three years old with acute diarrhea, attending the Bertha Lutz day care center, in Rio de Janeiro. All fecal samples were analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), enzyme immunoassays (EIA), and electron microscopy (EM). Nine of them (33%) showed positive results for HAstrV by at least one of the employed methodologies. Eight were positive by RT-PCR and EIA, and six by EM. All positive samples were inoculated onto HT-29 (human colon adenocarcinoma) cultured cells for HAstrV isolation and seven were positive after three passages. The sequencing analysis of eight RT-PCR products (449 bp) from gene that codifies VP2 protein, showed a total nucleotide identity among them and 98% with HAstrV-1 (strain Oxford type 1). This is the first report of a gastroenteritis outbreak associated with HAstrv-1 in a day care center in Rio de Janeiro and it reinforces the importance of this virus in association with infantile acute gastroenteritis.
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PMID:An outbreak of gastroenteritis associated with astrovirus serotype 1 in a day care center, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 1178 24

It has been suggested that fibronectin (FN) and syndecan play an important role in many aspects of cell-substrate interactions including cell adhesion. We hypothesized that oncofetal FN (onfFN) and syndecan play an important role in the process of adhesion of several human lung cancer cell lines. To test this, levels of onfFN in the culture supernatant were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 18 human lung cancer cell lines. In addition, expressions of onfFN and syndecan-1 mRNA were analyzed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Of 18 lung cancer cell lines, 3 cell lines (all adenocarcinoma) released a significant amount of onfFN in culture supernatants. Of the 18 cell lines tested, 6 cell lines expressed a significant amount of mRNA for onfFN and 4 expressed a significant amount of mRNA for syndecan-1. Levels of onfFN and expressions of mRNA for onfFN and syndecan-1 were consistently higher in non-small cell lung cancer cell lines than in small cell lung cancer cell lines. In addition, cell lines that expressed mRNA for onfFN and syndecan-1 tended to adhere to culture dishes. Syndecan-1 expression was significantly higher in attached cells compared with nonattached cells within the same cell line. Differences in onfFN and syndecan synthesis may explain some in vitro and in vivo characteristics of lung cancer.
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PMID:Expression of oncofetal fibronectin and syndecan-1 mRNA in 18 human lung cancer cell lines. 1178 33

Actively dividing cells show progressive loss of telomeric DNA during successive rounds of replication due to end-replication problem. Telomere shortening has been proposed as a regulatory mechanism that controls the replicative capacity of primary cells before undergoing cellular senescence. In immortal cells including cancer, cellular senescence can be overcome by reactivation of telomerase or by a telomerase-independent mechanism for lengthening telomeres. In this work, we present a novel example of telomere elongation mechanism in a human stomach adenocarcinoma cell line which was selected for resistance to adriamycin. The resistant cell line (MKN/ADR) had long terminal restriction fragments (TRFs) of up to approximately 50 kb, while its parent cell line (MKN-45) had the TRFs, consisting of a smear extending from approximately 4 to approximately 25 kb. The very large TRFs in MKN/ADR cell line were proven to be telomeric by digestion with the exonuclease Bal31. When telomerase activity was examined using the PCR-based telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assay, MKN/ADR cell line showed reduced activity to about 10% of that in MKN-45 cell line. The correlation between reduced telomerase activity and mRNA expression of telomerase subunits in MKN/ADR cell line was assessed by the reverse transcriptase-PCR analysis. The level of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA was lower in MKN/ADR cell line than in MKN-45 cell line. This observation correlates with the finding that telomerase activity is reduced about 10-fold in MKN/ADR cell line. Reverse transcriptase-PCR analysis also revealed a close correlation between telomerase-associated protein (TP1) mRNA expression and telomerase activity in MKN/ADR cell line. In contrast, expression levels of human telomerase RNA (hTR) were identical in both MKN/ADR and MKN-45 cell lines. Taken together, these data suggest that telomeres in MKN/ADR cell line may be regulated through a novel mechanism other than telomerase. Although the basis for telomere elongation mechanism in MKN/ADR cell line is not yet understood, the occurrence of alternative mechanism for telomere elongation in drug-resistant cancer cells may have an important implication for use of telomerase inhibitors in human cancer treatment.
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PMID:A novel telomere elongation in an adriamycin-resistant stomach cancer cell line with decreased telomerase activity. 1201 44

The goal of this study was to develop a sensitive, simple, and widely applicable assay to measure copy numbers of specific mRNAs using real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and identify a profile of gene expression closely associated with angiogenesis. We measured a panel of nine potential angiogenesis markers from a mouse transgenic model of prostate adenocarcinoma (TRAMP) and a mouse skin model of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-driven angiogenesis. In both models, expression of VEGF correlated with expression of mRNAs encoding other angiogenic cytokines (angiopoietin-1 and angiopoietin-2), endothelial cell receptor tyrosine kinases (Flt-1, KDR, Tie-1), and endothelial cell adhesion molecules (VE-cadherin, PECAM-1). Relative to control, in dermis highly stimulated by VEGF, the Ang-2 mRNA transcript numbers increased 35-fold, PECAM-1 and VE-cadherin increased 10-fold, Tie-1 increased 8-fold, KDR and Flt-1 each increased 4-fold, and Ang-1 increased 2-fold. All transcript numbers were correspondingly reduced in skin with less VEGF expression, indicating a relationship of each of these seven markers with VEGF. Thus, this study identifies a highly efficient method for precise quantification of a panel of seven specific mRNAs that correlate with VEGF expression and VEGF-induced neovascularization, and it provides evidence that real-time quantitative RT-PCR offers a highly sensitive strategy for monitoring angiogenesis.
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PMID:Molecular profiling of angiogenesis markers. 1210 83


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