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)

Therapy of AIDS comprises two aspects: (1) causative therapy, directed against HIV, and (2) symptomatic therapy of opportunistic infections and malignancies. The best results regarding antiretroviral therapy - both in vitro and in vivo - have been obtained, so far, with inhibitors of reverse transcriptase. We discuss the mechanism of action, the efficacy, and the side effects of AZT, a nucleoside analogue, and comment on combined therapies with acyclovir and immunomodulators. We report on the therapy of the most frequent opportunistic infection - i.e. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia - with sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim and pentamidine as well as the chemoprophylaxis of this disease. During the last few years, important progress has been made in the field of antiviral chemotherapy (HSV, CMV, VZV) and the therapy of gastrointestinal infections. Moreover, the therapy of Kaposi's sarcoma associated with AIDS and that of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma has been established by now.
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PMID:[AIDS therapy]. 220 64

Suramin sodium is a reverse transcriptase inhibitor with in vitro activity against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the causative agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Ninety-eight patients with AIDS manifest as opportunistic infections (n = 38), AIDS with Kaposi's sarcoma (n = 38), AIDS-related complex (n = 20), or AIDS-associated non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) (n = 2) were treated with suramin sodium at 0.5, 1.0, or 1.5 g/wk for six weeks followed by maintenance therapy with 0.5 or 1.0 g/wk. Of 72 patients who were HIV culture positive before therapy and were assessable for subsequent HIV culture 40% became culture negative during treatment, with no apparent correlation between virus recovery and serum suramin concentration. No immunologic improvement was noted. One complete clinical remission was noted in a patient with Kaposi's sarcoma and stage IV NHL. Seven minor clinical responses were also noted. Toxic reactions were generally reversible, and included fever (78%), rash (48%), malaise (43%), nausea (34%), neurologic symptoms (33%), and vomiting (20%). Suramin-induced neutropenia was noted in 26%, thrombocytopenia in 12%, a serum creatinine level of 180 mumol/L or higher (greater than or equal to 2.1 mg/dL) in 12%, liver dysfunction in 14%, and clinical and/or laboratory evidence of adrenal insufficiency in 23%. Sixteen patients died while receiving suramin or within three weeks of discontinuation of drug therapy due to infection (n = 6), hepatic failure (n = 3), pulmonary Kaposi's sarcoma (n = 2), AIDS encephalitis (n = 2), AIDS-associated NHL (n = 1), iatrogenic hemo-pneumothorax (n = 1), or pulmonary disease of uncertain etiology. Suramin as currently administered cannot be recommended as effective therapy for AIDS.
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PMID:Suramin therapy in AIDS and related disorders. Report of the US Suramin Working Group. 365 Mar 39

The relationship between clinical and molecular characteristics of 45 treated individuals with histologically-documented human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was examined to determine whether differences in molecular features of lymphoma were associated with differences in clinical outcome. Tissue specimens from these tumors were evaluated for evidence of Ig heavy-chain gene rearrangements using both Southern blot analysis and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Lymphomas were also evaluated for the presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA sequences and c-myc gene rearrangements. Twenty-five lymphomas were characterized as polyclonal and 20 as monoclonal. PCR amplification of expressed Ig variable (V)-region genes confirmed polyclonality in three extensively studied polyclonal lymphomas. The median CD4 count was significantly higher in the group with polyclonal disease (277/microL) than in the group with monoclonal disease (123/microL), P = .04. The complete response rate to therapy was significantly higher in patients with polyclonal disease (78%) and CD4 greater than 200/microL (81%) than in those with monoclonal disease (31%) and CD4 less than 200/microL (33%). CD4 count, clonality, and presence of EBV DNA sequences were the most important predictors of survival. Both Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards analyses showed a markedly prolonged survival in those patients with both CD4 > or = 200/microL and polyclonal disease. Histologically the polyclonal lymphomas were high grade in appearance and contained prominent macrophages. All seven surviving patients were in this group. Median survival for those individuals whose tumors contained EBV sequences was only 3.2 months (range, 0.4 to 19.5), whereas those with EBV- tumors survived for a median of 9.0 months (range, 0.7 to 65.2), P = .0007. These data indicate that molecular features of HIV-associated lymphomas may be important predictors of clinical outcome. These characteristics define a distinct subset of patients with polyclonal EBV- tumors and CD4 counts greater than 200/microL that appear to have a less aggressive clinical course.
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PMID:Influence of molecular characteristics on clinical outcome in human immunodeficiency virus-associated non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: identification of a subgroup with favorable clinical outcome. 753 86

Isoforms of the transmembrane glycoprotein CD44, generated by alternative RNA splicing, have been correlated to tumor dissemination. For evaluation of the potential role of CD44 variant isoforms in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), the presence of CD44 isoforms was analyzed in a large panel of reactive and neoplastic lymphoid tissues by immunohistochemical staining, as well as detection of CD44 variant RNAs by the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Whereas the CD44 standard or hematopoietic isoform (CD44s), devoid of the variant regions, was expressed in all leukocyte subpopulations, the variant isoforms (CD44v) showed a highly restricted pattern of expression, mainly observed in epithelial layers of lymphoid tissues and subpopulations of leukocytes after stimulation. In addition to a strong expression of CD44s, variant isoforms containing CD44-6v in combination with other variant exons were observed predominantly in aggressive lymphoma and were associated with a shorter overall survival of patients (n = 138; P < .0001). Moreover, multivariate analysis indicated CD44-6v as a new independent prognostic parameter in high grade NHL in comparison with the risk groups defined by the International NHL Lymphoma Prognostic Factors Project (N Engl J Med 329:987, 1993).
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PMID:CD44 variant isoforms in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a new independent prognostic factor. 753 83

The WT 1 gene has been isolated as a tumor suppressor gene of Wilms' tumor. Using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), relative levels of the WT 1 gene expression was examined in 87 patients with acute leukemia, 25 with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), and 24 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Significant levels of the WT 1 gene were expressed in all leukemia patients, and for CML the levels increased as the clinical phase progressed. No point mutations were found in the WT 1 gene when samples from 15 acute leukemia patients were subjected to PCR single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis. In striking contrast to acute leukemia, the levels of WT1 gene expression for NHL were significantly low or even undetectable. The levels of WT 1 gene expression inversely correlated with the prognosis of acute leukemia. The quantification of the WT 1 gene expression made it possible to detect minimal residual disease (MRD) in acute leukemia regardless of the presence of absence of tumor-specific DNA markers. Simultaneous monitoring of MRD by RT-PCR using primers for specific DNA markers in four patients (two AML-M3 with PML/RAR-alpha, one AML-M2 with AML1/ETO, and one CML with bcr/abl) detected MRD comparable to that obtained from quantitation of WT 1 gene expression. In a patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia, the limits of leukemic cell detection by RT-PCR using either WT 1 or PML/RAR-alpha gene primers were 10(-3)-10(-4) and 10(-4) for bone marrow, and 10(-5) and 10(-4) for peripheral blood, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:[WT 1 and leukemia]. 764 50

Keratin filament are characteristically present in epithelial cells and tumors, but have also been detected in many normal and neoplastic non-epithelial cell types using immunohistochemical techniques. To investigate the validity of this seemingly aberrant protein expression, we applied the highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique to study keratin gene expression in a variety of non-epithelial tissues. Total RNA was extracted from nine samples of leiomyosarcoma, four non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, seven normal bone marrows, normal lymph node, normal peripheral blood cells, freshly isolated and cultured endothelial cells, cultured skin fibroblasts, and the myeloid leukemia cell line HL-60. Amplification primers and probes for the three most primitive keratin types (8, 18, and 19) were synthesized using published gene sequences. RNA from the breast carcinoma cell line MCF-7, known to be rich in all three keratins, was used as positive control. Concurrently run actin primers were used to confirm RNA integrity. After an initial cycle with reverse transcriptase, PCR amplification was performed for 30 cycles. Southern blots of the PCR products showed variably intense bands corresponding to keratin 8 and 18 gene products in all samples, offering conclusive evidence of keratin gene expression in cells of both stromal and hematopoietic derivation. However, keratin 19 gene transcription was not nearly so ubiquitous, being detected in normal fibroblasts and endothelial cells, two of four non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and four of nine leiomyosarcoma, but not in normal lymph node, peripheral blood cells, HL-60 cells, or any of the seven normal bone marrows examined. Dilutional experiments showed PCR to be highly sensitive in the detection of keratin 19 gene expression, capable of registering one MCF-7 cell in 10(6) HL-60 cells. These studies show that variable levels of keratin 8 and 18 gene expression may be detected by PCR in a wide variety of non-epithelial tissues, supporting previous immunohistochemical and phylogenetic studies. However, keratin 19 gene expression appears to be more restricted and was not evident in any hematopoietic cells devoid of contaminating stromal elements. These findings suggest a role for PCR in the detection of epithelial micrometastasis in certain sites, particularly bone marrow.
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PMID:Keratin gene expression in non-epithelial tissues. Detection with polymerase chain reaction. 768 61

Recently G alpha 16, a new guanosine triphosphate (GTP) binding protein alpha subunit has been described to be specifically expressed in human hematopoietic cells. Expression of G alpha 16 was observed in human cell lines of myelomonocytic and T-lymphocytic origin, but not in human B-cell lines Raji and IM9. We studied the expression of G alpha 16 in human B cells corresponding to different stages of B-cell differentiation by means of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting. The human Burkitt's lymphoma cell lines Raji, Ramos, BJAB, the lymphoblastoid cell line SKW6.4, and the plasmocytoma cell line U266 were devoid of G alpha 16. In contrast, G alpha 16 was detected in the human progenitor B cell lines Reh and Nalm-6. Using the mu+, k- cell line BLIN-1 (pre-B cell phenotype) and its derived subclone 1E8 (surface mu+, k+; B-cell phenotype) G alpha 16 expression was found to disappear on transition from pre-B to B-cell differentiation stage. The analysis of a broad panel of human neoplastic B lymphocytes ranging from progenitor B-acute lymphatic leukemia (pre-pre-B-ALL), common acute leukemias (cALL), pre-B-ALL, mature B-ALL to low grade B-cell lymphoma (chronic lymphocytic leukemia of B-cell type, leukemic centrocytic non-Hodgkins lymphoma [NHL], hairy cell leukemia) showed that G alpha 16 expression is limited to progenitor and pre-B-ALL cells. Therefore, we conclude that within B-cell differentiation, G alpha 16 is expressed solely during early B cell ontogeny and downregulated during differentiation. Thus, G alpha 16 might be an important regulator involved in signaling processes in progenitor B cells.
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PMID:G protein subunit G alpha 16 expression is restricted to progenitor B cells during human B-cell differentiation. 770 90

The putative tumor suppressor gene deleted in colorectal carcinoma (DCC), located on human chromosome band 18q21, is deleted or inactivated in many solid tumors. Its role in the pathogenesis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) has not been studied. Recently, inactivation of this gene was reported in cases of leukemia with monosomy 18. As monosomy 18 is frequently observed in low-grade NHL, we investigated the incidence of altered DCC gene expression in patients with NHL, and correlated it with the number of copies of chromosome 18. Fifteen unselected cases of NHL were studied for evidence of DCC gene expression by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The results were correlated with Southern blot analysis of the DCC gene and with the number of copies of chromosome 18 determined by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). The controls were tissues from normal colon mucosa and normal tonsils. Eight of 15 (53%) NHL cases lacked DCC mRNA, and one expressed substantially less than normal. Southern blot analysis showed normal configuration of the DCC gene in all samples. Two copies of chromosome 18 were found in 9 of 11 samples studied by FISH: one case had a subpopulation of cells with monosomy 18 and one had trisomy 18. All controls expressed DCC. We conclude that DCC gene expression is frequently absent or decreased in NHL and may be involved in the pathogenesis of NHL. Monosomy 18 was not required for DCC inactivation.
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PMID:Decreased expression of the deleted in colorectal carcinoma gene in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. 774 42

The t(2;5)(p23;q35) translocation was initially identified in cases of anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) that expressed the Ki-1 (CD30) antigen. We have recently cloned this translocation and shown it to encode a chimeric product consisting of the N-terminal portion of a nonribosomal nucleolar phosphoprotein, nucleophosmin (NPM), from chromosome 5, fused to the kinase domain of a novel transmembrane tyrosine-specific protein kinase, anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), from chromosome 2. To better define the spectrum of lymphomas that contain this translocation, we have analyzed 70 cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) for expression of the t(2;5)-derived NPM/ALK chimeric message by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Using a previously described set of oligonucleotide primers, NPM/ALK chimeric transcripts were detected in 21 of 22 cases that contained the t(2;5) by cytogenetic analysis and in 10 of 48 cases that either lacked evidence of the t(2;5) or had unsuccessful cytogenetics. In all but 1 case, the NPM/ALK PCR products were of identical size and sequence, suggesting that the genomic chromosome breaks are clustered in a single intron in both NPM and ALK. The NPM/ALK-expressing cases were not confined to NHLs with anaplastic morphology and included 15 ALCLs, 6 immunoblastic lymphomas, and 10 diffuse large-cell lymphomas. Moreover, only slightly greater than half of the cases with anaplastic morphology and 59% of CD30-expressing cases were NPM/ALK positive. Thus, neither anaplastic morphology nor the expression of CD30 accurately predicted the presence of this molecular genetic subtype of lymphoma.
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PMID:Molecular detection of the (2;5) translocation of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. 778 Jan 28

The CD30+ anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) represents a new lymphoma entity thought to be related to Hodgkin'S disease (HD), but displaying also its own unique features. Cytogenetic studies of ALCL have demonstrated the presence of a (2;5)(p23;q35) translocation in a substantial number of these cases. Recently, the t(2;5) has been cloned and described to represent fusion of the NPM gene with the ALK gene on chromosome 5. To better define the spectrum of lymphomas containing this abnormality we have analyzed 50 continuous human cell lines established from various types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, ALCL and HD. In a first step, the expression of the NPM-ALK fusion gene was examined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In a second step, the t(2;5)-carrying cells were tested for the translation of functional chimeric mRNA into a fusion protein by immuno-staining of single cells with a polyclonal antibody. The NPM-ALK fusion transcript and the p80 protein were detected in eight of nine ALCL cell lines. We were unable to find PCR evidence for the t(2;5) in any of the non-ALCL cell lines including other CD30+ cell lines. As all seven bona fide HD cell lines were NPM-ALK-negative, these results do not support the notion that the t(2;5) represents a chromosomal aberration common to both ALCL and HD.
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PMID:The (2;5)(p23;q35) translocation in cell lines derived from malignant lymphomas: absence of t(2;5) in Hodgkin-analogous cell lines. 855 20


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