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)

The etiology of interstitial cystitis (IC) may be related to a dysfunctional epithelium caused by an abnormal permeability barrier. The presence of deleterious urinary substances (quaternary amines) that alter an otherwise normal epithelium may also be contributory. IC disease could reflect an inability of the bladder to repair its protective surface-coat material (glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans), which is constantly exposed to a toxic urine environment. Bladder biopsy tissue from IC patients and derived explant cells were investigated to determine if mRNA for a proteoglycan core protein could be extracted and evaluated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Syndecan was chosen for this investigation because the available sequence information permitted PCR primers to be synthesized. The results indicated that biopsy tissue and explant cells could be utilized for the isolation of syndecan core protein mRNA. This proteoglycan was also demonstrated in mouse bladders by immunostaining and immunoblotting (but not in human tissues) using a syndecan-specific monoclonal antibody (281-2). Quantitative differences in IC tissues versus normal bladder tissue with respect to gene expression for this proteoglycan core protein can now be determined.
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PMID:Proteoglycan core protein syndecan in bladder biopsies. 801 11

The goal of the present study was to determine if the expression of metallothionein isoform 3 (MT-3) might serve as a biomarker for human bladder cancer. To accomplish this goal, we defined the localization and expression of MT-3 protein and mRNA using fresh and archival biopsy specimens obtained from patients undergoing differential diagnosis for a variety of bladder disorders. We used immunohistochemistry, immunoblot, and RT-PCR analysis to define the localization and expression of MT-3 protein and mRNA. Immunohistochemical analysis disclosed no immunoreactivity for MT-3 in normal bladder cells. The absence of MT-3 expression in the normal bladder was further confirmed by demonstrating that MT-3 mRNA could not be detected using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or MT-3 protein using immunoblot. Immunohistochemistry also disclosed no immunoreactivity for MT-3 in archival biopsy specimens from patients with interstitial cystitis and related disorders. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that MT-3 was expressed in carcinoma in situ (CIS), high-grade bladder cancer, low-grade bladder cancer, and dysplastic lesions. MT-3 immunostaining was intense in both CIS and high-grade bladder cancer, and low to moderate in low-grade bladder cancer and dysplastic lesions. We determined MT-3 mRNA expression in a subset of these bladder cancer specimens; expression was elevated as compared to that of the housekeeping gene, ss-actin. The cDNA from the RT-PCR reaction primed for MT-3 contained a FokI restriction site, a site unique for MT-3 as compared to other MT family members. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that MT-3 is up-regulated in human bladder cancer and that this up-regulation increases with increasing tumor grade. The finding that MT-3 expression is minimal in normal bladder suggests that MT-3 might be developed into an effective biomarker for bladder cancer.
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PMID:Metallothionein isoform 3 as a potential biomarker for human bladder cancer. 1081 67

The goals of this study were to determine the expression of metallothionein isoform 1 and 2 proteins (MT-1 and MT-2) in bladder cancer and then to determine which MT isoform-specific genes promoted the expression of these proteins. Immunohistochemical analysis disclosed no immunoreactivity for MT-1 and MT-2 (designated as MT-1/2 to reflect the nonspecificity of the antibody for the two isoforms) in cells comprising the normal bladder or in nonmalignant bladder disorders, such as cystitis and interstitial cystitis. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that MT-1/2 was overexpressed in all samples of carcinoma in situ and in high-grade bladder cancer, with variable overexpression in low-grade bladder cancer and dysplastic lesions. The intensity and frequency of MT-1/2 staining correlated with the grade of the tumor. The MT-1 and MT-2 proteins are encoded by a family of eight genes (MT-1A, MT-1B, MT-1E, MT-1F, MT-1G, MT-IH, MT-1X, and MT-2A), and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was used to determine which genes were expressed in the normal bladder and in bladder cancer. This analysis demonstrated that both normal and cancerous bladder tissue expressed mRNA for the MT-2A and MT-1X genes. The expression of MT-1E mRNA was variable in both normal bladder and bladder cancer specimens. Comparison of expression relative to that of beta-actin demonstrated that the level of MT-1X mRNA was overexpressed greatly in bladder cancer as compared to the level in normal bladder tissue. In contrast, the level of MT-2A mRNA was similar in both the normal and the bladder cancer specimens. The level of MT-1X expression did not vary with tumor grade. These studies suggest that the overexpression of MT-1/2 protein in bladder cancer is a result of the overexpression of the MT-1X gene.
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PMID:Metallothionein isoform 1 and 2 gene expression in the human bladder: evidence for upregulation of MT-1X mRNA in bladder cancer. 1127 Apr 23