Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: 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)

In the present work we explored cellular sites of interleukin-6 (IL-6) biosynthesis in human follicular aspirates from patients undergoing in vitro fertilization therapy and the effects of this cytokine on oocyte fertilization and granulosa cell (GC) steroidogenesis. Biological IL-6 activity from 20-40 IU/mL was present in follicular fluids from 22 patients; it was also detected in 10 of 22 supernatants of cultured oocyte-cumulus complexes and in cumulus cell and GC cultures. Biological IL-6 activity in oocyte-cumulus complex cultures was not related to fertilization rates. Total ribonucleic acid was isolated from follicular aspirates and GC-enriched preparations. After reverse transcriptase and polymerase chain reaction cycles using oligonucleotide primers corresponding to known cDNA sequences for IL-6, a 126-basepair band characterized the amplification product of IL-6 transcripts on gel electrophoresis. To localize IL-6 messenger ribonucleic acid, in situ hybridization analysis was performed using a [35S]IL-6 riboprobe. The distribution of transcripts was more dense (15% vs. 3% stained cells) in GC-enriched preparations, which contained more than 95% GCs, than in original follicular preparations, which contained 20-40% viable GCs; it was not significantly modified by the presence of macrophage contaminants. The expression of IL-6 protein was assessed by positive immunohistological stainings. Biological IL-6 activity was higher, and in situ hybridization signals were more dense and more intense in 24-h GC cultures than in 72-h GC cultures, suggesting that IL-6 biosynthesis was transiently induced. Under experimental conditions of low IL-6 endogenous levels in cultures, adding recombinant human IL-6 from 10-200 IU/mL had no effect on progesterone production or aromatase activity in GC cultures free of macrophages, whereas in GC cultures including macrophage contaminants, stimulatory effects on basal and hCG-stimulated progesterone production and on basal and FSH-stimulated aromatase activities were observed. The present study provides strong support for the view that IL-6 is produced by GCs in the preovulatory follicle at the time of ovulation. In addition, we showed that IL-6 might be an intraovarian regulatory factor concerned with steroidogenesis.
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PMID:Interleukin-6 biosynthesis in human preovulatory follicles: some of its potential roles at ovulation. 751 93

To investigate the mechanism of androgen-induced thymolysis, the effects of various androgens, including testosterone (T), 19-nortestosterone, and 7 alpha-methyl-19-nortestosterone (MENT), were compared with those of estradiol and dexamethasone (DEX) in intact, castrated, and adrenalectomized male rats. The potency comparisons on thymus regression, based on mass of steroids, showed DEX to be the most potent, followed by estradiol and the androgens. Among the androgens, MENT was the most potent, followed by nortestosterone and T, an order similar to their anabolic potency on muscle. As the thymolytic effects of T and MENT were not altered by the concomitant administration of an aromatase inhibitor or a 5-reductase inhibitor, it was concluded that the effects of androgens were not mediated by their conversion to estrogens or 5 alpha-reduced metabolites. Involvement of glucocorticoid receptors in androgen action was excluded because mifepristone (an antiglucocorticoid) blocked DEX-induced, but not T- or MENT-induced, thymus regression. Flutamide, an antiandrogen, significantly blocked the thymolytic effect of T and MENT, providing further support for this conclusion. This suggested that the thymolytic action of androgens is an intrinsic property mediated via androgen receptors (AR). The occurrence of AR in the thymus was demonstrated by binding assays and the presence of AR messenger RNA (mRNA) by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction for AR mRNA in the thymus showed 6-fold more AR mRNA in the thymic epithelial cells than in the thymocytes. However, epithelial cells represent only a small fraction of the thymus. Hence, it is hypothesized that the androgens produce their thymolytic effects by stimulating the secretion of a factor(s) by the thymic epithelial cells that, in turn, causes regression of the thymus.
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PMID:Mechanism of androgen-induced thymolysis in rats. 758 21

It has been proposed that the biosynthesis of estrogens by the human endometrium may be of physiological significance during the menstrual cycle. Local estrogen production was also suggested to be important in the development of endometrial cancer; however, the presence or absence of aromatase enzyme activity in normal human endometrium is controversial. To address this issue, we used a sensitive technique capable of detecting mRNA transcripts present in only very low copy number. The polymerase chain reaction linked to reverse transcription (RT-PCR) was used to evaluate the presence or absence of aromatase cytochrome P450 (P450arom) transcripts in endometrial tissues (n = 7) and endometrial stromal cells (n = 9) under various culture conditions. RNA was isolated from four proliferative and three secretory tissue samples and from cultured endometrial stromal cells isolated from seven proliferative and two secretory endometria. Five sets of cultures were treated with medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), estradiol (E2), and forskolin. Additionally, RNA was isolated from decidualized endometrium obtained from a patient with tubal pregnancy. A single stranded cDNA was synthesized from total RNA using Moloney murine leukemia virus reverse transcriptase and a P450arom-specific oligonucleotide. The single stranded cDNA was used as a template for PCR and was amplified for 20-35 cycles using P450arom-specific primers. RNA from adipose tissue and placenta was amplified to provide positive controls, whereas myometrial RNA was used as a negative control. In two experiments involving two endometrial tissues and three sets of cells in culture, a rat P450arom cRNA was coamplified in each sample as an internal control to demonstrate that the remote possibility of RT-PCR failures in individual test samples cannot account for our negative results. By Southern or slot blot hybridization of the amplified fragments using human and rat P450arom-specific probes, we found no evidence for the presence of P450arom transcripts in normal endometrium, decidualized endometrium, or endometrial stromal cells in culture. In our hands, assay of aromatase activity using [3H]water release from [3H]androstenedione by endometrial stromal cells in culture treated with MPA and E2, did not reveal any detectable aromatase activity. The same cells responded to MPA plus E2 treatment by a significant increase in PRL secretion into the culture medium. Presently, RT-PCR is the most sensitive method available for the detection of specific mRNA species in low copy numbers. These findings are indicative of the absence of P450arom transcripts in normal human endometrium.
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PMID:Polymerase chain reaction amplification fails to detect aromatase cytochrome P450 transcripts in normal human endometrium or decidua. 768 41

It is well known that fetal androgens are required for male sexual differentiation, and it is thought that fetal ovaries are not steroidogenically active. However, molecular details, such as which steroidogenic enzymes are present in fetal testes and which enzymes are absent in fetal ovaries, have not been established. The pattern of expression of the genes that encode four of the steroidogenic enzymes necessary for androgen and estrogen production was examined during fetal development in mouse gonads. Messenger RNA (mRNA) expression for cholesterol side-chain cleavage (P450scc), 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/delta 5-delta 4-isomerase (3 beta HSD), P450 17 alpha-hydroxylase/C17-20 lyase (P450c17), and P450 aromatase (P450arom) was determined before ovaries and testes were distinguishable (13 days postconception) and during sexual differentiation (15, 17, and 20 days postconception) using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR). A PCR assay for Sry was used to determine gender on day 13. P450scc, 3 beta HSD, and P450c17 transcripts were detected at all ages in fetal testes, indicating that mRNAs for the steroidogenic enzymes that are required to convert cholesterol to androgens are present in the male gonad even before sexual differentiation. P450arom mRNA was detected in several fetal testes on day 17, but consistently observed on day 20. The expression of P450arom suggests the potential of fetal and neonatal testes to convert androgens to estrogens. In contrast, although 3 beta HSD mRNA was detected in several of the ovaries examined, the detection of P450scc, P450c17, and P450arom transcripts was rare. These data suggest that the absence of fetal ovarian steroid hormone production is the result of lack of expression of at least three of the steroidogenic enzymes, P450scc, P450c17, and P450arom.
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PMID:Ontogeny of expression of the genes for steroidogenic enzymes P450 side-chain cleavage, 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, P450 17 alpha-hydroxylase/C17-20 lyase, and P450 aromatase in fetal mouse gonads. 801 61

The presence of estrogens in tumour cells is considered to be a critical factor for the development of the hormone-dependent forms of breast cancer. The last, rate-limiting step of estrogen biosynthesis is controlled by cytochrome P-450 type enzyme complex named aromatase. In the present study we determined and characterized the expression of aromatase mRNA in the breast carcinoma cell lines T47D and MCF-7. The expression was characterized by slot blot hybridization, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction technique and Northern hybridization analysis. Northern blotting revealed the presence of 4.4 kb and 2.4 kb messengers in both cell lines.
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PMID:Identification of the aromatase in the breast carcinoma cell lines T47D and MCF-7. 801 54

It is established that testosterone (T) increases aromatase activity (AA) in the quail brain and that this induction of AA represents a limiting factor in the activation of male copulatory behavior. This action of T presumably results from an induction of aromatase synthesis since the number of aromatase-immunoreactive (ARO-ir) cells increases and, in parallel, there is an increase in aromatase mRNA as measured by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technology. The specific role of androgenic and estrogenic metabolites of T in this induction is not yet clear but product-formation assays suggest that both types of compounds synergize to increase AA. The exact role of androgens and estrogens in the induction of aromatase was examined by studying both the aromatase protein by immunocytochemistry and the aromatase mRNA by RT-PCR in castrated quail that had been treated with T or its androgenic metabolite, 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) or its estrogenic metabolite, estradiol-17 beta (E2) or both DHT and E2 simultaneously. A specific quantitative PCR technique using a modified aromatase as internal standard was developed for this purpose. T increased the number of ARO-ir cells in all brain areas and increased the concentration of ARO mRNA in the preoptic area-anterior hypothalamus (POA-aHYP) and in the posterior hypothalamus (pHYP). E2-treated birds had more ARO-ir cells than castrates in the posterior part of the medial preoptic nucleus (POM), in the bed nucleus stria terminalis (BNST) and tuber. Their aromatase mRNA concentration was significantly increased in the POA-aHYP but this effect did not reach significance in the pHYP. DHT by itself had no effect on either the number of ARO-ir cells (all brain regions considered) or the concentration of aromatase mRNA. DHT, however, synergized with E2, both in inducing ARO-ir neurons and in increasing aromatase mRNA concentration. This synergism was shown to be statistically significant in several brain areas. These data demonstrate that both androgens and estrogens regulate aromatase at the pretranslational level. Because the percentage increase in the number of ARO-iR cells was in general very similar to the increase in aromatase mRNA concentration, these data also suggest that these steroids regulate aromatase mostly by changing its mRNA synthesis or catabolism.
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PMID:Synergism between androgens and estrogens in the induction of aromatase and its messenger RNA in the brain. 824 62

The expression of aromatase was evaluated in 44 ovarian carcinomas, 7 carcinomas of low malignant potential (LMP), and 14 benign adenomas. Aromatase immunoreactivity was observed in stromal cells in 35 of 44 (79.5%) ovarian carcinomas and 3 of 7 carcinomas of LMP. However, no immunoreactivity was pronounced at sites of frank invasion in ovarian carcinoma. To characterize aromatase in ovarian carcinoma, aromatase activity, mRNA expression, and alternative uses of exon 1 were determined. Quantitation of aromatase activity with the tritiated water method demonstrated 41.62 +/- 9.15 pmol/hour/mg protein in 11 ovarian carcinomas. The mean concentration of aromatase mRNA for 14 ovarian carcinomas was 3 +/- 4 amol/ng RNA, which significantly correlated with aromatase immunoreactivity. The alternative use of multiple copies of exon 1 was examined by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in 11 carcinomas. The transcript, mainly using exons 1c and 1d, was detected in 4 and 5 cases of carcinoma, respectively. Patterns of utilization of exon 1, however, did not significantly correlate with aromatase overexpression. These results suggest that aromatase is expressed in stromal cells of ovarian carcinoma but not in benign ovarian neoplasms. Increased aromatase expression in stromal cells of human ovarian carcinoma is, therefore, considered to play an important role in the biological behavior of these tumors by producing estrogens in situ as in other female sex-steroid-dependent neoplasms.
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PMID:Aromatase in human common epithelial ovarian neoplasms. 868 61

Oestradiol (E2) is one of the most important factors supporting the growth and evolution of breast cancer; consequently, to block this hormone has been one of the main targets in recent years. The evaluation of oestrogens (oestrone, oestradiol and their sulphates) in the breast tissue of post-menopausal patients with breast cancer indicates high levels, particularly of oestrone sulphate (E1S) which is 15-25 times higher than in the plasma. Two main pathways are involved in the formation of oestrogens the sulphatase pathway which transforms E1,S into oestrone (E1), and the aromatase pathway which converts androgens into oestrogens. Comparative studies in breast cancer tissues show that the sulphatase pathway is 50-300 times more important than that of the aromatase pathway. Using intact cells and physiological concentrations of E1S (5 x 10(9)M) the conversion to oestradiol was very intense with the hormone-dependent (T-171). MCF-7) breast cancer cells, but very little or no E2 was obtained with the hormone-independent (MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-436) cells. However, when the latter cells were homogenized, the oestrone sulphatase became very intense. This contradiction in the comparison of the sulphatase activity of the intact cell and the homogenate of the hormone-independent cells can be explained by the presence of inhibitory factors or the absence of positive factor(s) involved in the enzyme activity, which could be related to the evolution of the cancer to hormone-independence. Testing different substances, it was proven that promegestone (R-5020), and danazol, as well as decapeptyl in the presence of heparin, are very active in inhibiting sulphatase activity in hormone-dependent breast cancer cells. Using reverse transcriptase-PCR it was possible to detect the presence of oestrone sulphatase mRNA in different mammary cancer cells. The expression of this mRNA is significantly higher in T-471) and MDA-MB-231 than in the other cell lines. A correlation of this mRNA with the enzymatic activities of oestrone sulphate was observed. The progestagen, R-5020, can significantly decrease the sulphatase mRNA in MCF-7 and T-471) cells. As this progestagen can also inhibit the enzyme itself, it is suggested that the decrease in sulphatase activity by antisulphatase agents in breast cancer cells is a complex mechanism involving not only the effect on the enzyme but also the transcriptional factor(s). It is concluded that in addition to the control of aromatase, specific inhibition of oestrone sulphatase with antisulphatase agents can open new possibilities in breast cancer treatment.
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PMID:Control and expression of oestrone sulphatase activities in human breast cancer. 894 93

Peripheral aromatization of androgens exert estrogenic actions in many tissues. Recently in situ production of estrogens by aromatase was detected in human bone and cultured osteoblasts and has been proposed to participate in the maintenance of bone mass. We examined aromatase expression by immunohistochemistry and mRNA in situ hybridization in 16 cases of tibia (female 2 male, 14 female, 62 +/- 5.2 years old) and quantified the level of aromatase mRNA in 28 cases of rib, femur, and lumbar vertebrae (16 male, 12 female, 58.0 +/- 11.3 years old) by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in order to study whether or not and in which cell types aromatase was expressed in human bone tissues. We also studied alternative use of multiple exons 1 of its gene and immunolocalization of type I 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD), which converts estrone produced by aromatase to estradiol. Strong aromatase immunoreactivity and mRNA hybridization as well as type I 17 beta-HSD immunoreactivity were detected in lining cells, osteoblasts, chondrocytes of articular cartilage, and adipocytes adjacent to bone trabeculae in all the cases examined. Amounts of aromatase mRNA varied greatly among the subjects (11.25 +/- 9.77, 0.61-42.84 attomol/ng of total RNA). The amount of aromatase expression was not correlated with age or gender of the subjects but positively correlated with the degree of osteroporotic changes evaluated by radiological findings of lumbar vertebrae. Analysis of multiple exons 1 revealed that 1b or fibroblast type was predominantly (23/26) utilized as a promoter of aromatase gene expression. These results demonstrated that aromatase is expressed widely in human bone tissue and may play important roles in maintenance of human bone tissue.
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PMID:Aromatase in human bone tissue. 928 57

The conversion of androgens to estrogens by aromatase cytochrome P450 (P450arom) is an important step in the mechanism of androgen action in the brain. However, the distribution of P450arom mRNA in adult rhesus monkey brains has not been studied because specific probes have not been available. To address this deficit, we cloned and sequenced a 455-basepair segment of the 5' coding region of the rhesus P450arom cDNA. Total RNA was extracted from a rhesus monkey placenta (Day 47 of gestation and subjected to reverse transcriptase (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using consensus oligonucleotide primers selected from published human and rat P450arom DNA sequences. The RT-PCR product was subcloned into a vector and sequenced. The monkey P450arom cDNA was 97% identical to the human sequence but shared only 86% homology with the rat sequence. We then developed a ribonuclease protection assay using a monkey P450arom cDNA and studied the distribution of P450arom mRNA in adult monkey brains. This assay protected two RNA fragments, one 455 nucleotides (nt) in length and the second approximately 300 nt. The relative distribution of P450arom mRNA (the 455-nt fragment) between brain areas of the adult (n = 3) was high in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis > medial preoptic/anterior hypothalamus > amygdala; intermediate in the medial basal hypothalamus (infundibular nucleus, median eminence, ventromedial nucleus) > lateral preoptic/anterior hypothalamus; and low in the septum > lateral-dorsal-medial hypothalamus. P450arom mRNA was undetectable in cingulate and parietal cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum. P450arom activity, as measured by the 3H2O assay, correlated well with the distribution of P450arom mRNA (the 455-nt protected fragment; r = 0.9) in the same tissues. A shorter protected RNA fragment was found in the medial basal hypothalamus, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, the amygdala, and the cingulate and parietal cortex but not in the other brain areas investigated. Its presence did not correlate with aromatase activity in brain tissue. This study describes the development of a ribonuclease protection assay using a monkey cDNA produced by RT-PCR and its usefulness for studying the distribution of P450arom mRNA in brains of nonhuman primates.
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PMID:Distribution of aromatase cytochrome P450 messenger ribonucleic acid in adult rhesus monkey brains. 931 79


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