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)

Desmoplastic small round cell tumor is an aggressive neoplasm first described in 1991. Recently, a reciprocal translocation t(11;22)(p13;q12) has been characterized by conventional cytogenetic studies and molecular analysis. This translocation involves the Ewing's sarcoma gene on chromosome 22 and the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 on chromosome 11. The chimeric transcript corresponding to the fusion gene could be detected by the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Using an anti-WT1 antibody, the WT1 part of the putative chimeric protein could be recognized by immunohistochemistry. We describe two well-characterized cases of intraabdominal desmoplastic small round cell tumor in two male patients aged 14 and 28 with both RT-PCR analysis and immunostaining for WT1. In this report, we insist on the necessity to increase the RT-PCR analysis in DSRCT in order to obtain a precise differential diagnosis. In addition, WT1 immunostaining may serve as a useful diagnostic marker for DSRCT.
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PMID:Desmoplastic small round cell tumor: RT-PCR analysis and immunohistochemical detection of the Wilm's tumor gene WT1. 982 Aug 65

Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) has recently been described as a discrete tumor entity. It is distinguished from other small round cell tumors by its prominent desmoplastic quality, its preponderance in adolescent males, its almost exclusive intraabdominal location, a multi-immunophenotypic profile, and its aggressive nature. Diagnosis on histology alone is not always unequivocal. A recurrent t(11;22)(p13;q12) translocation has recently been described in this tumor, and a chimeric RNA fusion product formed from the WT1 and EWS genes is detectable by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We describe the use of a multi-faceted approach using conventional G-banding, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and RT-PCR to assist the diagnosis of a case of DSRCT with a complex variant t(11;22;21)(p13;q12;q22.1) translocation and demonstrate the value of a combined approach to genetic investigation of solid tumors.
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PMID:A combined cytogenetic and molecular approach to diagnosis in a case of desmoplastic small round cell tumor with a complex translocation (11;22;21). 997 19

To determine the role of the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in tumorigenesis of solid tumors, expression of the WT1 gene was examined in 34 solid tumor cell lines (four gastric cancer cell lines, five colon cancer cell lines, 15 lung cancer cell lines, four breast cancer cell lines, one germ cell tumor cell line, two ovarian cancer cell lines, one uterine cancer cell line, one thyroid cancer cell line, and one hepatocellular carcinoma cell line) by means of quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. WT1 gene expression was detected in three of the four gastric cancer cell lines, all of the five colon cancer cell lines, 12 of the 15 lung cancer cell lines, two of the four breast cancer cell lines, the germ cell tumor cell line, the two ovarian cancer cell lines, the uterine cancer cell line, the thyroid cancer cell line, and the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line. Therefore, of the 34 solid tumor cell lines examined, 28 (82%) expressed WT1. Three cell lines expressing WT1 (gastric cancer cell line AZ-521, lung cancer cell line OS3, and ovarian cancer cell line TYK-nu) were further analyzed for mutations and/or deletions in the WT1 gene by means of single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis. However, no mutations or deletions were detected in the region of the WT1 gene ranging from the 3' end of exon 1 to exon 10 (the WT1 gene consists of 10 exons) in these three cell lines. Furthermore, when AZ-521, OS3, and TYK-nu cells were treated with WT1 antisense oligomers, the growth of these cells was significantly inhibited in association with a reduction in WT1 protein levels. Furthermore, constitute expression of the transfected WT1 gene in cancer cells inhibited the antisense effect of WT1 antisense oligomer on cell growth. These results indicated that the WT1 gene plays an essential role in the growth of solid tumors and performs an oncogenic rather than a tumor-suppressor gene function.
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PMID:Expression of the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in solid tumors and its involvement in tumor cell growth. 1018 90

Desmoplastic small round-cell tumor typically occurs in the abdomen of young men, but it can also develop at other anatomic sites and in older people, presenting greater diagnostic difficulties. We report a case of this tumor arising from the paratesticular region in a 43-year-old man. The tumor showed histologic, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural evidence of multilineage differentiation, including epithelial, mesenchymal, and neuronal features. In addition, the presence of an EWS and WT1 chimeric messenger RNA was demonstrated by the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction using an EWS exon 7 primer and WT1 exon 8 and exon 9 primers, which revealed single polymerase chain reaction products with a junction of EWS exon 7 to WT1 exon 8. Our study demonstrates that desmoplastic small round-cell tumors of the paratesticular region share not only morphologic but also molecular genetic features with those of the abdomen and that reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis using paraffin sections is useful for a conclusive diagnosis.
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PMID:Desmoplastic small round-cell tumor of the paratesticular region: report of an adult case with demonstration of EWS and WT1 gene fusion using paraffin-embedded tissue. 1091 46

Desmoplastic small cell tumor (DSCT) is a high-grade malignant neoplasm that shows polyphenotypic differentiation. Its almost exclusive involvement of serosal surfaces (particularly peritoneum) has led to the consideration of a putative "mesothelioblast" as the cell of origin. Although an extraserosal case involving the brain (presumably arising from the dura) has been reported, to date no case primary in the bone or soft tissues has been documented. The authors describe a 34-year-old man who presented with a 3-year history of pain in the right hand and a recently noted mass in the hypothenar area. Open biopsy followed by wide en bloc excision in combination with index ray resection was performed. Subsequently, the patient underwent ipsilateral axillary lymph node dissection. Extensive radiologic workup at the time of presentation and 12 months later revealed no tumor in the chest or abdomen. The patient was treated with an HD-CAV chemotherapy regimen (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, ifosfamide, etoposide) and was free of tumor until 18 months later, at which time he developed multiple metastases in the lungs. Currently, he is alive with tumor and in poor condition. The histologic sections of the mass displayed the characteristic features of DSCT involving bone and soft tissue. Immunohistochemical stains showed positivity of the tumor cells for muscle marker (desmin), neuroendocrine markers (chromogranin, synaptophysin), and epithelial markers (keratins CAM5.2, AE1:AE3, epithelial membrane antigen). Chimeric transcripts were detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, indicating the presence of EWS-WT1 gene fusion, which is characteristically associated with DSCT. Sequence analysis showed in-frame fusion of EWS exon 9 to WT1 exon 8--a variant not documented in any other case. This is a unique example of DSCT primary in bone and soft tissues, which raises interesting questions about the histogenesis of this tumor type and its relationship to other small round cell tumors. Although the "mesothelioblast" hypothesis as the origin of DSCTs is attractive, it does not account for the tumors that are located in the brain or, as in this patient, in the soft tissues and bone. In addition, this patient demonstrates a rare variant of EWS-WT1 gene fusion not described in DSCT involving serosal surfaces.
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PMID:Primary desmoplastic small cell tumor of soft tissues and bone of the hand. 1055 10

Wilms' tumor gene WT1 mRNA is a new marker of leukemic blast cells for AML, ALL, and CML. Minimal residual disease(MRD) of leukemia can be detected at frequencies as low as 1 in 10(3) to 10(4) normal bone marrow cells and 1 in 10(5) normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells by means of the quantitation of WT1 mRNA(WT1 assay) using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Thus, the WT1 assay makes it possible to rapidly assess the effectiveness of treatment and to evaluate the degree of eradication of leukemic cell in individual leukemia patients. Furthermore, WT1 assay can continuously assess the disease progression of myelodysplastic syndromes(MDS) and predict the evolution of MDS to overt AML within 6 months.
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PMID:[Genetic diagnosis of leukemia: diagnosis of relapse and complete remission, and prediction of leukemia onset]. 1080 19

Differentiating desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) from another similar small round cell tumor of childhood, the Ewing sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor (EWS/PNET), can be difficult because morphologic and immunohistochemical features overlap. We studied the predictive value of immunohistochemistry with an antibody to the C-terminal region of the Wilms tumor (WT1) protein for differentiating DSRCT from EWS/PNET in 24 malignant small round cell tumors that had been previously diagnosed as DSRCT or EWS/PNET by standard methods. We performed reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis in cases with available tissue as a confirmatory measure: 6 of 13 DSRCTs were informative by RT-PCR, and 6 of 6 showed an EWS-WT1 fusion; all 13 DSRCTs showed strong, definitive nuclear staining with the WT1 antibody. All 11 EWS/PNETs were WT1 antibody negative; 7 of 11 cases classified as EWS/PNET were informative by RT-PCR, and 7 of 7 showed an EWS-FLI-1 fusion. For cases in which the morphologic and immunohistochemical features are consistent with a diagnosis of DSRCT, WT1 antibody staining predicts the EWS-WT1 translocation with high sensitivity and specificity and is, therefore, useful for differentiating DSRCT from EWS/PNET when genetic information is unavailable.
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PMID:WT1 staining reliably differentiates desmoplastic small round cell tumor from Ewing sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor. An immunohistochemical and molecular diagnostic study. 1098 34

The expression of genes associated with apoptosis, cell proliferation and drug resistance in tumor cells was investigated in two pediatric Wilms' tumor patients (MCH-WT-1 and MCH-WT-3) for their association with cell cycle, daunorubicin accumulation and clinical data. DNA content, cell cycle and drug accumulation were analyzed immediately after surgery by flow cytometry and mRNA expression by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Primary cell cultures were established from tumor specimens and tumor cells in both cases showed epithelial morphology. Although cell proliferation markers (Ki67 and PCNA) were expressed in both cases, MCH-WT-3 showed higher levels of mRNA expression, which corresponded, with metastatic behavior of the tumor in the patient. While p53 and p21 mRNAs were expressed at low levels in MCH-WT1, MCH-WT-3 showed high levels of p21 mRNA only. The increased expression of cyclin kinase inhibitor (p21) in MCH-WT-3 compared to MCH-WT-1 correlated with a higher percentage of G0/G1 cell population in the tumor specimen. Despite the expression of multidrug resistance markers (MDR1 and LRP) in MCH-WT-1, flow cytometric analysis showed tumor cell populations with very low and high daunorubicin accumulation and with the absence of any effect for verapamil and dipyridamole on daunorubicin accumulation of tumor cells.
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PMID:Expression of apoptosis, cell proliferation, and drug resistance genes in pediatric Wilms' tumors. 1126 51

The measurement of Wilms' tumor gene (WT1) mRNA levels by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is useful in detecting minimal residual disease (MRD) in leukemia patients. In the present study, we quantified the level of WT1 mRNA in the peripheral blood and bone marrow of patients with acute myelocytic leukemia (AML) at initial onset, remission and recurrence by the use of nucleic acid sequence based amplification (NASBA), and then ascertained the clinical usefulness of this method. At initial onset, the level of WT1 mRNA in the peripheral blood was above 10(3) copies/microgram and that in the bone marrow was above 10(4) copies/microgram. The level of WT1 mRNA was decreased in cases where therapy resulted in complete remission, but it was abnormally high in recurring cases. In AML (M3) patients, the relationship between the level of WT1 mRNA and the expression of the PML-retinoic acid alpha receptor (RAR alpha) gene, assessed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), was investigated. When leukemia was in remission hematologically, the PML-RAR alpha gene was negative and the level of WT1 mRNA decreased. These findings suggest that the quantification of WT1 gene expression by competitive NASBA is useful in assessing therapeutic effects and detecting MRD.
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PMID:Quantification of WT1 mRNA by competitive NASBA in AML patients. 1150 93

The Wilms' tumour gene, WT1, is expressed at high levels in leukaemia cells and plays an important role in leukaemogenesis. WT1 is also expressed in human normal CD34+ bone marrow (BM) cells at about 100 times lower levels than in leukaemia cells. To identify and characterize WT1-expressing cells in CD34+ BM cells, they were sorted into single cells and analysed for WT1 expression using two kinds of single-cell reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) methods. Using the semiquantitative single-cell polyA-PCR + sequence-specific (SS)-PCR method, WT1 expression was detected in four (1.3%) out of 319 CD34+ BM single cells. To confirm the above results, a single-cell nested sequence-specific (NSS)-RT-PCR method that was less quantitative but more sensitive than the polyA-PCR + SS-PCR method was also performed, and WT1 expression was detected in 15 (1.1%) out of 1315 CD34+ BM single cells. In total, WT1 expression was found in 19 (1.2%) out of 1634 CD34+ BM single cells. No significant differences in the frequencies of WT1-expressing cells were found between CD34+CD38- and CD34+CD38+ BM single cells. Furthermore, WT1-expressing CD34+ BM single cells expressed WT1 at levels similar to those in K562 leukaemia single cells. Analysis of lineage-specific and cell cycle gene expression in WT1-expressing CD34+ BM single cells showed that the WT1 gene could be expressed in both uncommitted, dormant CD34+CD38- and lineage-committed, proliferating CD34+CD38+ BM cells. Our results could indicate that these WT1-expressing CD34+ BM cells were normal counterparts of leukaemia cells.
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PMID:Very low frequencies of human normal CD34+ haematopoietic progenitor cells express the Wilms' tumour gene WT1 at levels similar to those in leukaemia cells. 1184 46


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