Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.7.6 (RNA polymerase)
 34,946 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The tet regulatory system in which doxycycline (dox) acts as an inducer of specifically engineered RNA polymerase II promoters was transferred into transgenic mice. Tight control and a broad range of regulation spanning up to five orders of magnitude were monitored dependent on the dox concentration in the water supply of the animals. Administration of dox rapidly induces the synthesis of the indicator enzyme luciferase whose activity rises over several orders of magnitude within the first 4 h in some organs. Induction is complete after 24 h in most organs analyzed. A comparable regulatory potential was revealed with the tet regulatory system where dox prevents transcription activation. Directing the synthesis of the tetracycline-controlled transactivator (tTA) to the liver led to highly specific regulation in hepatocytes where, in presence of dox, less than one molecule of luciferase was detected per cell. By contrast, a more than 10(5)-fold activation of the luciferase gene was observed in the absence of the antibiotic. This regulation was homogeneous throughout but stringently restricted to hepatocytes. These results demonstrate that both tetracycline-controlled transcriptional activation systems provide genetic switches that permit the quantitative control of gene activities in transgenic mice in a tissue-specific manner and, thus, suggest possibilities for the generation of a novel type of conditional mutants.
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PMID:Doxycycline-mediated quantitative and tissue-specific control of gene expression in transgenic mice. 885 86

GI inflammation is associated with an increase in nitric oxide production and expression of the inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Using a spontaneous model of chronic colonic inflammation in rhesus monkeys, which shares morphological and clinical features with ulcerative colitis, we assessed the therapeutic benefit of administration of iNOS inhibitors. Sixteen colitic rhesus monkeys underwent an endoscopy procedure before commencement of the trial, and biopsies from three sites of the colon and plasma were collected. Monkeys were randomly assigned to three treatment groups and were administered by oral bolus 60 mg/kg/day L-N 6-(1-Iminoethyl) lysine, 60 mg/kg/day aminoguanidine or a placebo (0.9% NaCl) twice daily. Monkeys were sacrificed after 10 days, coIonic tissue from multiple sites was dissected and processed for histological and biochemical analysis. In rhesus colitis, diarrhea was characterized by a significant increase in fecal water content and daily fecal output. iNOS was localized immunohistochemically in plasma cells and neutrophils in the colonic mucosa and lamina propria, paralleled by enhanced iNOS gene expression determined by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Only L-N 6-(1-iminoethyl) lysine administration resulted in a significant reduction in systemic nitric oxide production, and neither of the iNOS inhibitors significantly reduced the histological inflammatory score nor ameliorated diarrheal symptoms. From these findings, we conclude that in this chronic, spontaneous model of colonic inflammation, administering iNOS inhibitors with this treatment regimen did not provide any major therapeutic benefit.
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PMID:The effect of inhibitors of inducible nitric oxide synthase on chronic colitis in the rhesus monkey. 902 18

The expression and activity of aromatase was evaluated in 19 individuals with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and 26 prostatic carcinoma (PC) patients to elucidate the possible biological significance of in situ estrogen production in the development of human prostatic disorders. Marked aromatase immunoreactivity was observed in proliferative stromal cells, especially those around hyperplastic glands in 18 (95%) BPH patients and in stromal cells surrounding carcinomatous glands in 18 (69%) PC patient specimens. The percentage of aromatase-positive stromal cells did not differ between BPH and PC. No significant correlation was apparent between the percentage of aromatase-positive cells and either the extent of carcinoma differentiation or surgical stage in the PC patients. Quantitation of aromatase activity by the [3H] water assay yielded values of 27.23 +/- 6.87 and 26.52 +/- 9.12 fmol/hr/mg of protein for BPH (nine patients) and PC (nine patients), respectively. Reverse transcriptase and polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed that the mean aromatase mRNA content was 1.671 +/- 0.82 and 1.11 +/- 0.51 attomole/ng of total RNA (tRNA) for BPH (seven patients) and PC (four patients), respectively. There were no significant differences in aromatase activity or aromatase mRNA concentration between PC and BPH. The alternative use of multiple exons 1 of the aromatase gene was also examined. Predominant aromatase gene transcripts contained exon 1b in three of four of PC specimens and two of three BPH specimens examined, in contrast to the use of exon 1d previously described in normal prostate. Unlike breast and endometrium, therefore, aromatase expression in human prostate was not associated with malignancy. However, overexpression of aromatase, possibly attributable to abnormal gene regulation, may result in estrogen production in situ and play a role in the induction or development of human prostatic disorders.
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PMID:Aromatase in hyperplasia and carcinoma of the human prostate. 914 Jan 25

Leukemia in the soft-shell clam, Mya arenaria, is characterized by tumor cells which are detected initially in the hemolymph. This disease is much more common in clams inhabiting polluted waters, suggesting an environmental component to its pathogenesis. In this study, leukemia cells were identified using a murine monoclonal antibody, 1E10, which recognizes a leukemia-specific protein expressed by tumor cells. Mutant p53 protein was detected using a murine monoclonal antibody (PAb 240) which reacts with mutant p53. Using immunofluorescence, the reactivity of clam cells to the 1E10 antibody was evaluated along with mutant p53 protein reactivity. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactions followed by sequence analyses were utilized to examine clams with hemocytes reacting with the p53 antibody for possible p53 gene mutations. Mutant p53 protein was expressed by tumor cells from five animals with advanced disease (in which greater than 90% of cells reacted with 1E10). A C-->G transversion was detected at the end of exon 6 from two of the five animals that reacted with both the mutant p53 antibody and 1E10. This substitution changes the amino acid of this codon from proline to alanine. Overall, our results suggest that environmentally induced alterations in p53 can contribute to the pathogenesis of leukemia in soft-shell clams inhabiting polluted water and/or sediment.
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PMID:Detection of mutant p53 in clam leukemia cells. 916 98

A DNA containing bacteriophage, Kvp1, was isolated from the water of a very polluted river, the Matanza river, near the central district of Buenos Aires City. This bacteriophage infects bacteria belonging to the Kluyvera cryocrescens species (strain 21 g) isolated from the same river. Kvp1 is a lytic bacteriophage and its propagation characteristics are: burst size 30, latent period 13 min and rise period 10 min. Morphologically, Kvp1 is a small icosahedral bacteriophage, 59.1 nm in diameter, which possesses a short wedge-shaped tail. Its buoyant density in ClCs is 1.517 g/cm3. Kvp1 DNA is linear, double stranded and approximately 40,000 bp in size. The viral particle is composed of at least nine proteins. SDS-PAGE patterns of these proteins and of those produced during the host infection, in addition to its morphological and genomic characteristics, suggested that Kvp1 is similar to the coliphage T7. Molecular cloning, sequencing and computer-assisted analysis of Kvp1 DNA fragments confirmed the relationship to the coliphage. Taking this into account, the partial sequence of the phage RNA polymerase was used to construct phylogenetic relationships between Kvp1 and other related phages. To our knowledge, Kvp1 is the first bacteriophage described which uses as host a member of the Kluyvera bacterial genus.
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PMID:Kluyvera bacteriophage Kvp1: a new member of the Podoviridae family phylogenetically related to the coliphage T7. 938 94

Monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) is a proinflammatory cytokine that attracts and activates specific types of leucocytes. The purpose of this work was to analyse the generation of MCP-1 and mRNA transcript in a model of chronic inflammation using a granulomatous tissue induced by potassium permanganate (KMnO4; water soluble crystals). The data presented here shows that MCP-1 is generated in granuloma tissue and its level was strongly increased by i.p. injections of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and inhibited in rats treated with injections of dexamethasone, 18 hr before the animals were killed. In histological studies LPS and dexamethasone increased and decreased, respectively, the recruitment of mononuclear cells in the granuloma tissue compared with the control granulomas from phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)-treated animals. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used for mRNA extraction and cDNA synthesis. mRNA MCP-1 was significantly produced in the granuloma tissue of untreated animals, an effect increased by LPS and inhibited by dexamethasone, compared with the controls. Moreover, MCP-1 protein was found in the supernatant from homogenized granuloma tissues and the levels of MCP-1 were higher in the LPS-treated animals, while they were lower in the dexamethasone group, compared with the granulomas from the PBS-treated groups (control). The generation of MCP-1 was also found in minced granuloma tissue incubated for 18 hr (overnight) from treated (LPS or dexamethasone) and untreated (PBS) rats. When LPS was added in vitro for 18 hr to the controls and treated animals the production of MCP-1 was further increased except in the dexamethasone group (P > 0.05). Analysing blood serum from LPS, dexamethasone or PBS-treated rats, we found that MCP-1 was also present. The level was higher in the LPS group and lower in the dexamethasone group, compared with the control (PBS). In these studies we show for the first time that MCP-1 transcript and translation is generated in chronic experimental inflammatory tissue, an effect inhibited by dexamethasone.
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PMID:Augmentation of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 and mRNA transcript in chronic inflammatory states induced by potassium permanganate (KMnO4) in vivo. 941 40

Growth factors and prostaglandins protect the gastric mucosa against stress-induced lesions but their role in the recovery of the mucosa from these lesions has been little studied. We evaluated gastric mucosa lesions, gastric blood flow, mucosal generation of prostaglandin E2 and mucosal gene expression of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and transforming growth factor alpha (TGF alpha) as well as constitutive prostaglandin cyclooxygenase-1 and inducible cyclooxygenase-2 and the effect of the inhibition of these enzymes on the recovery of mucosa from the stress-induced lesions. Rats were exposed to 3.5 h of water immersion and restraint stress and killed at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 24 h after stress. The number of gastric lesions was determined and gastric blood flow was measured by H2-gas clearance. Gastric acid secretion was tested in separate gastric fistula rats. Gastric mucosa biopsies were taken for determination of immunoreactive EGF and TGF alpha. Expression of EGF and TGF alpha mRNA and cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA was also determined by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The number of gastric lesions induced by 3.5 h stress averaged approximately 20 per rat and declined significantly at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 h, to disappear almost completely after 24 h. This was accompanied by a gradual rise in gastric blood flow, mucosal generation of prostaglandin E2 and mucosal EGF and TGF alpha contents, while the increased gastric acid secretion returned to normal. In the intact mucosa, EGF mRNA was not detected but TGF alpha mRNA was found in measurable amounts. Following exposure to stress, the expression of both these factors was significantly increased. Similarly, the expression of cyclo-oxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA was detected in the oxyntic mucosa at all time intervals after exposure to stress. Indomethacin (5 mg/kg i.p.), an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2, and meloxicam (1 mg/kg i.p.), an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase-2, both prolonged the healing of stress lesions and reduced the gastric blood flow, while enhancing gastric acid secretion at all times tested. We conclude that healing of stress lesions results in the restoration gastric blood flow and mucosal prostaglandin generation and that these effects are accompanied by overexpression of EGF and TGF alpha as well as cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA and by increased biosynthesis of gastroprotective prostaglandin.
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PMID:Activation of genes for growth factors and cyclooxygenases in rat gastric mucosa during recovery from stress damage. 954 93

Polyamines such as spermine or putrescine, resulting from increased activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), are known for gastroprotective and mucosal growth promoting effects but little information is available about their role in the acceleration of the healing of stress-induced gastric lesions by epidermal growth factor (EGF). In this study, rats with intact or suppressed ODC activity by alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO, 400 mg/kg i.p.) were subjected to 3.5 h of water immersion and restraint stress (WRS) without or with intragastric (i.g.) administration of spermine and putrescine or with subcutaneous (s.c.) injection of EGF. At 0, 2, 6, 12 and 24 h after stress, rats were killed and the number of gastric lesions was counted, gastric blood flow (GBF) was recorded by the H2-gas clearance technique, the gene expression of ODC mRNA using reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and the ODC activity in this mucosa were determined in oxyntic mucosa. Stress produced gastric lesions combined with decreased GBF (by approximately 43%), but at 2, 6, 12 and 24 h after stress, these lesions and the fall in GBF were gradually attenuated. Healing of stress lesions was accompanied by strong stimulation of ODC mRNA expression and by an immediate increase in enzyme activity, with a peak occurring about 6 h after stress. Pretreatment with DFMO or salivectomy (which resulted in a marked fall in luminal EGF levels and mucosal DNA synthesis) delayed significantly the healing of stress lesions. EGF or spermine significantly accelerated the ulcer healing and raised the GBF. Suppression of endogenous generation of prostaglandins (PGs) with indomethacin (5 mg/kg i.p.) almost completely reversed the EGF- and spermine-induced acceleration of the healing of stress lesions and the accompanying rise in GBF. DFMO significantly reduced the enhancement in healing and the rise in the GBF induced by EGF, but failed to influence those induced by exogenous spermine. The acceleration of the healing induced by spermine or EGF and accompanying hyperemia were not affected by salivectomy. We conclude that (1) upregulation of the ODC transcript, increased ODC activity and polyamines play an important role in mucosal recovery from stress lesions due to acceleration of mucosal repair and an increase in gastric microcirculation, (2) increased ODC activity and resulting excessive polyamine release appear to act as primary mediators of EGF-induced acceleration of healing of stress lesions and (3) endogenous PGs cooperate with EGF and polyamines in mucosal repair from stress ulcerations.
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PMID:Involvement of ornithine decarboxylase and polyamines in epidermal growth factor-induced recovery of gastric mucosa from gastric lesions provoked by stress. 971 66

Scanning force microscopy (SFM) was used to visualize complexes of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase.sigma54 (RNAP.sigma54) and a 1036 base-pair linear DNA fragment containing the glnA promoter. In order to preserve the native hydration state of the protein-DNA complexes, the samples were injected directly into the SFM fluid cell and imaged in buffer. With this protocol, an apparent bending angle of 26(+/-34) degrees was determined for the specific complexes at the promoter. The bending angle of the unspecifically bound RNAP.sigma54 showed a somewhat broader distribution of 49(+/-48) degrees, indicating the existence of conformational differences as compared to the closed complex. In about two-thirds of the closed complexes, the RNA polymerase holoenzyme was located in a lateral position with respect to the DNA and the bend of the DNA was pointing away from the protein. This conformation was consistent with the finding that for the complexes at the promoter, the apparent contour length was reduced by only about 6 nm in buffer as compared to the free DNA. From these results we conclude that in the closed complex of RNAP. sigma54, the DNA was not wrapped around the polymerase, and we present a model for the trajectory of the DNA with respect to the RNA polymerase. The images acquired in buffer were compared to samples that were washed with water and then dried before imaging. Two artefacts of the washing and drying process were detected. First, extensive washing of the sample reduced the number of the specific complexes bound at the promoter (closed complex of RNAP.sigma54) from about 70% to 30%. This is likely to be a result of sliding of the RNAP.sigma54 holoenzyme along the DNA induced by the washing process. Second, the apparent DNA shortening of the contour length of RNAP.sigma54-DNA complexes at the promoter as compared to the contour length of the free DNA was 22 nm for the dried samples as opposed to only 6 nm for the undried samples imaged in buffer. This suggests an artefact of the drying process.
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PMID:Scanning force microscopy of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase.sigma54 holoenzyme complexes with DNA in buffer and in air. 979 Aug 43

Fluid transport across cultures of bovine tracheal epithelium was measured with a capacitance probe technique. Baseline fluid absorption (Jv) across bovine cells of 3.2 microliter. cm-2. h-1 was inhibited by approximately 78% after 1 h of exposure to suspensions of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with a concomitant decrease in transepithelial potential (TEP) and increase in transepithelial resistance (Rt). Effects of P. aeruginosa were blocked by amiloride, which decreased Jv by 112% from baseline of 2.35 +/- 1.25 microliter. cm-2. h-1, increased Rt by 101% from baseline of 610 +/- 257 Omega. cm2, and decreased TEP by 91% from baseline of -55 +/- 18.5 mV. Microelectrode studies suggested that effects of P. aeruginosa on amiloride-sensitive Na absorption were due in part to a block of basolateral membrane K channels. In the presence of Cl transport inhibitors [5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)-benzoic acid, H2-DIDS, and bumetanide], P. aeruginosa induced a fluid secretion of approximately 2.5 +/- 0.4 microliter. cm-2. h-1 and decreased Rt without changing TEP. However, these changes were abolished when the transport inhibitors were used in a medium in which Cl was replaced by an impermeant organic anion. Filtrates of P. aeruginosa suspensions had no effect on Jv, TEP, or Rt. Mutants lacking exotoxin A or rhamnolipids or with defective lipopolysaccharide still inhibited fluid absorption and altered bioelectrical properties. By contrast, mutations in the rpoN gene encoding a sigma factor of RNA polymerase abolished actions of P. aeruginosa. In vivo, changes in transepithelial salt and water transport induced by P. aeruginosa may alter viscosity and ionic composition of airway secretions so as to foster further bacterial colonization.
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PMID:Pseudomonas aeruginosa induces changes in fluid transport across airway surface epithelia. 981 77


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