Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.7.7 (DNA polymerase)
 17,007 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We and others previously reported DNA polymerase activity in culture supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with acute Kawasaki syndrome (KS). In the present study, we further characterized the previously detected polymerase activity and attempted to confirm its presence in cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells from additional patients with KS. Characterization experiments indicated that the polymerase activity was typical of a DNA-dependent DNA polymerase rather than viral reverse transcriptase. Peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures from 17 additional KS patients were negative for reverse transcriptase activity in three laboratories. Our findings do not provide support for a retroviral etiology of KS. Further studies should continue to focus on infectious agents in efforts to elucidate the etiology of KS.
 ...
PMID:Failure to confirm the presence of a retrovirus in cultured lymphocytes from patients with Kawasaki syndrome. 171 54

Kawasaki syndrome, an acute febrile multisystem illness of young children, is a panvasculitis with prominent rheumatic features. Arthritis and pancarditis are frequent during the acute stage; coronary artery aneurysms occur in 20% of cases and the disease is now the leading cause of acquired heart disease in childhood. A microbial aetiology is suggested by the acute febrile self-limited character of the disease, the regular occurrence of epidemic outbreaks at intervals of 2-3 years, and the virtual restriction to young children, consistent with the early acquisition of immunity. Reports of elevated DNA polymerase activity (assumed to be RNA-dependent reverse transcriptase) in cultured lymphocytes from patients with acute Kawasaki syndrome suggest that a retrovirus might be the causative agent. We have measured supernatant DNA polymerase activity in lymphocyte cultures from 49 Hawaiian patients in acute and convalescent stages of Kawasaki syndrome and have been unable to demonstrate significant reverse transcriptase activity or other evidence of involvement of a retrovirus in the aetiology of the disease.
 ...
PMID:Absence of significant RNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity in lymphocytes from patients with Kawasaki syndrome. 246 87