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

Investigations of mast cell biology have often used immortalized cultured cells which are continuously proliferating. In vivo, however, only 2% or fewer tissue mast cells are actively dividing. We used aphidicolin, an inhibitor of DNA polymerase to induce a proliferative arrest of murine mast cells characterized by an inhibition of cell division and thymidine incorporation, with accumulation of cells in G1 and early S phase of the cell cycle. Uridine incorporation and cell viability were not significantly impaired. DNA synthesis and cell division both resumed rapidly upon removal of the drug. Morphometric analysis demonstrated that cell size, granule size, and number of granules per cell were all increased in aphidicolin-treated cells. Proliferative arrest also produced a 14-fold increase in cellular histamine content, but did not alter the proteoglycans synthesized by the cell. The level of c-myc mRNA was reduced in aphidicolin-arrested cells, but returned to the level observed in untreated cells within 1 hr of removal of the drug. In contrast, the constitutive steady-state RNA levels of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), B2-microglobulin, actin, and the c-Ha-ras and c-fes protooncogenes were not altered. Aphidicolin-induced proliferative arrest did not prevent the induction of TNF-alpha, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and c-fos genes in response to calcium ionophore. Both the magnitude and induction kinetics of these messages were similar in aphidicolin-treated and untreated cells. We conclude that proliferative arrest results in morphological and biochemical changes suggestive of cellular maturation, but inhibition of cell division alone is not sufficient to alter mast cell phenotype. Although optimal c-myc expression appears to require active proliferation, cytokine gene induction can occur in non-dividing cells. These data suggest that the proliferative quiescence of in vivo mast cells should not preclude their involvement in biological events via elaboration of multi-functional cytokines.
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PMID:Aphidicolin-induced proliferative arrest of murine mast cells: morphological and biochemical changes are not accompanied by alterations in cytokine gene induction. 138 41

Kaposi's sarcoma is a multifocal lesion that is reported to be greatly influenced by cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and oncostatin M. DNA sequences of a novel human gammaherpesvirus, termed human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) or Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, have been identified in all epidemiological forms of Kaposi's sarcoma with high frequency. The presence of HHV-8 DNA is also clearly associated with certain B-cell lymphomas (body cavity-based lymphomas) and multicentric Castleman's disease. Sequence analysis of a 17-kb fragment revealed that adjacent to a block of conserved herpesvirus genes (major DNA-binding protein, glycoprotein B, and DNA polymerase), the genome of HHV-8 encodes structural homolog of IL-6. This cytokine is involved not only in the pathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma but also in certain B-cell lymphomas and multicentric Castleman's disease. The viral counterpart of IL-6 (vIL-6) has conserved important features such as cysteine residues involved in disulfide bridging or an amino-terminal signal peptide. Most notably, the region known to be involved in receptor binding is highly conserved in vIL-6. This conservation of essential features and the remarkable overlap between diseases associated with HHV-8 and diseases associated with IL-6 disregulation clearly suggest that vIL-6 is involved in HHV-8 pathogenesis.
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PMID:Human herpesvirus 8 encodes a homolog of interleukin-6. 898 27

A herpesvirus that is related to but distinct from the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV, or human herpesvirus 8) was isolated from rhesus monkeys. The sequence of 10.6 kbp from virion DNA revealed the presence of an interleukin-6 homolog similar to what is present in KSHV and a closer relatedness of the DNA polymerase and glycoprotein B reading frames to those of KSHV than to those of any other herpesvirus. This rhesus monkey herpesvirus replicated lytically and to high titers in cultured rhesus monkey fibroblasts. Antibody testing revealed a high prevalence for at least 10 years in our rhesus monkey colony and a high prevalence in two other colonies that were tested. Thus, rhesus monkeys naturally harbor a virus related to KSHV, which we have called RRV, for rhesus monkey rhadinovirus.
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PMID:A herpesvirus of rhesus monkeys related to the human Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. 937 42

We previously identified retroperitoneal fibromatosis-associated herpesvirus (RFHV) as a simian homolog of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) in a fibroproliferative malignancy of macaques that has similarities to Kaposi's sarcoma. In this report, we cloned 4.3 kb of divergent locus B (DL-B) flanking the DNA polymerase gene from two variants of RFHV from different species of macaque with a consensus degenerate hybrid oligonucleotide primer approach. Within the DL-B region of RFHV, viral homologs of the cellular interleukin-6, dihydrofolate reductase, and thymidylate synthase genes were identified, along with a homolog of the gammaherpesvirus open reading frame (ORF) 10. In addition, a homolog of the KSHV ORF K3, the modulator of immune recognition-1, was identified. Our data show a close similarity in sequence conservation, gene content, and genomic structure between RFHV and KSHV which strongly supports the grouping of these viral species within the same RV-1 rhadinovirus lineage and the hypothesis that RFHV is the macaque homolog of KSHV.
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PMID:Analysis of 4.3 kilobases of divergent locus B of macaque retroperitoneal fibromatosis-associated herpesvirus reveals a close similarity in gene sequence and genome organization to Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. 1269 11