Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0002871 (anemia)
 52,094 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Most of the genes involved in the pathogenesis of the DNA replication and repair syndromes have now been cloned, and our understanding of the basis for the pleiotropic phenotype associated with many of these syndromes has rapidly and dramatically expanded. The elucidation of the specific interactions between proteins that comprise the transcription factor complex TFIIH raises the possibility that nucleotide excision repair, RNA polymerase II transcription, and cell cycle control are connected. Defects in the XPB, XPD, and XPG genes can result in three different syndromes, xeroderma pigmentosum, Cockayne syndrome, or trichothiodystrophy, depending on the specific mutation involved. The recent cloning of the genes involved in Bloom syndrome (BLM) and Werner syndrome (WRN) show that both are DNA and RNA helicases with homology to each other and to other DExH box helicases, yet the mechanism by which defects in these genes cause such different phenotypes is not yet understood. The ataxia-telangiectasia gene (ATM) is involved in a variety of signal transduction pathways that regulate the cellular response to normal proliferative stimuli as well as the response to DNA damage, and the disruption of these signal transduction pathways provides an explanation for ataxia-telangiectasia characteristics such as ionizing radiation sensitivity, immunodeficiency, and infertility. Although the first Fanconi anemia gene (FAC) was cloned over 5 years ago, and a second Fanconi anemia gene (FAA) was cloned in 1996, the biochemical function of Fanconi anemia proteins largely remains a mystery. The recent construction of mutant mouse strains for several of these diseases should help unlock the difficult puzzle of the pathogenesis of these syndromes.
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PMID:Disorders of DNA replication and repair. 942 94

The initiation step of the carcinogenic process consists in an alteration of genes playing a central role in the cellular life. The next steps of promotion and progression result from anomalies in the response to growth factors, to hormones and/or from the action of tumor promotors leading to cellular hyperplasia. This process generally leads to genetic instability of the initiated cell which in turn allows selection of malignant and invasive clones. The production of DNA damage by physical or chemical agents is dose-dependent. The error-free enzymatic repair processes including excision resynthesis of base damage or of altered nucleotides allow the restitution of intact DNA. The error-prone repair systems permit survival in association with transmissible alterations (genes and chromosomal mutations). Absence of repair leads to cytotoxicity, programmed cell death or disruption of cell cycle control leading to a pretumoral state. The major role played by mutations in the initiation of carcinogenesis is evidenced by the existence of genetic syndromes associated to hypersensitivity to genotoxic agents, defects in DNA repair capacity, anomalies in the expression of certain genes (including the tumor suppressor p53 gene, etc.) and an elevated predisposition to cancer. Xeroderma pigmentosum which is defective in excision-repair, ataxia telangiectasia and Fanconi anemia which are associated to anomalies in DNA recombination and the familial type of colon cancer HPNCP due to inefficient mismatch repair constitute paradigm for this fundamental notion. Alterations in the capacity to rejoin radiation induced DNA strand breaks appears to be associated to over-reactions to radiotherapy of cancer patients. Also the predisposition to develop secondary thyroid tumors following treatment of a primary cancer in childhood seems to involve the same defect. The existence in the general population of heterozygotes for such DNA repair genes should be taken into account for risk evaluation to therapeutic and environmental exposures.
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PMID:[Molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis: the role of systems of DNA repair]. 962 30

Two basic ways of DNA repair are discussed. The first one is nucleotide excision repair after exposure to UV light regarded on using examples of various eukaryotic cells, detailed description of human diseases related to genetic defects of this process (xeroderma pigmentosum, Cockayne's syndrome, and trychotiodystrophy). Contemporary ideas on genetics of excision repair are presented. Relevant genes and their mutations are shown. The second one is a process of double strand breaks repair regarded as the basic type of lethal damage, provoked by ionizing radiation. This process was first described for eukaryotes, and then it was considered in relation to some diseases, such as ataxia-telangiectasia (Louis-Bar's syndrome), Nijmegen chromosome breakage syndrome, Bloom's syndrome, Fancomi's anemia, and progerias, for which hypersensitivity to gamma-rays and different chemicals are typical. Contemporary views concerning the involvement of repair processes in the aforementioned diseases are presented and discussed.
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PMID:[Hereditary diseases with primary and secondary DNA repair defects]. 1049 10

Genomic instability in its broadest sense is a feature of virtually all neoplastic cells. In addition to the mutations and/or gene amplifications that appear to be a prerequisite for the acquisition of a neoplastic phenotype, human cancers exhibit other "markers" of genomic instability--in particular, a high degree of aneuploidy. Indeed, many studies have shown that aneuploidy is an almost invariant feature of cancer cells, and it has been argued by some that the emergence of aneuploid cells is a necessary step during tumorigenesis. The functional link between genomic instability and cancer is strengthened by the existence of several "genetic instability" disorders of humans that are associated with a moderate to severe increase in the incidence of cancers. These disorders include ataxia telangiectasia, Bloom's syndrome, Fanconi anemia, xeroderma pigmentosum, and Nijmegen breakage syndrome, all of which are very rare and are inherited in a recessive manner. Analysis of the cells from such cancer-prone individuals is clearly a potentially fruitful approach for delineating the genetic basis for instability in the genome. It is assumed that by identifying the underlying cause of genetic instability in these disorders, one can derive valuable information not only about the basis of particular genetic diseases, but also about the underlying causes of genomic instability in sporadic cancers in the general population. In this article, we review the clinical and cellular properties of genetic instability disorders associated with cancer predisposition. In particular, we focus on the rapid advances made in our understanding of these disorders that have derived from the cloning of the genes mutated in each case. Because in many instances the affected genes have analogs in lower eukaryotic species, we shall discuss how studies in yeasts in particular have proved valuable in our understanding of human diseases and predisposition to cancer.
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PMID:Genetic disorders associated with cancer predisposition and genomic instability. 1050 32

Interaction of DNA repair proteins with damaged DNA in eukaryotic cells is influenced by the packaging of DNA into chromatin. The basic repeating unit of chromatin, the nucleosome, plays an important role in regulating accessibility of repair proteins to sites of damage in DNA. There are a number of different pathways fundamental to the DNA repair process. Elucidation of the proteins involved in these pathways and the mechanisms they utilize for interacting with damaged nucleosomal and nonnucleosomal DNA has been aided by studies of genetic diseases where there are defects in the DNA repair process. Two of these diseases are xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) and Fanconi anemia (FA). Cells from patients with these disorders are similar in that they have defects in the initial steps of the repair process. However, there are a number of important differences in the nature of these defects. One of these is in the ability of repair proteins from XP and FA cells to interact with damaged nucleosomal DNA. In XP complementation group A (XPA) cells, for example, endonucleases present in a chromatin-associated protein complex involved in the initial steps in the repair process are defective in their ability to incise damaged nucleosomal DNA, but, like the normal complexes, can incise damaged naked DNA. In contrast, in FA complementation group A (FA-A) cells, these complexes are equally deficient in their ability to incise damaged naked and similarly damaged nucleosomal DNA. This ability to interact with damaged nucleosomal DNA correlates with the mechanism of action these endonucleases use for locating sites of damage. Whereas the FA-A and normal endonucleases act by a processive mechanism of action, the XPA endonucleases locate sites of damage distributively. Thus the mechanism of action utilized by a DNA repair enzyme may be of critical importance in its ability to interact with damaged nucleosomal DNA.
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PMID:DNA repair and chromatin structure in genetic diseases. 1050 34

We have previously shown that the alkaline Comet assay (single cell gel electrophoresis) in a modified version is a sensitive test for the detection of formaldehyde-induced DNA-protein crosslinks (DPC). Our results also indicated that formaldehyde-induced DPC are related to the formation of chromosomal effects such as micronuclei and sister chromatid exchanges. To better understand the genetic consequences of formaldehyde-induced DPC we have now investigated the induction and removal of DPC in relationship to the formation of micronuclei in normal and repair-deficient human cell lines. We did not find significant differences between normal cells, a xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) cell line and a Fanconi anaemia (FA) cell line with respect to the induction and removal of DPC. However, the induction of micronuclei was enhanced in both repair-deficient cell lines, particularly in XP cells, under the same treatment conditions. Comparative investigations with the DNA-DNA crosslinker mitomycin C (MMC) revealed a delayed removal of crosslinks and enhanced induction of micronuclei in both repair-deficient cell lines. FA cells were found to be particularly hypersensitive to micronucleus induction by MMC. In contrast to the results with formaldehyde, induction of micronuclei by MMC occurred at much lower concentrations than the effects in the Comet assay. Our results suggest that more than one repair pathway can be involved in the repair of crosslinks and that disturbed excision repair has more severe consequences with regard to the formation of chromosomal aberrations after formaldehyde treatment than has disturbed crosslink repair.
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PMID:Induction and repair of formaldehyde-induced DNA-protein crosslinks in repair-deficient human cell lines. 1064 May 35

We examined telomere maintenance in cells of 11 primary fibroblast cell lines with differing genetic defects that confer sensitivity to ionizing radiation. These included cell lines derived from patients with ataxia telangiectasia, Nijmegen breakage syndrome, Fanconi anemia, defective Artemis, DNA ligase I and DNA ligase IV, an immunodeficient patient with a defect in DNA double-strand break repair, and a patient diagnosed with xeroderma pigmentosum who, in addition, showed severe clinical sensitivity to ionizing radiation. Our results, based on Southern blot, flow-FISH and Q-FISH (quantitative FISH) measurements, revealed an accelerated rate of telomere shortening in most cell lines derived from the above patients compared to cell lines from normal individuals or a cell line isolated from a heterozygotic parent of one radiosensitive patient. This accelerated telomere shortening was accompanied by the formation of chromatin bridges in anaphase cells, indicative of the early loss of telomere capping function and in some cases low levels of chromosome abnormalities in metaphase cells. We also analyzed telomere maintenance in mouse embryonic stem cells deficient in Brca1, another defect that confers radiosensitivity. Similarly, these cells showed accelerated telomere shortening and mild telomere dysfunction in comparison to control cells. Our results suggest that mechanisms that confer sensitivity to ionizing radiation may be linked with mechanisms that cause telomere dysfunction.
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PMID:Accelerated telomere shortening and telomere abnormalities in radiosensitive cell lines. 1596 65

DNA helicases are molecular motors that catalyse the unwinding of energetically unstable structures into single strands and have therefore an essential role in nearly all metabolism transactions. Defects in helicase function can result in human syndromes in which predisposition to cancer and genomic instability are common features. So far different helicase genes have been found associated in 8 such disorders. RecQ helicases are a family of conserved enzymes required for maintaining the genome integrity that function as suppressors of inappropriate recombination. Mutations in RecQ4, BLM and WRN give rise to various disorders: Bloom syndrome, Rothmund-Thomson syndrome, and Werner syndrome characterized by genomic instability and increased cancer susceptibility. The DNA helicase BRIP1/BACH1 is involved in double-strand break repair and is defective in Fanconi anemia complementation group J. Mutations in XPD and XPB genes can result in xeroderma pigmentosum, Cockayne syndrome and trichothiodystrophy, three genetic disorders with different clinical features but with association of transcription and NER defects. This review summarizes our current knowledge on the diverse biological functions of these helicases and the molecular basis of the associated diseases.
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PMID:[DNA helicases and human diseases]. 1715 31

A comparative evaluation is reported of pro-oxidant states in 82 patients with ataxia telangectasia (AT), Bloom syndrome (BS), Down syndrome (DS), Fanconi anemia (FA), Werner syndrome (WS), and xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) vs 98 control donors. These disorders display cancer proneness, and/or early aging, and/or other clinical features. The measured analytes were: (a) leukocyte and urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), (b) blood glutathione (GSSG and GSH), (c) plasma glyoxal (Glx) and methylglyoxal (MGlx), and (d) some plasma antioxidants [uric acid (UA) and ascorbic acid (AA)]. Leukocyte 8-OHdG levels ranked as follows: WS>BS approximately FA approximately XP>DS approximately AT approximately controls. Urinary 8-OHdG levels were significantly increased in a total of 22 patients with BS, FA, or XP vs 47 controls. The GSSG:GSH ratio was significantly increased in patients with WS and in young (< or =15 years) patients with DS or with FA and decreased in older patients with DS or FA and in AT, BS, and XP patients. The plasma levels of Glx and/or MGlx were significantly increased in patients with WS, FA, and DS. The UA and AA levels were significantly increased in WS and DS patients, but not in AT, FA, BS, nor XP patients. Rationale for chemoprevention trials is discussed.
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PMID:Different patterns of in vivo pro-oxidant states in a set of cancer- or aging-related genetic diseases. 1805 16

Homozygous loss of activity at the breast cancerpredisposing genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 (FANCD1) confers increased susceptibility to DNA double strand breaks, but this genotype occurs only in the tumor itself, following loss of heterozygosity at one of these loci. Thus, if these genes play a role in tumor etiology as opposed to tumor progression, they must manifest a heterozygous phenotype at the cellular level. To investigate the potential consequences of somatic heterozygosity for a BRCA1 mutation demonstrably associated with breast carcinogenesis on background somatic mutational burden, we applied the two standard assays of in vivo human somatic mutation to blood samples from a manifesting carrier of the Q1200X mutation in BRCA1 whose tumor was uniquely ascertained through an MRI screening study. The patient had an allele-loss mutation frequency of 19.4 x 10(-6) at the autosomal GPA locus in erythrocytes and 17.1 x 10(-6) at the X-linked HPRT locus in lymphocytes. Both of these mutation frequencies are significantly higher than expected from age-matched disease-free controls (P < 0.05). Mutation at the HPRT locus was similarly elevated in lymphoblastoid cell lines established from three other BRCA1 mutation carriers with breast cancer. Our patient's GPA mutation frequency is below the level established for diagnosis of homozygous Fanconi anemia patients, but consistent with data from obligate heterozygotes. The increased HPRT mutation frequency is more reminiscent of data from patients with xeroderma pigmentosum, a disease characterized by UV sensitivity and deficiency in the nucleotide excision pathway of DNA repair. Therefore, this BRCA1-associated breast cancer patient manifests a unique phenotype of increased background mutagenesis that likely contributed to the development of her disease independent of loss of heterozygosity at the susceptibility locus.
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PMID:Elevated levels of somatic mutation in a manifesting BRCA1 mutation carrier. 1815 61


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