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Query: UMLS:C0019204 (hepatocellular carcinoma)
 71,386 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The phenomenon of acute phase (AP) response can be reproduced in vitro using cultured cells of hepatic origin by stimulation with the crude supernatant of activated monocytes (MoCM). Several monocyte-derived factors have been identified which might be responsible, alone or in combination, for the induction of AP response, but recently the attention has been focused on interleukin 6 (IL-6). We have previously shown that part of the AP response consists of the increase in the rate of transcription of the AP genes. Here we have treated the human hepatoma cell line Hep 3B with either crude MoCM or recombinant IL-6 and compared the effect of the two stimulants on the expression of both endogenous AP genes and recombinant plasmids introduced into the cells by transfection. The transfected plasmids contained the 5'-flanking region of AP genes fused to the coding region of the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene. We observe that the induction of mRNA accumulation of the endogenous genes corresponds to the transcriptional activation of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase fusions. This is good evidence that the effect of IL-6 is totally or partially exerted at the level of transcription and that short segments of the 5'-flanking sequences of the inducible genes contain IL-6-responsive elements. Our results show that IL-6 is fully effective only on some of all the genes induced or repressed by MoCM, whereas others are only partially affected or totally nonresponsive.
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PMID:Recombinant interleukin 6 regulates the transcriptional activation of a set of human acute phase genes. 245 87

Fetal rat hepatocytes and mouse hepatoma cells actively expressing alpha 1-fetoprotein (AFP) and albumin genes were fused with the use of Sendai virus, and the expression of normal (rat) and tumor (mouse) AFP and albumin genes was analyzed in hybrid clones. The tumor AFP gene and both albumin genes were active in 103 hybrids. Expression of the normal fetal rat AFP gene, however, was maintained in only 3 hybrids, and it was frequently lost or decreased selectively upon subcloning. Furthermore, the normal AFP gene, when expressed, was more reactive than the tumor AFP gene to repression by a glucocorticosteroid hormone. These results suggest constitutive differences in the manner an oncofetal gene is activated and regulated in normal and neoplastic states. AFP gene expression in normal hepatocytes appears to be subordinated to a differentiation program degenerated and bypassed in hepatoma cells.
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PMID:Differential regulation of normal and tumor alpha 1-fetoprotein genes in fetal hepatocyte x hepatoma hybrids. 246 Feb 23

The level of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) mRNA in HuH-7 human hepatoma cells is elevated by the addition of dexamethasone to the culture medium. To locate the DNA region involved in hormonal regulation of the AFP gene, we constructed recombinant plasmids in which various lengths of the 5'-flanking sequence of the human AFP gene were fused to the CAT gene. Various cell lines were transfected with the recombinant plasmids, incubated with or without 3 x 10(-6) M dexamethasone, and then assayed for chloramphenicol acetyltransferase expression. In hepatoma cells that produce AFP, the dexamethasone treatment resulted in the stimulated chloramphenicol acetyltransferase expression when the transfected plasmids contained 169 base pairs (bp) or longer AFP 5'-flanking sequence. No dexamethasone effect was observed when the 5'-flanking sequence was less than 98 bp long. The dexamethasone stimulation was effectively suppressed by the glucocorticoid antagonist RU486, indicating that this effect is mediated by glucocorticoid receptors. The 71-bp region between positions -169 and -98 contains a nucleotide stretch which is similar to the consensus sequence of the glucocorticoid responsive element (GRE). Partial alterations of this sequence resulted in decreased dexamethasone response. The GRE-containing region stimulated heterologous (SV40) promoter activity in response to dexamethasone treatment in an orientation- and position-independent manner. The GRE and the upstream AFP enhancer function independently from each other.
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PMID:Transcriptional regulation of alpha-fetoprotein expression by dexamethasone in human hepatoma cells. 246 58

We have examined the regulation of a rat T-kininogen gene by glucocorticoid and estrogen. Expression of the endogenous gene in a rat hepatoma cell line is increased 5-fold and 2-fold in response to dexamethasone and 17 beta-estradiol-3-benzoate, respectively. Various deletion constructs of the 5' region of an isolated T-kininogen gene were fused to a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene and introduced into the hepatoma cells by electroporation. Analysis of the CAT activity in cell extracts after treatment with glucocorticoid or estrogen revealed that a fragment from -167 to +52 is sufficient to confer full induction. An additional deletion in this region was unresponsive, while a larger fragment (-612 to -100) linked to a heterologous promoter did result in regulated expression. These results suggested that the sequence responsible for the hormonal response was located at -167 to -100 from the transcription start site. This 67 bp region contains a consensus for the core sequence of the glucocorticoid responsive element (GRE) and the estrogen responsive element (ERE). Interestingly these elements are located within 7 bp of each other and both sequences overlap a 16 bp palindrome that may be important in hormone receptor-DNA recognition.
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PMID:Glucocorticoid and estrogen regulation of a rat T-kininogen gene. 254 13

Regulation of albumin gene expression is believed to be mediated by multiple nuclear factors that interact with cis-acting DNA sequences within the first 160 base pairs (bp) of the promoter. The minimal promoter sequence required to generate tissue-specific expression has not been clearly defined. We have constructed a series of transient expression vectors containing progressive deletions of the mouse albumin gene 5'-flanking sequence fused to the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene and include the Moloney murine leukemia viral (Mo-MuLV) enhancer. Promoter activity was determined in mouse hepatoma and fibroblast cell lines by chloramphenicol acetyltransferase and S1 nuclease analyses. All constructions were compared with -623 Albcat-Mo-MuLV which contains all the sequence homology between the rat and mouse promoters. Low levels of expression were observed with -60 Albcat-Mo-MuLV (10%) in hepatoma but not fibroblast cells. Addition of promoter sequence to -208 bp progressively increased activity to 190% in the hepatoma cells, while -308 and -1612 Albcat-Mo-MuLV had activity similar to the -623 Albcat-Mo-MuLV level, and -3000 Albcat-Mo-MuLV showed a 2-fold reduction in transcriptional activity. The inclusion of promoter sequences upstream of -60 generated low levels of expression in the fibroblasts. We also show that factors from mouse liver nuclear extracts protect at least five regions of the albumin promoter upstream of -160. Our results indicate that tissue specificity is established within the proximal promoter region and that additional cis-acting elements that may have a functional role in the efficiency of albumin gene expression are located upstream of -160 bp.
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PMID:Cell-specific expression of mouse albumin promoter. Evidence for cell-specific DNA elements within the proximal promoter region and cis-acting DNA elements upstream of -160. 272 22

The synthesis of the glutathione S-transferase Ya subunit is induced in the mammalian liver by chemicals such as phenobarbital and 3-methylcholanthrene. To study the mechanism of this induction, the 5'-flanking region of a mouse glutathione S-transferase Ya subunit gene was fused to the structural gene for chloramphenicol acetyltransferase. The fusion gene was introduced into hepatoma cells for the assay of the expressed acetyltransferase activity. At least two cis-regulatory elements were identified in the 5'-flanking region of the Ya gene: one, responsible for the basal level of expression, is present in the sequence up to -0.2 kb; another, responsible for the inducible expression by aromatic compounds such as beta-naphthoflavone and 3-methylcholanthrene, is located in the sequence from -0.2 kb to -1.6 kb. The inducible element was functional only in cells with normal aromatic compound receptors, and it retained responsiveness to beta-naphthoflavone when transfected into homologous (mouse) or heterologous (rat, human) hepatoma cells. A 150-bp region upstream from the transcription initiation site of the mouse Ya gene was investigated for cis-acting transcriptional elements that are recognized by specific DNA-binding proteins. We show by DNase I foot-printing assays using extracts from liver nuclei that the Ya gene promoter contains, in addition to the TATA and CCAAT boxes, a more distal element that binds a protein which is probably related to the family of nuclear factor 1 (NF1).
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PMID:Regulatory elements controlling the basal and drug-inducible expression of glutathione S-transferase Ya subunit gene. 277 26

The 5'-flanking sequence of the human alpha 1-antitrypsin (AAT) gene contains multiple cis-regulatory elements, including a distal enhancer and proximal sequences essential for its transcription in cultured hepatoma cells. To understand better the promoter specificity of the AAT gene in vivo, transgenic mice harboring the AAT-SV40 hybrid promoter or the natural AAT promoter fused to a reporter gene (CAT) were generated. Examination of CAT activity in various tissues indicated that the CAT gene was expressed primarily in the liver and also, to a lesser extent, in tissues known to express the AAT gene. In addition, the cis-acting elements of the human AAT gene were utilized to drive the transcription of the SV40 T antigen gene in transgenic mice. Hepatocellular malignancy was found in all founder animals examined, while sporadic occurrence of malignancy was also observed in stomach, pancreas, and kidney. These results verify that the 5'-flanking region of the human AAT gene contains cis-regulatory elements sufficient to confer tissue specificity in vivo.
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PMID:Tissue-specific regulation of human alpha 1-antitrypsin gene expression in transgenic mice. 278 78

Transcription of the human haptoglobin (Hp) gene is induced by interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the human hepatoma cell line Hep3B. Cis-acting elements responsible for this response are localized within the first 186 bp of the 5'-flanking region. Site-specific mutants of the Hp promoter fused to the chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) gene were analysed by transient transfection into uninduced and IL-6-treated Hep3B cells. We identified three regions, A, B and C, defined by mutation, which are important for the IL-6 response. Band shift experiments using nuclear extracts from untreated or IL-6-treated cells revealed the presence of IL-6-inducible DNA binding activities when DNA fragments containing the A or the C sequences were used. Competition experiments showed that both sequences bind to the same nuclear factors. Polymers of oligonucleotides containing either the A or the C regions confer IL-6 responsiveness to a truncated SV40 promoter. The B region forms several complexes with specific DNA-binding proteins different from those which bind to the A and C region. The B region complexes are identical in nuclear extracts from IL-6-treated and untreated cells. While important for IL-6 induction in the context of the haptoglobin promoter, the B site does not confer IL-6 inducibility to the SV40 promoter. Our results indicate that the IL-6 response of the haptoglobin promoter is dependent on the presence of multiple, partly redundant, cis-acting elements.
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PMID:The human haptoglobin gene promoter: interleukin-6-responsive elements interact with a DNA-binding protein induced by interleukin-6. 278 45

Haptoglobin is a plasma protein scarcely present in fetal but abundant in adult serum, where it is present at a concentration of approximately 150 mg/100 ml. In this paper we show by run-on experiments that the haptoglobin (Hp) gene is actively transcribed in adult but not in fetal liver nuclei. Studies with established cell lines indicate that the Hp gene is expressed in the hepatoma cells HepG2 but not in the hepatoma cell line Hep3B nor in HeLa cells. Plasmids carrying various segments of the 5' flanking region of the Hp gene fused to the chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) gene direct CAT transcription when introduced into HepG2 but are inactive in Hep3B and in HeLa cells, thus behaving like the resident chromosomal Hp gene. Deletion analysis defines a region, upstream to the transcription initiation site, essential for cell-specific expression. The Hp gene is induced in Hep3B cells by treatment with supernatant from LPS-stimulated monocytes (SMS), in a manner mimicking the acute phase reaction. We characterize the DNA segment necessary and sufficient for cell-specific expression of the Hp-CAT constructions in HepG2 and show that the same segment is also sufficient for acute phase induction in Hep3B.
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PMID:The human haptoglobin gene: transcriptional regulation during development and acute phase induction. 282 Jul 12

The multihormonal regulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) was studied using chimeric genes composed of various regions of the PEPCK gene promoter region fused to the coding sequence of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene. These constructions, transfected into H4IIE hepatoma cells, are regulated like the endogenous PEPCK gene: dexamethasone and cAMP both stimulate PEPCK-CAT gene expression and their effects are additive; insulin inhibits the individual or combined effects of these stimulatory agents; and insulin inhibits dexamethasone-stimulated PEPCK-CAT fusion gene expression in a concentration-dependent fashion that is half-maximal at 10(-11) M. The induction by dexamethasone and the inhibition by insulin is specific for the DNA sequences that flank the 5' end of the PEPCK gene because similar effects were not observed for a plasmid in which the promoter and enhancer sequences of simian virus 40 (SV40) are fused to CAT. These results imply that the DNA adjacent to the transcription start site of the PEPCK gene contains the cis-acting hormone response elements responsible for the multihormonal regulation of this gene, including the insulin response.
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PMID:Multihormonal regulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase fusion genes. Insulin's effects oppose those of cAMP and dexamethasone. 282 6


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