Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019204 (hepatocellular carcinoma)
 71,386 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

By the use of recombinant DNA technology and microinjection in cultured cells, the molecular genetic elements involved in the evolution of a retrovirus with the multipotential to infect, transform and replicate in host cell, have been critically examined in this investigation. Recently we have identified and purified the integrated and proviral DNA sequences specific for two rat endogenous helper leukemia viruses, WR- RaLV , originated from a chemically induced wild rat fibrosarcoma, and RHHV , isolated from a chemically induced rat hepatoma, HTC-H1 (1). By using a multidisciplinary approach combining restriction endonuclease analysis, reverse phase V-column chromatography, agarose gel electrophoresis, Southern blot transfer and filter nucleic acid hybridization, we were able to demonstrate that the rat helper leukemia viral DNA sequence was approximately 8.4-8.8 kb. The 8.8 kb RHHV DNA was molecularly cloned via the EK-1 certified vector pBR 322 plasmid into E. coli RRI cells. A successful recombinant clone, 8/32, that carried one entire RHHV 8.8 kb DNA sequence was mapped by restriction endonuclease analyses. Restricted DNA fragments of various sizes throughout the complete RHHV genome were isolated and purified for intranuclear microinjection into normal rat kidney cells. Release of type C infectious helper virus in these microinjected cells was investigated by superinfection on K-NRK, Kirsten sarcoma transformed non-producer cells. Recombination of the helper viral DNA sequence, en toto or of subgenomic sizes, carried in microinjected cells, with the sarcomagenic DNA sequence, carried in K-NRK cells, was also studied by genome-rescue and cell-transformation experiments. Our observations led to the conclusion that all critical genetic elements including the 5' LTR helper DNA sequence, gag, pol, and env genes, encoded for the biological activity of the type C helper virus resided within the 6.0 kb proximal to the 5' terminus of the endogenous rat type C helper virus DNA. They proved vitally essential for the recombination with the Src sequence during the evolution of an infectious, transforming and replication-competent retrovirus.
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PMID:Cloning of the rat endogenous helper leukemia virus DNA sequence and expression of the helper activity encoded by the cloned DNA sequence in normal rat kidney cells by microinjection. 632 7

Using the fluorescence-activated cell sorter, we have isolated a population of variant mouse hepatoma cells which have a markedly increased ability to metabolize benzo(a)pyrene. Compared with wild-type (Hepa 1c1c7) cells, the variant cells exhibit increased aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity and increased responsiveness of the aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase induction mechanism to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). Cell fusion experiments indicate that the variant phenotype is co-dominant with respect to wild-type. Filter hybridization analyses indicate that increased accumulation of cytochrome P1-450-specific mRNA accounts for the overproduction of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity. Measurements of RNA synthesis in isolated nuclei reveal that the variants exhibit an increased rate of transcription of the cytochrome P1-450 gene in response to TCDD. The variant cells contain no detectable alteration in their TCDD receptors, nor is the cytochrome P1-450 gene amplified in the variants. Filter hybridization analyses of restriction endonuclease-digested DNA indicate that the variant cytochrome P1-450 gene is relatively undermethylated, compared with the wild-type gene. We conclude that the variant cells contain an altered cis-acting genomic element(s) which regulates the expression of the cytochrome P1-450 gene.
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PMID:Biochemical and genetic analysis of variant mouse hepatoma cells which overtranscribe the cytochrome P1-450 gene in response to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. 649 Jun 16

Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites are mutagenic and block DNA synthesis in vitro. Repair of AP sites is initiated by AP endonucleases that cleave just 5' to the damage. We linked a 4.1-kilobase pair HindIII DNA fragment from the region upstream of the human AP endonuclease gene (APE) to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene. Deletions generated constructs containing 1.9 kilobase pairs to 50 base pairs (bp) of the APE upstream region. Transient transfection studies in HeLa cells established that the basal APE promoter is contained within a 500-bp fragment. The major transcriptional start site in HeLa, hepatoma (HepG2), and myeloid leukemic (K562) cells was mapped to a cluster of sites approximately 130 bp downstream of a putative "CCAAT box," approximately 130 bp 5' of the first splice junction in APE. Deletion of 5' sequences to within 10 bp of the CCAAT box reduced the CAT activity by only about half, and removal of the CCAAT box region left a residual promotor activity approximately 9%. Deletion to 31 bp upstream of the transcriptional start site abolished APE promoter activity. DNA sequence analysis revealed potential transcription factor recognition sites in the APE promoter. Gel mobility-shift assays showed that both human upstream factor and Sp1 can bind their respective sites in the APE promoter. However, DNase I footprinting using HeLa nuclear extract showed that the binding of Sp1 and upstream factor is blocked by the binding of other proteins to the nearby CCAAT box region.
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PMID:Characterization of the promoter region of the human apurinic endonuclease gene (APE). 753 97

The oligonucleosomal pattern of DNA fragmentation is the best-characterized biochemical marker of apoptosis and believed to be generated by a, as yet unidentified, Ca2+, Mg(2+)-dependent endonuclease. All apoptotic cells fragment their genome. However, not every cell type undergoing apoptosis is capable of internucleosomal DNA cleavage. We have analyzed the endonuclease activities and patterns of DNA fragmentation in four established cell lines undergoing apoptosis following serum deprivation, i.e., rat 5123tc hepatoma and PC12 pheochromocytoma, as well as human MCF7 breast and DU145 prostatic carcinoma cells. Whereas apoptotic 5123tc and PC12 cells degraded their DNA into oligonucleosomes, the MCF7 and DU145 cells generated only > 50 kilobase pairs (kbp) DNA fragments. However, when isolated nuclei from all four cell lines were incubated with both Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions, their DNA was cleaved into internucleosomal fragments. Following washing with a low ionic strength buffer, the nuclei could only degrade DNA to > 50-kbp fragments. DNA ladders were produced again in these washed nuclei after reconstitution with the nuclear wash, which contained an endonucleolytic activity of approximately 97 kilodaltons. These experiments showed that cells maintain separate pools of endonucleolytic activities responsible for the high and low molecular mass DNA fragmentation, and depending on the cell type, one or both enzymatic pools become activated during apoptosis.
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PMID:Separate pools of endonuclease activity are responsible for internucleosomal and high molecular mass DNA fragmentation during apoptosis. 765 36

We report here that transforming growth factor-beta 1 induces cell death in the Morris hepatoma cell line McA-RH7777. We assessed the type of cell death induced by transforming growth factor-beta 1 in this hepatoma cell line on the basis of morphological and biochemical characteristics. Dying cells, which detached from the cell monolayer, showed morphological characteristics of apoptosis (programmed cell death) such as chromatin condensation, nuclear disintegration and cellular fragmentation into clusters of eosinophilic globules. DNA isolated from these cells showed a ladder pattern consisting of multimers of 180 to 190 bp, indicating extensive DNA cleavage into oligonucleosomal units by an endogenous endonuclease. Treatment of the dead cells with detergents and chaotropic agents resulted in formation of insoluble shells, so-called apoptotic bodies, suggesting extensive cross-linking of cell proteins by tissue transglutaminase. Furthermore, increased amounts of cytosolic tissue transglutaminase, which has been recognized as a possible marker of apoptosis, and extensive cross-linking of cytokeratin polypeptides was demonstrated in TGF-beta 1-treated hepatoma cells on immunoblot analysis. These results provide strong evidence that the cell death induced by TGF-beta 1 in McA-RH7777 hepatoma cells is mainly apoptotic. It also suggests that a specific induction of the cytosolic tissue transglutaminase may be involved in the TGF-beta 1-induced pathways of apoptotic cell death in McA-RH7777 hepatoma cells.
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PMID:Induction of apoptosis by transforming growth factor-beta 1 in the rat hepatoma cell line McA-RH7777: a possible association with tissue transglutaminase expression. 769 7

Apoptotic cell death plays a major role in the regulation of cell growth and this process may be activated by different agents through various pathways. The present study aimed to elucidated the mechanism of apoptosis caused by transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) in human hepatoma cells. Several biological parameters which were reported to be crucial in the induction of programmed cell death in other experimental systems were measured. We found that TGF-beta 1-induced cell death is independent of cytosolic calcium and protein kinase C. Insulin and tumor promotor can rescue hepatoma cells from apoptosis, but the effect is time-dependent. Our results highlight that different apoptotic signal transduction pathways exist in different cell types. Apoptosis induced by TGF-beta 1 provides a good model for the understanding of cell death and the development of new anti-cancer drugs. Apoptotic cell death (apoptosis or programmed cell death) in normal tissue is a biological phenomenon that maintains hemostasis of systems of the body under physiological conditions. The features of apoptosis include condensation of chromatin, blebbing of the cell surface, transient increase in buoyant density and fragmentation of chromatin by a specific endonuclease.
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PMID:Characterization of apoptosis induced by transforming growth factor beta 1 in human hepatoma cells. 816 42

Cell death may occur by either of two mechanisms: necrosis or apoptosis (programmed cell death). In this paper, we demonstrate extensive chromatin cleavage into oligonucleosome-length fragments (DNA ladder) in transplanted Morris hepatoma 7777 tissue, which is suggestive of the stimulation of an endogenous endonuclease activity previously found to be involved in the process of apoptosis. The existence of many apoptotic cells, which are morphologically characterized by condensed cytoplasm and basophilic nuclear fragments, were also seen in this tissue. In vivo and in vitro experiments were designed to further differentiate the morphological and biochemical features of necrosis and apoptosis in liver and hepatoma cells. Liver tissue undergoing ischemic necrosis showed a distinct DNA ladder pattern without demonstrating the morphology of apoptosis, indicating that chromatin cleavage into oligonucleosomal-length fragments is not confined to apoptotic cell death, at least in liver cells. In in vitro-cultured McA-RH7777 cells, however, DNA ladder pattern was detected only in cells showing characteristic morphology of apoptosis. From these two criteria (i.e., characteristic morphology and DNA ladder), it was strongly suggested that the apoptotic process is highly activated in the transplanted 7777 tissue. Based on the results obtained from in vitro experiments, it was suggested that tumor apoptosis may represent a residual attempt at autoregulation within the expanding tumor population and/or may result from mild cellular injuries such as hypoxia, nutrient deficiency, or other unknown noxious factor(s). We also showed evidence that apoptosis is inducible in hepatoma cells in vitro by a wide range of mild injuries or stimuli.
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PMID:Demonstration of extensive chromatin cleavage in transplanted Morris hepatoma 7777 tissue: apoptosis or necrosis? 838 10

The authors quantified hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in serum by the competitive RT-PCR assay to correlate the replicative level of HCV with [1] various stages of the carrier states or [2] a sustained response to interferon therapy. The competitive RT-PCR assay employed is based on co-amplification of the target RNA with known amounts of synthetic mutated RNA having a novel restriction endonuclease (EcoRI) site. The titer of circulating HCV RNA defined as log10 (copy numbers/ml serum) were lower in asymptomatic blood donors (5.4 +/- 2.0) and in patients with chronic persistent hepatitis (7.3 +/- 1.1) compared with those having chronic active hepatitis (7.9 +/- 0.8), liver cirrhosis (7.8 +/- 0.7) and hepatocellular carcinoma (7.9 +/- 0.7). The initial titer of circulating HCV RNA of long-term responders before interferon therapy (7.1 +/- 1.2) was significantly lower than that of short-term responders (8.3 +/- 0.5) and non-responders (8.1 +/- 0.4). Multivariate multiple logistic regression showed that the titer of HCV RNA before therapy was the strongest independent predictor of a sustained response to interferon therapy. These results showed that the replicative level of hepatitis C virus is higher in advanced liver disease and that the replicative state of HCV is the most important factor influencing sustained response to interferon treatment.
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PMID:Quantitative analysis of hepatitis C virus RNA: relationship between the replicative level and the various stages of the carrier states or the response to interferon therapy. 839 41

A 2-h exposure of JB1 rat hepatoma cells in late log phase of growth to 50 microM cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) (cisplatin) resulted in the asynchronous detachment of cells from the monolayer over 4 days. Detached but not monolayer cells exhibited condensed chromatin and DNA fragmentation, which is indicative of endonuclease activation, the hallmarks of apoptosis in epithelial cells. The number of cisplatin-treated cells identified as apoptotic at any one time was never > 1% of the total cell number present on addition of drug. Two days after drug addition there was a decrease from 85% to 29% cells in G1 phase of the cell cycle, cells in S phase increased from 9% to 18%, and cells in G2/M phase increased from 6% to 51% with respect to untreated cells. Previous studies by Eastman and colleagues demonstrated that cisplatin-induced apoptosis of Chinese hamster ovary cells occurred in the G2 phase of the cell cycle [A. Eastman, Cancer Cells (Cold Spring Harbor), 2: 275-280, 1990]. Continuous exposure of JB1 cells to cycloheximide (1 microM) during and after exposure to cisplatin prevented both drug-induced changes in cell cycle distribution and the engagement of apoptosis. Freshly isolated immature rat thymocytes are known to be exquisitely sensitive to the induction of apoptosis by multiple stimuli including dexamethasone, etoposide, and irradiation. However, no significant increase in the amount of apoptosis above control levels was observed up to 36 h after a 2-h exposure to 50 microM cisplatin. JB1 cells have a doubling time of 24 h, whereas > 90% of immature rat thymocytes are noncycling. The data presented here provide indirect evidence that initiation of cisplatin-induced apoptosis may need to be coupled to a cell cycle-mediated event.
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PMID:Effects of cisplatin on the induction of apoptosis in proliferating hepatoma cells and nonproliferating immature thymocytes. 848 16

In view of the current speculation regarding the possible role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in apoptosis, both under physiological conditions and in response to chemicals that promote their intracellular formation, the present investigation was undertaken to examine whether DNA fragmentation during oxidative stress results from endonuclease activity (apoptosis) or from direct attack by ROS. We report that the incubation of HepG2 cells (a human-derived hepatoma cell line) with the copper(II) complex of 1,10-phenanthroline, CuII(OP)2, results in internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, which is widely recognized as being a hallmark of apoptosis. DNA fragmentation did not occur at low temperature, but activity was restored by the addition of ascorbic acid. It is proposed that DNA fragmentation results from the direct attack of hydroxyl radicals upon DNA. Hydroxyl radicals are produced from oxygen by the redox-cycling of CuII(OP)2, which is supported by metabolic processes at normal temperature. At low temperature ascorbic acid provides an artificial cellular reducing environment, thereby restoring hydroxyl radical formation. These findings were confirmed by the detection of internucleosomal DNA fragmentation following the exposure of isolated chromatin to a biomimetic CuII(OP)2 redox-cycling system. We conclude that DNA laddering, the widely employed hallmark of apoptosis, is not unique to endonuclease activity and may also result from direct attack upon DNA by the hydroxyl radical.
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PMID:Research communication copper-1,10-phenanthroline induces internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in HepG2 cells, resulting from direct oxidation by the hydroxyl radical. 869 54


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