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)

Transcriptional slippage was previously found in Escherichia coli during RNA elongation at runs of 10 or more As or Ts, resulting in the addition of untemplated A or U residues. To evaluate the incidence of transcriptional slippage in vivo, we employed a yeast functional assay, and analyzed the frequency and spectrum of mutations in mRNA of the tumor suppressor p53 in rat tissues. In this assay, yeast are transfected with p53 PCR products and a gapped p53 expression vector, which allow homologous recombination in vivo and yield a percentage of red colonies which reflects the proportion of mutant PCR products. Insertion mutations of single base of adenine (A) at stretches of 6 As were frequently detected in the liver samples of LEC rats which develop spontaneous hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. For excluding the possibility of artifacts involvement, p53 cDNA was amplified by PCR from plasmids containing wild-type p53 and tested with the yeast functional assay, which resulted in no A insertion after sequencing 23 mutant clones. Furthermore, in vitro transcript of wild-type p53 was synthesized by SP6 RNA polymerase, and then, reverse-transcribed, PCR-amplified, and tested with the yeast functional assay. The overall rate of A insertion was much lower than that in the LEC rat liver. Since A insertions were found predominantly at nucleotides 293-298 in exon 4, an exon 4-specific yeast functional assay was developed. A insertion was detected in 4.8% of the PCR product of mRNA but 0-0.1% from genomic DNA, which suggested that such A insertion was caused by transcriptional slippage in vivo. The A insertion rate abruptly increased in acute hepatitis stage in the LEC rat liver, while the rate slowly increased by aging in control WKAH rat liver. It was suggested that cell damage and aging were primarily responsible for the increased rate of transcriptional slippage.
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PMID:[Analysis of transcript mutations due to transcriptional slippage in rat p53 tumor suppressor gene with the use of yeast functional assay]. 1042 62

GDP-L-Fuc:N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminide alpha1-6-fucosyltransferase (alpha1-6FucT) catalyzes the transfer of fucose from GDP-Fuc to N-linked type complex glycoproteins. This enzyme was purified from a human fibroblast cell line, porcine brain, a human gastric cancer cell line and human blood platelets. cDNA cloning of porcine and human alpha1-6FucT was performed from a porcine brain and gastric cancer cell cDNA libraries, respectively. Their homology is 92.2% at the nucleotide level and 95.7% at the amino acid level. No putative N-glycosylation sites were found in the predicted amino acid sequence. No homology to other fucosyltransferases such as alpha1-2FucT, alpha1-3FucT and alpha1-4FucT was found except for a region consisting of nine amino acids. The alpha1-6FucT gene is located at chromosome 14q24.3, which is also a different location from other fucosyltransferases reported to date. The alpha1-6FucT gene is the oldest gene family in the phylogenic trees among the nine cloned fucosyltransferase genes. alpha1-6FucT is widely expressed in various rat tissues and the expression of alpha1-6FucT in the liver is enhanced during hepatocarcinogenesis of LEC rats which develop hereditary hepatitis and hepatomas. In cases of human liver diseases, alpha1-6FucT is expressed in both hepatoma tissues and their surrounding tissues with chronic liver disease, but not in the case of normal liver. Serum alpha1-6-fucosylated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) has been employed for an early diagnosis of patients with hepatoma. The mechanisms by which alpha1-6 fucosylation of AFP occurs in the hepatoma is not due to the up-regulation of alpha1-6FucT alone. Interestingly, when the alpha1-6FucT gene is transfected into Hep3B, a human hepatoma cell line, tumor formation in the liver of nude mice after splenic injection is dramatically suppressed. In this review, we focus on alpha1-6FucT and summarize its properties, gene expression and biological significance.
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PMID:The alpha1-6-fucosyltransferase gene and its biological significance. 1058 Jan 26

By homology search of expressed sequence tags (EST) in GenBank a novel member of the CC chemokine family was identified. The full-length sequence of this liver-specific CC chemokine (LCC-1) predicted a mature protein of 97 amino acids with 31-48% identity to other CC chemokines. There was a characteristic amino acid C-term extension when aligned with other chemokines. Northern blot analysis from a panel of human tissues revealed that LCC-1 mRNA expression is restricted to adult and fetal liver. Different polyadenylation results in two mRNA species of 1.5 kb and 0.5 kb in size. LCC-1 is constitutively expressed in human HepG2 hepatoma cells and is induced by hypoxic exposure. The promoter region of the LCC-1 gene contains potential HIF-1 binding sites. The EST for LCC-1 has been previously mapped to the CC chemokine cluster on human chromosome 17q11.2. The organization of the LCC-1 gene (scya16) into three exons interrupted by two introns is identical to that found for other members of the CC chemokine family.
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PMID:Cloning, characterization and genomic organization of LCC-1 (scya16), a novel human CC chemokine expressed in liver. 1067 Dec 94

An inbred rat strain, LEC (long evans cinnamon) has been used as a model of human Wilson's disease. This animal suffers from a severe type of hepatitis, the clinical manifestations of which are similar to human fulminant hepatitis for 4-5 months which is caused by accumulation of copper in the liver. The surviving rats develop chronic hepatitis, followed by the development of spontaneous hepatoma. In contrast to studies with hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), the studies have great advantages in that the animals have identical genetic background, can be raised under a fixed condition, and the development of HCC is reproducible. We took two HCC samples and analysed their genomic DNA using RLGS (restriction landmark genomic scanning), which involves two-dimensional electrophoresis of genomic DNA allowing the survey of some 1,000 NotI sites throughout the genome. Using this technique, we discovered landmark spots that were either decreased or increased in intensity in HCC and compared them with the RLGS profile obtained from the DNA of control normal LEC rat liver. Approximately 1,300 spots were compared, and the intensity of two spots was found to be decreased about half and one was increased 1.3-1.7 folds. Although the mechanism of these changes and the properties of the changed DNA are yet to be studied, recurrent genomic changes in the LEC rat HCC could prove to be a good model system for elucidating the essential genetic events in association with hepatocarcinogenesis.
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PMID:Genomic DNA analyses of spontaneous hepatocellular carcinomas in LEC rat liver using a new technique. 1067 78

LEC rats spontaneously develop hepatocellular carcinoma with cholangiofibrosis after chronic hepatitis, but the mechanism of development of the hepatic injury is not clear. To investigate the role of hepatic stellate cells in induction or suppression of hepatic fibrosis, we morphologically examined the liver of LEC rats. Accumulation of copper was analyzed by the Danscher-Timm's sulfide-silver method. Histopathological changes were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin staining, and by Masson's trichrome method. Activated stellate cells were identified by immunostaining method for alpha-smooth muscle actin. Cytological alterations of the stellate cells were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. To evaluate the lipid content in the stellate cells, we analyzed the area of lipid droplets of the cells by morphometric analysis. Also for evaluation of the changes in the number of stellate cells, the numbers of nucleated stellate cells and parenchymal cells were counted and statistically analyzed. Hepatic parenchymal cells showed excessive accumulation of copper at 5 weeks of age. Submassive necrosis was observed at 19 weeks of age. The liver of LEC rats 1.5 years of age showed cholangiofibrosis and subcellular injury of hepatic parenchymal cells. However, no diffuse hepatic fibrosis was observed in the liver, and hepatic stellate cells around the regions of cholangiofibrosis were negative for alpha-smooth muscle actin. The area of lipid droplets of a stellate cell in the liver of LEC rats was 1.6 to 1.8 times as large as that of normal Wistar rats. The hepatic stellate cells did not participate in the accumulation of collagen fibers around themselves when the cells contained a large amount of vitamin A-lipid droplets, even though the development of hepatic lesions was in progress. Our present data are consistent with our previous hypothesis that there is an antagonistic relationship between the storage of vitamin A and the production of collagen in stellate cells.
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PMID:Storage of lipid droplets in and production of extracellular matrix by hepatic stellate cells (vitamin A-storing cells) in Long-Evans cinnamon-like colored (LEC) rats. 1073 52

Mammalian cell cycle progression is regulated by the combined action of cyclins/cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) and CDK inhibitors. Abnormal expression as well as interaction of these proteins may result in malignant transformation of cells. To further address the role of these cell cycle proteins in hepatocellular carcinomas, we analyzed the expression of cyclin E and CDK2. A panel of livers with human hepatocellular carcinoma, liver cirrhosis, and chronic hepatitis were used as a human experimental system. The inbred LEC (Long-Evans with a cinnamon-like coat color) rats were used as an animal experimental HCC model. Immunohistochemical staining of serial paraffin sections was performed using antibodies to cyclin E and CDK2. The results showed that cyclin E and CDK2 were concurrently overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinomas both in human and rat livers. Western blot analysis and CDK2 kinase assay demonstrated expression levels of cyclin E and CDK2 and CDK2 kinase activity, respectively, and both were shown to increase along with the development of hepatocellular carcinomas. Analysis of the correlation between expression of cyclin E and CDK2 and clinicopathological parameters revealed a significant correlation between expression of cyclin E and tumor grade (P=0.013), and PCNA index (P=0.006) as well as CDK2 expression (P=0.015). Overexpression of CDK2 tended to be associated with poorly differentiated HCCs. The results suggest that overexpression of cyclin E and CDK2 plays an important role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.
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PMID:Overexpression of cyclin E and cyclin-dependent kinase 2 is correlated with development of hepatocellular carcinomas. 1147 Jun 26

Liver-expressed chemokine (LEC)/CCL16 is a human CC chemokine selectively expressed in the liver. Here, we investigated its receptor usage by calcium mobilization and chemotactic assays using mouse L1.2 pre-B cell lines stably expressing a panel of 12 human chemokine receptors. At relatively high concentrations, LEC induced calcium mobilization and chemotaxis via CCR1 and CCR2. LEC also induced calcium mobilization, but marginal chemotaxis via CCR5. Consistently, LEC was found to bind to CCR1, CCR2 and CCR5 with relatively low affinities. The binding of LEC to CCR8 was much less significant. In spite of its binding to CCR5, LEC was unable to inhibit infection of an R5-type HIV-1 to activated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells even at high concentrations. In human liver sections, hepatocytes were strongly stained by anti-LEC antibody. HepG2, a human hepatocarcinoma cell line, was found to constitutively express LEC. LEC was also present in the plasma samples from healthy adult donors at relatively high concentrations (0.3--4 nM). Taken together, LEC is a new low-affinity functional ligand for CCR1, CCR2 and CCR5, and is constitutively expressed by liver parenchymal cells. The presence of LEC in normal plasma at relatively high concentrations may modulate inflammatory responses.
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PMID:Human CC chemokine liver-expressed chemokine/CCL16 is a functional ligand for CCR1, CCR2 and CCR5, and constitutively expressed by hepatocytes. 1147 Jul 72

LEC rats show spontaneous hepatitis and hepatocarcinoma development related to oxidative stress due to abnormal copper accumulation in the liver. We used DNA microarrays bearing 22,012 genes to investigate at the transcriptomic level the progression of the hepatitis in LEC rats in comparison to a control obtained from LEC rats treated with D-penicillamine, a copper chelating agent known to block hepatitis development. Multivariate statistical analyses as partial least square (PLS) regression between transcriptomic data and hepatitis markers in plasma led us to select 483 genes related to hepatitis development in these rats. After a complementary discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), 239 important genes for the separation between the different rat groups were selected. Gene ontology classification revealed an overrepresentation of genes involved in protein metabolism-related functions. More importantly, some genes implicated in proteasome pathway were upregulated. However, analysis of 20S proteasome activity showed that trypsin-like and peptidylglutamyl peptide hydrolase activities were diminished during hepatitis. Because oxidative stress is known to promote the inactivation of the proteasome complex, we propose the deregulation of the proteasome genes expression as a result of oxidative inactivation of proteasome activity during hepatitis in LEC rats. These results bring new insights in the hepatitis and the hepatocarcinogenesis development.
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PMID:Proteasome activity deregulation in LEC rat hepatitis: following the insights of transcriptomic analysis. 1809 9

Oligosaccharides serve as markers of the cell surface and have been used as certain kinds of tumor markers. In the present study, we established a simple method for isolating hepatic progenitor cells using a lectin, which recognizes a characteristic oligosaccharide structure. Rat liver epithelial (RLE) cells, which have been established as a hepatic stem-like cell, were used to identify characteristic oligosaccharide structures on hepatic stem cells. As a result from lectin micro array, several types of lectin including E4-PHA were identified to bind RLE cells specifically. Furthermore, lectin blot and lectin flow cytometry analyses showed that binding to E(4)-PHA lectin was significantly increased in RLE cells, compared to hepatocytes, and hepatoma cells. The induction of differentiation into a hepatocyte lineage of RLE cells by treatment with Oncostatin M and dexamethasone resulted in a decrease in E(4)-PHA binding. Using an E(4)-PHA column, we succeeded in isolating hepatic stem cells from LEC (Long-Evans with cinnamon coat color) rat livers with fluminant hepatitis. The characteristics of the established cells were similar to RLE cells and had a potential of proliferating in rat liver. These results suggest that oligosaccharides can serve as a novel marker for the isolation of the hepatic progenitor cells.
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PMID:High levels of E4-PHA-reactive oligosaccharides: potential as marker for cells with characteristics of hepatic progenitor cells. 1944 3


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