Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0020437 (hypercalcemia)
 10,293 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have investigated the possibility of mutations in the calcitonin/calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) gene in children with Williams syndrome. Involvement of the calcitonin/CGRP gene in Williams syndrome is postulated on the basis that Williams syndrome children often have infantile hypercalcemia and deficient expression of calcitonin, a hormone that lowers serum calcium levels. To test the hypothesis that mutations in the calcitonin/CGRP gene might be responsible for the reduced calcitonin levels, we examined the calcitonin/CGRP gene structure in Williams syndrome children. Analysis of white blood cell DNA by Southern blot hybridizations in 5 individuals did not show any detectable large deletions or rearrangements in the calcitonin/CGRP gene locus. The possibility of small deletions or point mutations within the exon encoding the mature calcitonin hormone is unlikely based on ribonuclease protection assays with patient DNA amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. These findings suggest that the calcitonin deficiency might be due either to mutations elsewhere in the gene or to defects in the cellular machinery needed for calcitonin synthesis and/or secretion.
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PMID:Characterization of the calcitonin/CGRP gene in Williams syndrome. 186 60

The present study was undertaken to clarify the pharmacokinetics of 22-oxa-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (22-oxa-1,25-(OH)2D3, OCT), a vitamin D3 analogue with little calcemic activity, and its effect on the transcription of parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHRP) gene in nude mice bearing a human carcinoma (FA-6) associated with humoral hypercalcemia. FA-6 tumor expressed vitamin D receptor (VDR) mRNA, and its nuclear extract contained a specific and saturable 1,25-(OH)2D3 binding activity. Although [3H]OCT administered intravenously into FA-6 tumor-bearing nude mice was cleared from the circulation more rapidly than [3H]1,25-(OH)2D3, the uptake of [3H]OCT into the tumor tissue, relative to the radioactivity in the circulation, was greater than that of [3H]1,25-(OH)2D3. Intravenous or oral administration of OCT reduced the steady-state levels of PTHRP mRNA in FA-6 tumor, and nuclear run-off assays demonstrated that the effect of OCT on PTHRP gene expression occurred at a transcriptional level. RNase mapping analysis revealed that both upstream and downstream promoters of the human PTHRP gene were down-regulated by OCT. Finally, OCT exerted a preventive as well as therapeutic effect on cancer-associated hypercalcemia with a marked prolongation of the survival time in tumor-bearing animals. These results suggest that OCT is effectively taken up by a VDR-positive human carcinoma in vivo and has a therapeutic potential for cancer-associated hypercalcemia through suppression of PTHRP gene transcription.
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PMID:Evidence for the uptake of a vitamin D analogue (OCT) by a human carcinoma and its effect of suppressing the transcription of parathyroid hormone-related peptide gene in vivo. 779 77

We have evaluated the status of p53 expression in three squamous carcinoma cell lines that express high levels of PTHrP mRNA and protein and also cause hypercalcemia when grown in nude mice. All three of these lines possess a single p53 allele, each of which harbors a missense point mutation that gives rise to it mutant p53 protein with a denatured conformation. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we created a p53 expression construct bearing a missense mutation at codon 158, identical to that expressed by one of the cell lines. This construct and p53 constructs expressing representative denatured conformation mutants were then used to develop stably transfected lines, which expressed increased levels of PTHrP mRNA. Promoter-specific RNase protection indicated that this increase was due primarily to transcripts originating from the two TATA promoters, and not the GC-rich initiator element within the PTHrP gene. Cotransfection of mutant p53 expression vectors with a series of reporter constructs under the control of the human PTHrP promoter region showed that mutant p53 isoforms activated constructs containing multiple promoter elements and flanking sequences, but failed to activate constructs with individual promoters in isolation. These findings suggest that the activation of PTHrP gene expression by mutant p53 isoforms displaying a denatured conformation is dependent on interactions with sequences in the PTHrP gene regulatory region beyond the basal TATA promoters.
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PMID:Activation of PTHrP gene expression in squamous carcinoma cell lines by mutant isoforms of the tumor suppressor p53. 1113 26

The humoral hypercalcemia factor parathyroid hormone-related protein is a paracrine-signaling molecule that regulates the development of several organ systems, including the skin. In pathologic circumstances such as hypercalcemia and in development, parathyroid hormone-related protein signaling appears to be mediated by the type I parathyroid hormone/parathyroid hormone-related protein receptor. In order to clarify the role of the ligand and receptor pair in cutaneous biology, gene expression was monitored in a series of murine skin samples ranging from embryonic day 14 to 2 y with in situ hybridization and RNase protection. In all samples, high levels of parathyroid hormone-related protein transcripts were exclusively expressed in the developing and adult hair follicle but were not observed in the interfollicular epidermis. In the adult, parathyroid hormone-related protein mRNA expression was dynamically regulated as a function of the murine hair cycle in a way similar to other signaling molecules that regulate the anagen to catagen transition. PTH receptor transcripts were abundantly expressed in the developing dermis. In the adult skin, PTH receptor mRNA was markedly reduced, but again demonstrated hair-cycle-dependent expression. The dorsal skin of the keratin 14-parathyroid hormone-related protein mouse was used to evaluate the impact of overexpression of the peptide on the murine hair cycle. All types of hair were 30-40% shorter in adult keratin 14-parathyroid hormone-related protein mice as compared with wild-type littermates. This appeared to result from a premature entry into the catagen phase of the hair cycle. Finally, the relationship between parathyroid hormone-related protein signaling and other growth factors that regulate the hair cycle was examined by cross-breeding experiments employing keratin 14-parathyroid hormone-related protein mice and fibroblast growth factor-5-knockout mice. It appears that parathyroid hormone-related protein and fibroblast growth factor-5 regulate the anagen to catagen transition by independent pathways.
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PMID:Hair-cycle-dependent expression of parathyroid hormone-related protein and its type I receptor: evidence for regulation at the anagen to catagen transition. 1271 72