Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0023418 (leukemia)
 93,477 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The dose limitations imposed on cancer chemotherapeutic agents by their lack of selectivity can, in theory, be circumvented by a strategy entailing the prophylactic insertion into hosts of drug-sensitivity genes that are acquired or expressed in some but not all cells. This strategy predicts that neoplasms arising from drug-sensitive cells might be safely treatable with tumor-eradicative drug doses because the presence of a modicum of drug-insensitive stem cells will protect vital tissues from lethal depopulation. To test this prediction, lymphomas were induced with Abelson leukemia virus in mice bearing a herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-TK) transgene selectively expressed in lymphoid cells. Of 12 transgenic mice treated with the HSV-TK-specific substrate ganciclovir (GCV), 11 exhibited complete tumor regressions; 5 of these mice remained tumor-free over observation periods that exceeded 100 days. Among the lymphomas that recurred, most appeared to represent mutant subpopulations that were GCV-insensitive because they had lost HSV-TK, implying that independent insertion of multiple HSV-TK gene copies might provide a means of preventing recurrences. The results of this study demonstrate that chemosensitivity genes can enhance the efficacy of treatment in hosts who subsequently develop a neoplasm. While the use of a germ-line gene insertion model precludes direct human application, the results also imply the merits of exploring an alternative version of the strategy in which somatic insertion of chemosensitivity genes in mosaic fashion is used prophylactically to enhance the prospect that a subsequent tumor will respond to therapy.
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PMID:Lymphoma regression induced by ganciclovir in mice bearing a herpes thymidine kinase transgene. 196 92

The interaction of promoters contained in a Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMLV)-based retroviral vector was studied after infection of FTO-2B rat hepatoma and NIH 3T3 mouse fibroblast cells. Segments of the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) promoter-regulatory region, which are known from previous studies to confer responsiveness to hormones, were linked to the structural genes for bovine growth hormone, amino-3'-glycosyl phosphotransferase (neo), and herpes-virus thymidine kinase and inserted into a MoMLV-based retroviral vector. In vectors in which PEPCK was the only internal promoter, it was the major site of gene transcription. This dominant effect was independent of the orientation of the PEPCK promoter relative to the 5' long terminal repeat of the provirus and was noted with as little as -174 base pairs of the 5'-flanking sequence. NIH 3T3 cells, which do not express the endogenous PEPCK gene, transcribed the transduced PEPCK-chimeric genes at the same high levels as was observed in hepatoma cells. When two promoters were present in the provirus, the expression of chimeric structural genes depended on the relative position and orientation of these genes as well as the type of cell infected by the retrovirus. Differential responses of proviral promoters in infected cells were also observed in the presence of hormones. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP increased the expression of genes linked to the PEPCK promoter in FTO-2B and NIH 3T3 cells, whereas glucocorticoids stimulated transcription from both the PEPCK promoter and the long terminal repeat in FTO-2B cells. The effect of these hormones on transcription of proviral promoters depended on their position relative to the 5' long terminal repeat. In contrast, insulin uniformly inhibited transcription from the PEPCK promoter in a position-independent manner but only in hepatoma cells and not in fibroblasts. In clonally isolated FTO-2B cells infected with a retrovirus, the site of proviral integration was also a major factor determining the expression and hormonal regulation from the internal promoters. The data suggest that the hormonal regulation of the expression of genes contained in retroviral vectors depends on the type and position of the regulatory elements present in the provirus and the lineage of the infected cell.
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PMID:Hormonal control of interacting promoters introduced into cells by retroviruses. 202 56

Both thymidine kinase (TK) and DNA polymerase (DNAp) are present in measurable amounts in human serum. Even though the use of TK as a clinical marker is rapidly increasing there has been no attempt to characterize the serum TK in a wider extent, i.e.; with respect to Mw or other biochemical parameters. Therefore sera with high TK or DNAp activities derived from patients with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, B12-deficiency and leukaemia were fractionated by gel exclusion chromatography. The TK activity eluted as two peaks, one major TK activity with an apparent molecular weight (Mw) or 730 kD and one minor TK activity corresponding to a Mw of 58 kD. The amount of TK activity at 58 kD varied between 7 and 23% of total activity, depending on the serum fractionated. The DNAp activity in sera from patients with malignant disease and B12 deficiency eluted as a single peak corresponding to a Mw of 240 kD. A DNAp with a different Mw (greater than 1000 kD) was recovered from 1 of 3 investigated immunosuppressed patients with CMV infection. A similar pattern of enzyme forms was observed when sera were separated by glycerol gradient centrifugation. The effect of high salt and various reaction solution components on the enzymes were studied. The only condition found that affected the molecular forms of TK was the state of reduction. Incubation of sera with high concentrations of dithioerythritol (DTE) (400 mM) prior to separation transferred all serum TK to the 58 kD form, it also converted most of the serum DNAp from the 240 kD form to a smaller form (56 kD) without affecting the total recovery of enzymatic activity. The reaction product from both TK forms was exclusively monophosphate and none of the TK forms could efficiently utilize cytidine triphosphate as phosphate donor. The substrate kinetics of the small serum TK fraction was identical with those of an enzyme with similar size purified from proliferating HeLa cells, indicating that both serum TK activities are forms of TK 1, the proliferation associated cellular isozyme.
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PMID:Molecular forms in human serum of enzymes synthesizing DNA precursors and DNA. 215 79

We have investigated the effect of Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA-1), a nuclear protein encoded by EBV, on herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection either in cells constitutively expressing EBNA-1 or in transient expression assays. Rat-1 cells and rat embryo fibroblasts (REF) immortalized by c-myc or E1A were transfected with a specific EBV DNA fragment coding for EBNA-1. Cloned cell lines which constitutively expressed this antigen were infected with HSV-1. Our results indicate that in EBNA-1-expressing cells, virus growth was higher than in control cells for different virus strains or rodent cell lines. This increase was maximal when cells were infected at low multiplicity, as determined by virus growth, and correlated with the stimulation of viral DNA synthesis. REF + c-myc and Vero cells were cotransfected by an EBNA-1 expression vector driven by Moloney murine leukaemia virus LTR and HSV-1 immediate-early (alpha 0) or early thymidine kinase upstream promoter regulatory regions linked to chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) coding sequences as effectors. In both cell lines, stimulation of CAT expression by EBNA-1 was observed only with the immediate-early promoter. These results suggest that EBNA-1 can transactivate immediate-early HSV-1 expression.
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PMID:Herpes simplex type 1 activation by Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen 1. 215 38

We constructed recombinant feline herpesviruses (FHVs) expressing the envelope (env) and gag genes of feline leukemia virus (FeLV). Expression cassettes, utilizing the human cytomegalovirus immediate-early promoter, were inserted within the thymidine kinase gene of FHV. The FeLV env glycoprotein expressed by recombinant FHV was processed and transported to the cell surface much as in FeLV infection, with the exception that proteolytic processing to yield the mature gp70 and p15E proteins was less efficient in the context of herpesvirus infection. Glycosylation of the env protein was not affected; modification continued in the absence of efficient proteolytic processing to generate terminally glycosylated gp85 and gp70 proteins. A recombinant FHV containing the FeLV gag and protease genes expressed both gag and gag-protease precursor proteins. Functional protease was produced which mediated the proteolytic maturation of the FeLV gag proteins as in authentic FeLV infection. Use of these recombinant FHVs as live-virus vaccines may provide insight as to the role of specific retroviral proteins in protective immunity. The current use of conventional attenuated FHV vaccines speaks to the wider potential of recombinant FHVs for vaccination in cats.
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PMID:Recombinant feline herpesviruses expressing feline leukemia virus envelope and gag proteins. 216 77

Three isoenzymes of thymidine kinase (TK) identified on Ehrlich ascites tumour corresponding to pl values of 5.3, and 6.9 and 8.3 were studied with respect to their kinetic properties. The isoenzymes were separated by thin-layer isoelectric focusing and measured in the presence of thymidine (TdR) as substrate, adenosinetriphosphate (ATP) as phosphor donor and deoxythymidinetriphosphate (dTTP) as inhibitor. Exponentially growing cells and growth inhibited cells were used with high proportions of the isoenzymes at pl values of 6.9 and 8.3, and 5.3 respectively. The concentrations of the former were further enhanced by the use of S-phase cells isolated by elutriator centrifugation. The isoenzymes were identified as TK1-onc, earlier found in human leukemia cells. In order to confirm the existence of TK1, particular at pl value 5.3, the ability of the isoenzymes to use different phosphor donors (ATP and uridinetriphosphate (UTP)) and substrates (TdR and deoxycytidine (dCdR) was also studied. These results showed that the isoenzymes at pl 6.9 and 8.3 correspond to TK1, while the isoenzyme at pl 5.3 is heterogeneous. Further, high resolution isoelectric focusing confirmed the existence of two isoenzymes at pl values of 5.1 and 5.3, representing mitochondrial (TK2) and cytoplasmic (TK1) isoenzymes.
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PMID:Enzyme kinetics of thymidine kinase isoenzymes of Ehrlich ascites tumour. 224 Nov 1

Retroviral gene transfer has been used successfully to correct the glucocerebrosidase (GCase) deficiency in primary hematopoietic cells from patients with Gaucher disease. For this model of somatic gene therapy, we developed a high-titer, amphotropic retroviral vector designated NTG in which the human GCase gene was driven by the mutant polyoma virus enhancer/herpesvirus thymidine kinase gene (tk) promoter (Py+/Htk). NTG normalized GCase activity in transduced Gaucher fibroblasts and efficiently infected human monocytic and erythroleukemic cell lines. RNA blot-hybridization (Northern blot) analysis of these hematopoietic cell lines showed unexpectedly high-level expression from the Moloney murine leukemia virus long terminal repeat (Mo-MLV LTR) and levels of Py+/Htk enhancer/promoter-initiated human GCase RNA that approximated endogenous GCase RNA levels. Furthermore, NTG efficiently infected human hematopoietic progenitor cells. Detection (by means of the polymerase chain reaction) of the provirus in approximately one-third of NTG-infected progenitor colonies that had not been selected in G418-containing medium indicates that relative resistance to G418 underestimated the actual gene transfer efficiency. Northern blot analysis of NTG-infected, progenitor-derived cells showed expression from both the Mo-MLV LTR and the Py+/Htk enhancer/promoter. NTG-transduced hematopoietic progenitor cells from patients with Gaucher disease generated progeny in which GCase activity had been normalized.
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PMID:Correction of glucocerebrosidase deficiency after retroviral-mediated gene transfer into hematopoietic progenitor cells from patients with Gaucher disease. 231 24

The v-myb oncogene causes acute myelomonocytic leukemia in chickens and transforms avian myeloid cells in vitro. Its product, p48v-myb, is a short-lived nuclear protein which binds DNA. We demonstrate that p48v-myb can function as a trans activator of gene expression in transient DNA transfection assays. trans activation requires the highly conserved amino-terminal DNA-binding domain and the less highly conserved carboxyl-terminal domain of p48v-myb, both of which are required for transformation. Multiple copies of a consensus sequence for DNA binding by p48v-myb inserted upstream of a herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase promoter are strongly stimulatory for transcriptional activation by a v-myb-VP16 fusion protein but not by p48v-myb itself, suggesting that the binding of p48v-myb to DNA may not be sufficient for trans activation.
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PMID:trans activation of gene expression by v-myb. 232 52

In a retrospective study, 10 patients with smouldering leukaemia (SML) were examined between 1982 and 1987. These patients typically showed the morphological criteria of acute myelogenous leukaemia (greater than 30% blasts in the bone marrow) in most cases together with a long survival time (median 16 months; 5 patients more than 22 months; 5 patients between 2.3 and 6.3 months) without the use of aggressive chemotherapy. At initial diagnosis the blast cell populations of patients with SML were characterized by significantly reduced cytosolic thymidine kinase activity (TK), thymidine-incorporation (dTR) and deoxyuridine incorporation (dUR) into DNA as well as reduced amounts of DNA-synthesizing S-phase-cells (%S) in the bone marrow (BM), compared to those patients with a rapidly proliferating acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) and to healthy individuals. None of the SML-patients showed clinical symptoms such as night-sweat, weight-loss, hepato- and splenomegaly or lymphadenopathy at initial diagnosis. For characterization of SML vs AML we recommend the use of the biochemical parameter TK activity and the observed absence of the above-mentioned clinical symptoms. The transition to the rapidly proliferating type of AML can be recognized by an increase in the values of the biochemical and cytokinetic parameters. The blast count in the bone marrow is not suitable as a diagnostic criterion for the definition of SML vs AML or its transition to the rapidly proliferating type of AML.
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PMID:Clinical, biochemical and cytokinetic parameters for distinguishing smouldering and rapidly proliferating variants of acute leukaemia. 237 61

A study was made of the in vivo effects of equitoxic doses of AT-125 and 5-FU combination, being administered either simultaneously (% ILS 152) or with a 6-h pretreatment with AT-125 (% ILS 184). To examine the biochemical basis for the scheduled synergism, measurements were made of the concentration of PRPP, the specific activities of CPS II, cytidine, thymidine, uridine, deoxyuridine kinases, and fluorinated nucleotide formation in P388 tumors and the small intestine. Two hours after in vivo simultaneous treatment of mice bearing tumors the concentration of PRPP increased 9- and 6-fold above baseline in the tumor and the small intestine, respectively. In the AT-125 pretreatment arm the concentration of PRPP increased 18- and 7-fold above baseline in the tumor and the small intestine, respectively. CPS II activity was reduced to 28%-18% of control in the tumors in the simultaneous and pretreatment groups, respectively, whereas it remained unchanged in the small intestine. Specific activities of cytidine kinase (5.5 +/- 1), thymidine kinase (4.0 +/- 1.6), uridine kinase (35.6 +/- 6.5), and deoxyuridine kinase (2.4 +/- 1.1) nmol/mg protein/h remained unchanged with treatment. In concert with the increased intratumor concentration of PRPP, fluorinated nucleotide formation was proportionally increased in the treatment arms. These results indicate the importance of drug scheduling of the above two agents in treating P388 leukemia.
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PMID:Biochemical mechanisms for the scheduled synergism of (alpha S, 5S)-2 amino-3-chloro-4,5-dihydro-5-isoxazoleacetic acid and 5-fluorouracil in P388 leukemia. 240 73


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