Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0026764 (multiple myeloma)
 36,148 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

To characterize multiple myeloma (MM) from the viewpoint of the immunoglobulin (Ig) gene structure, we compared the transcripts of the Ig heavy chain variable region from 23 MM samples with 221 clones of the gamma, alpha and mu chain transcripts amplified by the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from normal bone marrow (BM) cells. The usage of D and JH gene segments and the length of the N regions were the same between MM and the normal gamma, alpha and mu transcripts. Compared with the known germline VH genes, the frame work regions (FWRs) and complementarity determining regions (CDRs) of the VH segments mutated at rates of 8.3 +/- 4.7% and 15.9 +/- 7.7%, respectively, which were the same as the normal gamma and alpha (gamma/alpha) transcripts and higher than the normal mu transcripts. The replacement/silent (R/S) ratios of the mutations in FWRs and CDRs were 1.9 +/- 1.3 and 2.7 +/- 1.8, respectively, which were the same as the gamma/alpha and mu transcripts. On the other hand, we detected the clone-specific mu transcripts by RT-PCR using the primers corresponding to the each respective CDR-III and the constant region of the mu chain in three of the studied six MM samples, suggesting the involvement of a pre-switched B cell in some cases of MM. These findings suggested that the cellular origin of MM is heterogeneous, but that the Ig structure in MM reflects normal B cell maturation to plasma cell through mutation and selection.
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PMID:Comparable gene structure of the immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region between multiple myeloma and normal bone marrow lymphocytes. 889 85

We have examined whether the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)/c-met receptor-ligand pair is expressed in freshly isolated and highly purified myeloma cells and whether HGF can be found in the sera of myeloma patients. Myeloma cells were purified with an immunomagnetic method using the syndecan 1-specific antibody B-B4. HGF and c-met mRNA in these cells were examined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). HGF and c-met proteins were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot, respectively. Serum from 13 myeloma patients was obtained at diagnosis and the levels of HGF were determined by ELISA. HGF and c-met mRNA were expressed in all examined samples (n = 7). HGF was detected in the supernatants of 17 of 20 primary cultures of myeloma cells, whereas bone marrow mononuclear cells from normal controls did not produce detectable amounts of HGF (n = 3). The mean HGF level in serum of myeloma patients at diagnosis was more than fourfold higher than the mean level in normal controls. Possible implications of HGF/c-met expression for the pathophysiology of multiple myeloma are discussed.
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PMID:Hepatocyte growth factor and its receptor c-met in multiple myeloma. 891 66

Serial peripheral blood specimen from eight adult patients after sex-mismatched bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) (N = 3). Ewing sarcoma (N = 1), Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in second remission (N = 1), Acute Lymphoid Leukemia (ALL) (N = 1), of multiple myeloma (N = 2) were analyzed by the simultaneous immunophenotypic (moAbs/ APAAP-staining) and genotypic analysis (for X and Y chromosomes) of interphase cells to characterize mixed chimerism, residual host cells, and leukemic relapse. Although a stable donor chimerism for T cells, myelomonocytic cells, and granulocytes was developed in seven of the eight patients at Days +21 to +28 post BMT, 0.5 to 1% host cells of different lineages remained continuously in five of the eight patients post BMT (> day 100). In two patients, one with common ALL and the other with multiple myeloma and long-term stable mixed chimerism, a tumor cell relapse was detected first in a sample at Day +176 and confirmed at Day +294. These malignant cells were genotypically of host origin and presented phenotypes identical to those at diagnosis. In the three patients with CML, residual host cells were identified as CD13 (Patient 3) of CD13/CD34 (Patient 4) positive and in one case as CD4/CD8 positive (Patient 7). Since no exclusive antigenic marker is available for this discrimination in these CML patients, normal host hematopoiesis can interfere with the identification of residual disease. Therefore, the identification of the bcr-abl transcripts by a two-step reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was included in this analysis. Patient 3 was bcr-abl positive at [Days +21, +28, +35, and +311, but negative at Days +121 and +400; Patient 4 was bcr-abl positive at only Day +166 post BMT. These results are interpreted as signaling a continuing risk of relapse. In Patient 7, the bcr-abl RT-PCR was negative at Days +142, +166, and +237. Thus, the combination of the simultaneous immunophenotypic and genotypic analysis and the bcr-abl detection by RT-PCR clearly improves the discrimination between malignant cells and normal residual host cells.
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PMID:Qualitative assessment of mixed chimerism after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation with regard to leukemic relapse. 893 46

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with multiple myeloma (MM) are here shown to include 23% +/- 2% of CD34+ cells, the majority of which coexpress CD19, as identified by a panel of 17 anti-CD34 antibodies. The expression of CD34 mRNA by sorted CD34+ PBMC from MM was confirmed by in situ reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with CD34-specific primers. The majority of CD34+ MM PBMC were CD19+ cells that expressed mRNA for CD19 and for rearranged IgH as identified with consensus IgH VDJ primers, as well as having cytoplasmic Ig, definitively identifying them as B cells, in absolute numbers of 0.06 to 0.69 x 10(9)/L of blood. CD34 is largely absent from normal B cells. To determine the clonal relationship of CD34+ B cells to autologous MM plasma cells, IgH VDJ DNA rearrangements of sorted CD34+ MM blood B cells were amplified by nested PCR using consensus primers followed by Southern blotting with allele-specific oligonucleotides for 7 MM patients, and clonotypic IgH mRNA expression was assessed for 4 MM patients using quantitative patient-specific in situ RT-PCR. For 9 of 11 myeloma patients tested, CD34+ blood B cells included IgH gene rearrangements or expressed IgH mRNA identical to that of autologous bone marrow plasma cells. For 4 of 4 MM patients, 74% to 94% of individual sorted CD34+19+ B cells expressed clonotypic IgH mRNA, as detected by in situ RT-PCR with patient-specific primers. Clonotypic IgH VDJ sequences were absent from B cells of unrelated MM patients and of normal donors. Clonotypic CD34+ B cells were detected before, during, and after treatment, and during relapse. Our results indicate a clonal relationship between CD34+ MM B cells and malignant plasma cells. We speculate that CD34 may play an important role in the biology of myeloma by facilitating extravasation from blood and thus spread of myeloma through the skeletal system.
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PMID:CD34+ cells in the blood of patients with multiple myeloma express CD19 and IgH mRNA and have patient-specific IgH VDJ gene rearrangements. 905 69

Recent evidence has supported the hypothesis that chemotherapeutic drugs and radiation induce an apoptotic pathway that requires the active participation of the cell. One pathway of apoptosis in malignant lymphoid cells is mediated by the Fas antigen. We studied the human myeloma (8226) and T-cell leukemia (CEM) cell lines selected for resistance to the anthracenes, doxorubicin or mitoxantrone, by continuous culture in the presence of either agent. We found that these drug-resistant cell lines were also resistant to Fas-mediated apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. The degree of resistance to Fas-mediated apoptosis correlated directly with the level of resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. These observations indicate that, as cancer cell lines develop mechanisms of drug resistance, they may also develop mechanisms of resistance to physiologic signals of apoptosis. Two mechanisms of resistance to Fas-mediated apoptosis were observed in these cell lines. One mechanism was associated with a dose-dependent reduction in the surface expression of Fas antigen. Analysis of RNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assays showed that the reduction of Fas antigen expression occurred at the level of transcription. A second mechanism of drug resistance showed no decrease of Fas antigen expression; however, the apoptotic response was diminished. In this situation, removal of the chemotherapeutic agent resulted in a partial reversion to chemosensitivity and re-expression of the Fas antigen, but these cell lines did not regain the ability to undergo apoptosis in response to cross-linking by anti-Fas antibody. These findings support the hypothesis that apoptosis mediated by both chemotherapeutic agents and physiologic stimuli may share a common downstream effector. The demonstration that selection for drug resistance in hematopoietic cell lines results in a simultaneous resistance to Fas-mediated apoptosis may have clinical implications in the development of strategies for the treatment of resistant disease. Further analysis of the molecular mechanisms of Fas expression and function will facilitate the design of biological response modifying agents for the treatment of malignancy.
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PMID:Selection for drug resistance results in resistance to Fas-mediated apoptosis. 905 4

A homologue of human protein kinase C (PKC)-related kinase-2, PRK2, which had previously escaped identification in normal mammalian tissues, was isolated from rat liver as the protease-activated kinase (PAK) originally named PAK-2. The 130-kDa cytosolic enzyme was purified to homogeneity and shown by tryptic peptide and reverse transcriptase- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-amplified rat cDNA sequence analyses to be structurally related to the 116-kDa rat hepatic PAK-1/protein kinase N (PKN) and, even more closely (95% sequence identity) to the 130-kDa human PKC-related kinase, PRK2. Rat myeloma RNA was used as the RT-PCR template because of its relative abundance in PAK-2/PRK2 mRNA compared with liver and other rat tissues. The catalytic properties of PAK-2/PRK2 in many respects resembled those of hepatic PAK-1/PKN, but were distinguished by more favorable kinetics with several peptide substrates, and greater sensitivity to PKC pseudosubstrate and polybasic amino acid inhibitors. PAK-2/PRK2 was also activated by lipids, particularly cardiolipin and to a lesser extent by other acidic phospholipids and unsaturated fatty acids. Cardiolipin activation was most evident with autophosphorylation and histone H2B phosphorylation, but only marginally evident with the favored ribosomal S6-(229-239) peptide substrate for the protease-activated kinase activity. It was concluded that PAK-2 is the rat homologue of human PRK2, with biochemical properties distinct from although overlapping those of the PAK-1/PKN/PRK1 isoform.
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PMID:Isolation and characterization of a structural homologue of human PRK2 from rat liver. Distinguishing substrate and lipid activator specificities. 909 45

The tie gene encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase that together with its thus far unidentified ligand appears to play a distinct role in the regulatory pathway of early hematopoiesis and angiogenesis. Here, we attempted to define the possible involvement of tie in the pathobiology of hematopoietic malignancies by examining tie mRNA expression in human leukemia and lymphoma cells. We used a large panel of 93 well-characterized human continuous leukemia-lymphoma cell lines as model systems for the various hematopoietic cell lineages. At the Northern blot level, none of the 27 lymphoid leukemia or lymphoma-derived cell lines (originating from four B-precursor leukemia, four B-cell leukemia, four B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, two myeloma, two Burkitt lymphoma, four T-cell leukemia, five Hodgkin lymphoma, two anaplastic large cell lymphoma) tested expressed tie transcripts, whereas 23/42 (55%) of the myeloid cell lines analyzed expressed tie mRNA: in detail, 15 of 20 (75%) megakaryocytic, five of 11 (45%) erythroid, three of seven (43%) myelocytic and none of four monocytic cell lines were tie mRNA positive. In the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis, which can detect very low levels of mRNA expression, all 12 myeloid cell lines and 19 of 39 (48%) lymphoid cell lines were positive. In experiments aimed at inducing cellular differentiation over an incubation period of 4 days, the phorbol ester PMA strongly enhanced tie mRNA expression in one erythroid and in one myelocytic cell line, but (like thrombopoietin) down-regulated tie mRNA expression in two megakaryocytic cell lines. Taken together these results indicate that tie is predominantly expressed in leukemia cells derived from the myeloid cell lineages (and here in particular in megakaryoblastic cells) and not in lymphoid leukemia cells. These observations provide some evidence for the hypothesis that tie is a receptor for a regulatory factor involved in normal and plausibly also leukemic hematopoiesis.
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PMID:Expression of tie receptor tyrosine kinase in human leukemia cell lines. 930 79

Programmed cell death, or apoptosis, is well documented as a physiological means of eliminating activated lymphocytes and maintaining immune homeostasis. Apoptosis has also been implicated in the targeting of tumor cells by cytotoxic T lymphocytes and natural killer cells. One of the two primary mechanisms used in cell-mediated cytotoxicity is the Fas/FasLigand system. Activated or transformed cells expressing the Fas antigen on their surface are susceptible to killing by immune effector cells that express the Fas ligand. Many neoplastic cells, including those derived from patients with multiple myeloma, express Fas antigen on their surface, but do not undergo apoptosis in response to antigen crosslinking. One possibility for the lack of Fas-mediated apoptosis includes mutations in the Fas antigen. Loss of function mutations in the Fas antigen have been associated with congenital autoimmune disease in humans, and have been defined as the genetic defect the in lpr mice. Mutations in the Fas antigen have not been previously described in cancer patients. In this study, we show that mutations occur in the Fas antigen which may cause loss of function and contribute to the pathogenesis of the neoplastic disease, multiple myeloma. Using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), single-stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis, and DNA sequencing, we examined the cDNA structure of the Fas antigen in 54 bone marrow (BM) specimens obtained from myeloma patients. Six patient specimens (11%) did not express detectable levels of Fas antigen mRNA. Of the 48 BM specimens which did express Fas antigen, 5 (10%) displayed point mutations. All of the mutations identified were located in the cytoplasmic region of the Fas antigen known to be involved in transduction of an apoptotic signal. Two separate individuals demonstrated an identical mutation at a site previously shown to be mutated in the congenital autoimmune syndrome, ALPS. One patient exhibited a point mutation at a site only two amino acids removed from the documented lesion of the lprcg mouse. Although the functional status of these point mutations remains to be determined, we propose that Fas antigen mutations may contribute to the pathogenesis and progression of myeloma in some patients.
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PMID:Mutations in the Fas antigen in patients with multiple myeloma. 937 36

It is well known that cases with multiple myeloma reveal various clinical manifestations such as pancytopenia, hyperproteinemia, renal dysfunction, bone lesions, hypercalcemia and immunodeficiency. Recently, a few more clinical features associated with myeloma, such as salivary type hyperamylasemia and elevated serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration, have been reported. The elevation of CRP is thought to be related to interleukin-6 (IL-6) production by myeloma cells, because of identification of IL-6 as an autocrine and/or paracrine growth factor for myeloma cells. More recently, there have been several reports of cases with myeloma associated with hyperammonemia. This hyperammonemia is not considered to be due to liver dysfunction, because in most of these cases tests revealed normal hepatic function, and some cases showed different patterns of serum amino acid distribution than that associated with hepatic failure. However, there have been no apparent observations of ammonia production by myeloma cells. In this study, we used six human myeloma cell lines including KMS-18, which was recently established from a myeloma case associated with hyperammonemia. These lines were treated with MRA (mycoplasma removal agent) to observe ammonia production in vitro. They produced and released significantly higher levels of ammonia into culture medium than non-myeloma hematological cell lines or the HepG2 human hepatic carcinoma cell line. Although attempts to analyze the relative expression levels of the enzymes related to ammonia biosynthesis using the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay failed to detect any differences between these myeloma lines and other cell lines, in vitro excess ammonia production by the myeloma cells was confirmed and the relevance to clinical manifestations is discussed.
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PMID:In vitro excess ammonia production in human myeloma cell lines. 966 3

Using in situ hybridization and the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) we show that messenger RNA for IL-4, IL-5 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is induced by cross-linkage of high-affinity Fc(epsilon) receptors (Fc(epsilon)RI) on human skin mast cells, but that only TNF-alpha mRNA is selectively induced by substance P. Skin mast cells were purified using the Percoll density technique. T cells were removed by serial negative selection using a CD2 monoclonal antibody (mAb) to achieve a final mast cell purity >95%. Purified mast cells were precultured with recombinant human stem cell factor (rhSCF; 10 ng/ml) and myeloma IgE (3 microg/ml) for 16 h before challenge with sheep polyclonal antihuman IgE antibody (anti-IgE; 1 or 10 microg/ml) in the presence of rhSCF (50 ng/ml). Using in situ hybridization, we demonstrated that IgE-dependent stimulation induces the expression of IL-4, IL-5 and TNF-alpha mRNA in skin mast cells. We have investigated the expression of IL-4, IL-5 and TNF-alpha mRNA by substance P, with the result that substance P, 0.003-30 microM, selectively induced TNF-alpha mRNA. However, substance P did not induce IL-4 mRNA and did not enhance IL-5 mRNA. Furthermore, we confirmed the release of TNF-alpha by substance P from skin mast cells using an ELISA technique. These findings demonstrate the capacity of human skin mast cells to transcribe IL-4, IL-5 and TNF-alpha by immunological activation and to transcribe and release TNF-alpha by substance P.
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PMID:Human skin mast cells produce TNF-alpha by substance P. 975 97


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