Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0027819 (neuroblastoma)
 27,800 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Impact of surgery on the result of mediastinal tumors is variable: In benign tumors such as teratoma, congenital cyst, intrathoracic struma and neurogenic tumor, a complete resection causes a good result. Simultaneous thoracotomy and laminectomy should be performed in the Dumbbell type of neurogenic tumor. Since complete resection of the invasive thymoma promises a good prognosis, excision of all the tumor and invading tissues followed by radiation therapy is recommended in the treatment of thymoma. In pure seminoma resection and radiation therapy is the treatment of choice, while in non-seminomatous germ cell tumor, aggressive chemo- and radiation therapy should be performed, until tumor markers such as AFP and HCG become negative. The operation is to be followed afterwards. A mass screening test for neuroblastoma in infant facilitates an early detection of this disease and promises a good result by chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. There is still a possibility that the result of treatment of the malignant mediastinal tumors would be improved by exact diagnosis and intensive treatment.
 ...
PMID:[Current status of surgery for mediastinal tumors]. 930 51

Mechanisms of triiodothyronine (T3) negative regulation of the human thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) gene were investigated with a chimeric construct of the 5' flanking region fused to a luciferase reporter gene, transfected into human neuroblastoma cells (HTB-11). Maximum negative regulation was achieved with constructs containing bases -242 to +54. Four sequences in this region exhibited homology with half sites of thyroid hormone response elements (TRE) (AGGTCA). The most important site was a sequence with an overlapping TRE/CRE, involving bases -53 to -60 (TGACCTCA). Potential combinatorial interactions of thyroid hormone receptors and CREB at this site were explored. Modest promoter stimulation was achieved with dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) (10(-3) M) plus IBMX (0.5 mM). Stimulation was greatly enhanced (+820%) by cotransfection of a constitutively activated protein kinase A (pPKA) construct. Cotransfection with pCREB increased stimulation further to 1350% above control. Stimulation of pPKA and pCREB interfered with stimulation by unliganded TRbeta1, and co-transfected pPKA and pCREB blocked T3 negative inhibition by TRbeta1-T3 complexes. When this site was mutated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) mutagenesis, the mutant construct failed to respond to unliganded TRbeta1, and stimulation by pPKA and/or pCREB was inhibited markedly, from 12.5- to 2.1-fold, p < 0.001. Moreover, TRbeta1-T3 complexes failed to show any inhibition of the mutated promoter. These results suggest that negative regulation is achieved by inhibition of CREB stimulation of the TRH promoter at this overlapping TRE/CRE site. The two cosuppressors, NCoR and SMRT, were able to augment stimulation of the TRH promoter by unliganded TRbeta1 and enhance the magnitude of T3 inhibition. The potential role of the TRH gene and the pathophysiology of thyroid hormone resistance was investigated with three mutant TRbeta1 constructs. Thyroid hormone resistance was found to be expressed at the level of TRH gene regulation, due to lowered inhibition by mutant TRbeta1-T3 complexes and by their dominant negative effects on wild-type TRbeta1-T3 inhibition. TRH gene expression has been identified in the heart. Cardiac TRH mRNA was not regulated by T3, in contrast to HTB-11 cells, but cardiac TRH mRNA density could be augmented by glucocorticoids and by testosterone. TRH receptors were identified using Scatchard blots that showed a kilodalton of 1.4 nM and a bmax of 10 pmol/mg protein. TRH-R mRNA was identified also by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Enhanced ventricular contractility by TRH was demonstrated in both an open-chested dog preparation and in ex vivo ventricular myocytes, using video edge cinematography. Under controlled conditions, myocyte shortening was 13.3%, and TRH (10(-6) M) caused muscle shortening to increase 140%, (p < 0.005). TRH gene expression was demonstrated exclusively in Leydig cells of the testis. High affinity binding sites were identified in testicular membranes with a kilodalton of 1.6 x 10(-6) M. TRH was able to inhibit LH and HCG-activated testosterone secretion significantly. Thus, one paracrine role of TRH in the testis may be to serve as inhibitory modulator of gonadotropin-stimulated testosterone secretion.
 ...
PMID:The thyrotropin-releasing hormone gene 1998: cloning, characterization, and transcriptional regulation in the central nervous system, heart, and testis. 982 56

Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) are widely used in therapeutic applications. Their plasticity and predisposition to differentiate into a variety of cell types, including those of the neuronal lineage, makes them ideal to study whether a selection of miRNAs may direct the differentiation of MSCs into neuroblasts or neuroblastoma to mature neurons. Following a short-listing, miR-107, 124 and 381 were selected as the most promising candidates for this differentiation. MSCs differentiated into cells of the neural lineage (Conditioned Cells) upon addition of conditioned medium (rich in microvesicles containing miRNAs) obtained from cultured SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. Characterisation of stemness (including SOX2, OCT4, Nanog and HCG) and neural markers (including Nestin, MASH1, TUBB3 and NeuN1) provided insight regarding the neuronal state of each cell type. This was followed by transfection of the three miRNA antagonists and mimics, and quantification of their respective target genes. MiRNA target gene expression following transfection of MSCs with miRNA inhibitors and mimics demonstrated that these three miRNAs were not sufficient to induce differentiation. In conditioned cells the marginal changes in the miRNA target expression levels reflected potential for the modulation of intermediate neural progenitors and immature neuron cell types. Transfection of various combinations of miRNA inhibitors and/or mimics revealed more promise. Undoubtedly, a mix of biomolecules is being released by the SH-SY5Y in culture that induce MSCs to differentiate. Screening for those biomolecules acting synergistically with specific miRNAs will allow further combinatorial testing to elucidate the role of miRNA modulation.
 ...
PMID:MiRNA influences in mesenchymal stem cell commitment to neuroblast lineage development. 3053 71