Biomedical subjects
A Feinberg
Publications and source records attributed to A Feinberg.
Fellowship training.
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Positional cloning of genes involved in the Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, hemihypertrophy, and associated childhood tumors.
The Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is an overgrowth malformation syndrome that occurs with an incidence of 1:13,700 births. There is a striking incidence of childhood tumors found in BWS patients. Various lines of investigation have localized "imprinted" genes involved in BWS and associated childhood tumors to 11p15. High resolution mapping of 8 rare balanced chromosomal BWS rearrangements enabled us to identify three distinct regions on chromosome 11p15 that might harbor genes involved in the above-mentioned disorders. These results suggest genetic heterogeneity that correlates with the clinical heterogeneity seen in the patients studied. Expressed candidate gene sequences from these regions have been cloned and partly sequenced. These transcripts are either disrupted by or are at least within a few kb of these BWS chromosome breakpoints. So far, zinc-finger sequences and one Kruppel-associated box (KRAB) domain were found in independent candidate genes which are compatible with a regulating function of growth promoting genes. The abundance of expression of these genes varies from low abundant in all adult and fetal tissues tested to detectable on Northern blots of adult tissues. In addition to our 11p15 studies we have analyzed additional chromosome regions, in particular 1p. Cytogenetic, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) studies have identified 1p35 as a region of interest. A positional cloning effort to identify a balanced 1p35 translocation found in a Wilms tumor has led to the isolation of a YAC, crossing this breakpoint.
Cloning of candidate genes involved in the Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome and childhood tumors.
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TaqI and RsaI polymorphisms in the H19 gene (D11S813E).
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Molecular analysis of retroviral transduction in chronic myelogenous leukemia.
We have developed a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for detection of integrated retroviral transgenomes containing the neo G418 resistance gene in colonies (40 cells or more) grown in G418 selection after exposure to the neo-positive retrovirus LNL6. This assay also provides for simultaneous characterization of these colonies as belonging to a chronic myelogenous leukemic (bcr-abl positive) or nonleukemic population (bcr-abl negative). Using these techniques, we assessed transduction of the LNL6 retrovirus into the normal and leukemic cells of a blast-crisis chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patient. This work was designed to support the use of the LNL6 retroviral marker to help identify the origin of relapse after autologous marrow infusion. The data from these experiments show that the majority of CML blast crisis cells that, following exposure to the LNL6 virus, produce colonies under rigorous G418 selection are indeed transduced by the virus, as shown by the presence of the neo retroviral gene. Most of these colonies are also shown to be leukemic by PCR detection of the bcr-abl RNA. This demonstrates the feasibility of the study of CML marrow for retroviral marking. These procedures will be of use in establishing if relapse arises from leukemic blasts which contaminate purged autologous bone marrow infused following intensive therapy for leukemia.
Evidence for rearrangement, amplification, and expression of c-myc in a human glioblastoma.
Amplified cellular genes are frequently manifested in one of two cytologically recognizable forms, double minutes or homogeneously staining regions. Additionally, evidence is accumulating that aberrant expression of cellular genes (including oncogenes) may be mediated by gene amplification. We now describe the amplification and expression of the cellular oncogene c-myc in double-minute-containing cells from a patient with glioblastoma multiforme, and we have shown that the amplification is associated with rearrangement of the c-myc gene. This finding further supports the common association of the myc gene family in neurogenic tumors and provides evidence of myc gene amplification in human brain cancer.
Biotransformation and elimination of [2-14C]-1-(2-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D -arabinofuranosyl)-5-iodocytosine in immunosuppressed patients with herpesvirus infections.
The metabolism of the drug [2-14C]-1-(2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D -arabinofuranosyl)-5-iodocytosine (FIAC), a potent inhibitor of herpesvirus replication, was studied in immunosuppressed patients with herpesvirus infections. FIAC was administered intravenously by 15-min infusion and by mouth 24 h later to four patients at doses of 50 or 100 mg/m2. FIAC was cleared from the plasma primarily by biotransformation in liver, kidney, and peripheral blood, with a terminal-phase half-life of 0.92 to 1.80 h (mean, 1.36 h) after intravenous administration. The area under the concentration-time curve from zero to infinity (AUC0-infinity) for FIAC was 1.6 to 4.7% (mean, 3.4%) of the AUC0-infinity for total radioactivity. 1-(2'-Deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl)-5-iodouracil (FIAU) was the major metabolite; the AUC0-infinity for FIAU was 54.3 to 72.5% (mean, 63.4%) of the AUC0-infinity for total radioactivity. The terminal-phase half-life for FIAU was 3.32 to 4.49 h (mean, 3.91 h); FIAU was cleared from plasma by renal elimination and further biotransformation. lesser amounts of 1-(2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl)uracil, 1-(2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl)cytosine, the glucuronide conjugates of these metabolites, and the glucuronide conjugates of FIAC and FIAU were also formed. A comparison of the AUC0-infinity for total radioactivity after intravenous and oral administration suggested that nearly all of the oral dose was absorbed. Plasma levels of FIAU, also a potent inhibitor of herpesvirus replication in vitro, exceeded the 50% effective dose for herpes simplex virus and varicella-zoster virus as late as 12 h after administration of FIAC.
Detection by high-performance liquid chromatography of methotrexate and its metabolites in tumor tissue from osteosarcoma patients treated with high-dose methotrexate/leucovorin rescue.
Methotrexate (MTX) polyglutamates were detected in osteogenic sarcoma tumor samples obtained from patients 24 or 48 h after receiving high-dose MTX/leucovorin rescue therapy. Tumor samples were assayed by high-performance liquid chromatography, and polyglutamyl metabolites, along with MTX, were quantitated using both direct u.v. absorption at 313 nm and an enzyme titration assay. Good agreement between these two methods was found although the more sensitive enzyme assay detected peaks in some samples not detected by u.v. absorbance. A wide variation in MTX:MTX polyglutamate levels (1:1 to 25:1) was found among the six clinical samples studied. Also, no correlation between the extent of polyglutamate formation and plasma levels (determined at the time of tumor sampling) was observed. High intracellular levels of a derivative which appears to be the 7-hydroxy metabolite of MTX were also detected in four of six samples. This material coeluted with authentic standard, showed spectral properties like standard 7-OH-MTX, and did not inhibit dihydrofolate reductase.
Metabolic competition studies of 2'-fluoro-5-iodo-1-beta-d-arabinofuranosylcytosine in vero cells and herpes simplex type 1-infected vero cells.
2'-Fluoro-5-iodo-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (FIAC) is a potent antiviral agent with minimal cytotoxicity. In Vero cells, incorporation of labeled dCyd and dThd into the acid-insoluble DNA fraction was, respectively, competitively and noncompetitively inhibited by FIAC. In herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1) infected Vero cells, these inhibition patterns became noncompetitive. The inhibition constants of FIAC on dThd and dCyd incorporation into the acid-insoluble fraction during a 15-min period were greater than 30 microM which were much higher than the antiviral concentration of FIAC (ED90 = 0.003-0.013 microM) for continuous exposure. Incorporation of dUrd into acid-insoluble DNA was inhibited by 10 microM FIAC in HSV-1-infected Vero cells, but not in uninfected cells. The radioactivity of [2-14C]FIAC was incorporated into the acid-insoluble DNA fraction, and this incorporation in uninfected cells was strongly inhibited by 10 microM dCyd but not by dThd. By contrast, the incorporation in HSV-1-infected Vero cells was strongly inhibited by 10 microM dThd but not by dCyd. These data indicate that FIAC behaves metabolically like dThd, dUrd, or 5-iodo-dUrd in HSV-1-infected cells but like dCyd in noninfected cells. Thus, combined use of dCyd and FIAC may reduce cytotoxicity of FIAC or incorporation of FIAC into host cell DNA without affecting its antiviral activity. This finding is of significance since, for practical reasons, incorporation of FIAC into host cell DNA needs to be reduced as much as possible.
Uptake, initial effects, and chemotherapeutic efficacy of harringtonine in murine leukemic cells sensitive and resistant to vincristine and other chemotherapeutic agents.
[3H]Harringtonine was shown to be taken up rapidly by L1210/0 cells using a fast-mixing, fast-separating technique and was retained with a slow rate of limited release to the medium. Cells resistant to vincristine (L1210/VCR) showed impaired capability to take up the drug at 20 degrees. Its initial uptake in L1210 sublines in vitro was: L1210/0 greater than L1210/cyclophosphamide, L1210/1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine, L1210/6-mercaptopurine greater than L1210/5-fluorouracil, L1210/Adriamycin greater than L1210/VCR. In [3H]harringtonine-preloaded cells, L1210/0 retained significantly more radioactivity than did L1210/VCR cells after repeated washing with fresh medium at 37 degrees. The radioactivity appeared to be predominantly bound to the microsomal fractions. [3H]Leucine incorporation into protein in L1210/0 cells was inhibited 90% within 15 min by harringtonine (0.5 micrograms/ml); incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA and [3H]cytidine into RNA was much less inhibited and showed an apparent lag of onset for 5 and 10 min, respectively. The relative potency of harringtonine to inhibit [3H]leucine incorporation in the above sublines in vitro follows an order similar to their rates of uptake of harringtonine by these sublines of cells. The efficacy of harringtonine, 2.4 or 3.6 mg/kg i.p., in increasing the life span of C57BL/6 X DBA/2 F1 mice bearing the sublines of leukemic cells, on the average, was: L1210/0 greater than L1210/cyclophosphamide, L1210/6-mercaptopurine greater than L1210/1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine, L1210/5-fluorouracil greater than L1210/Adriamycin, L1210/VCR. These results suggest that: (a) protein synthesis is the major initial target for the effect of harringtonine; (b) harringtonine bound more tightly to the cellular components of VCR-sensitive leukemic cells than to VCR-resistant cells; and (c) cellular uptake of harringtonine and the relative potency of inhibiting protein synthesis in sublines have a rank order similar to the chemotherapeutic efficacy of harringtonine in these cells.
Distribution, metabolism, and excretion of 1-(2-fluoro-2-deoxy-beta-D- arabinofuranosyl)thymine and 1-(2-fluoro-2-deoxy-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl)-5- iodocytosine.
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Incorporation of metabolites of 2'-fluoro-5-iodo-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine into deoxyribonucleic acid of neoplastic and normal mammalian tissues.
The radioactivity of 14C-labeled 2'-fluoro-5-iodo-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine ([2-14C]-FIAC), a new and potent antiherpetic agent, was shown previously to be incorporated into the DNA fractions of mammalian and neoplastic tissues. The present work was undertaken to learn the nature of the incorporated moieties. Enzyme degradation of highly purified DNA from the small intestine of mice treated with [2-14C]FIAC and analysis of the resulting nucleosides failed to reveal the presence of unchanged FIAC. Rather, three metabolites were found, namely, the 2'-fluoro-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl nucleosides of cytosine (FAC), thymine (FMAU) and 5-iodouracil (FIAU). Labeled metabolites of FIAC were also found in the DNA isolated from P815 leukemic cells in mice given [2-14C]FIAC. It is of interest to note that FMAU, FIAU and FAC are, like FIAC, potent antiherpetic agents.
Pharmacological disposition and metabolic fate of 2'-fluoro-5-iodo-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine in mice and rats.
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Production of a highly reactive alkylating agent from the organospecific carcinogen methylazoxymethanol by alcohol dehydrogenase.
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Duodenal leiomyoma as a cause of gastrointestinal hemorrhage.
A case report and review of the problem of duodenal leiomyoma are presented. Although these lesions are rare and usually asymptomatic, they can present with symptoms of hemorrhage, obstruction, pain, and perforation. Barium roentgenographic examination may show filling defects of compressive lesions. Angiography shows a hypervascular, encapsulated lesion. Endoscopy may reveal a submucosal mass with central depression. At operation, it is important to distinguish the benign leiomyoma from leiomyosarcoma.
Focal dermal hypoplasia (Goltz syndrome) in a male. A case report.
A 3-year-old boy presented with the clinical and histological features of focal dermal hypoplasia. Radiological examination showed the longitudinal parallel striations of osteopathia striata. As far as can be ascertained this is the fifth recorded case in a male patient.
Lentiginosis, deafness and cardiac abnormalities.
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