The pilot hole technique in type I thyroplasty.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E C Lee.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The Mac-2 lectin (carbohydrate binding protein 35) is a soluble, 32- to 35-kDa phosphoprotein that binds galactose-containing glycoconjugates. We report here that the colonic epithelium is a major site of Mac-2 expression in vivo based on immunohistochemistry of human tissue specimens. In this epithelium, proliferating cells at the base of the crypts do not express Mac-2 but its expression increases with differentiation along the crypt-to-surface axis. Mac-2 expression is concentrated in the nuclei of these differentiated epithelial cells. The progression from normal mucosa to adenoma to carcinoma is associated with significant changes in Mac-2 nuclear localization and expression. In all adenomas (9/9) and carcinomas (13/13) examined, Mac-2 was not present in the nucleus but was localized in the cytoplasm. Sequencing of Mac-2 cDNAs from normal mucosa and carcinoma revealed no specific mutations that could account for this loss of nuclear localization. We also observed a 5- to 10-fold decrease in Mac-2 mRNA levels in cancer compared to normal mucosa as well as a significant reduction in the amount of Mac-2 protein expressed. These observations suggest that Mac-2 exclusion from the nucleus and its decreased expression may be related to the neoplastic progression of colon cancer.
The integration host factor (IHF) of Escherichia coli is a small, basic protein that is required for lambda site-specific recombination and a variety of cellular processes. It is composed of two subunits, alpha and beta, that are encoded by the himA and hip (himD) genes, respectively. IHF is a sequence-specific DNA-binding protein and bends the DNA when it binds. We have used the bacteriophage P22-based challenge phage selection to isolate suppressor mutants with altered, expanded DNA binding specificities. The suppressors were isolated by selecting mutants that recognize variants of the phage lambda H'IHF recognition site. Two of the mutants recognize both the wild-type and a single variant site and contain amino acid substitutions at positions 64 (Pro to Leu) or 65 (Lys to Ser) of the alpha subunit. These substitutions are in a region of the protein that is predicted to contain a flexible arm that interacts with DNA. Three other mutants, which recognize the wild-type and a different variant site, contain amino acid substitutions at position 44 (Glu to Lys, Val or Gly) of the beta subunit. These substitutions are in the middle of a predicted beta-strand of the subunit. We discuss the possible mechanisms of suppression by the mutants in terms of a model of the IHF-DNA complex proposed by Yang and Nash [Cell, 57, 869-880 (1989)].
Streptozocin (STZ) administration (125 mg/kg) to normal rats resulted in a rapid (24-hour) decrease in circulating insulin levels, marked hyperglycemia, and weight loss. Adipose tissue glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) mRNA levels decreased approximately eightfold, whereas GLUT4 protein levels were unchanged. However, GLUT4 protein levels decreased approximately 30% by 48 hours and fivefold by 72 hours of insulin deficiency. Although GLUT4 mRNA levels were rapidly restored by insulin therapy (twofold above control levels within 12 hours), GLUT4 protein levels increased only gradually, reaching peak values of 1.5-fold control levels following 7 to 10 days of insulin treatment. Insulin treatment in normal rats increased adipose GLUT4 mRNA levels nearly 100% by 24 hours, while GLUT4 protein levels increased in a more gradual fashion. The delay in GLUT4 protein induction relative to its mRNA was shorter in normal rats treated with insulin than in insulin-treated diabetic rats. These data demonstrate that insulin-induced changes in adipose GLUT4 protein are considerably delayed relative to its mRNA, and that the diabetic state enhances this difference. The known in vivo time-dependent effects of insulin treatment on adipocyte glucose transport activity can be at least partly explained by altered specific expression of GLUT4 protein.
The Usher syndromes (USH) are autosomal recessive diseases characterized by congenital sensorineural hearing loss and progressive pigmentary retinopathy. While relatively rare in the general population, collectively they account for approximately 6% of the congenitally deaf population. Usher syndrome type II (USH2) has been mapped to chromosome 1q (W. J. Kimberling, M. D. Weston, C. Möller, et al., 1990, Genomics 7: 245-249; R. A. Lewis, B. Otterud, D. Stauffer, et al., 1990, Genomics 7: 250-256), and one form of Usher syndrome type I (USH1) has been mapped to chromosome 14q (J. Kaplan, S. Gerber, D. Bonneau, J. Rozet, M. Briord, J. Dufier, A. Munnich, and J. Frezal, 1990. Cytogenet. Cell Genet. 58: 1988). These loci have been excluded as regions of USH genes in our data set, which is composed of 8 French-Acadian USH1 families and 11 British USH1 families. Both of these sets of families show linkage to loci on chromosome 11. Linkage analysis demonstrates locus heterogeneity between these sets of families, with the French-Acadian families showing linkage to D11S419 (Z = 4.20, theta = 0) and the British families showing linkage to D11S527 (Z = 6.03, theta = 0). Genetic heterogeneity of the data set was confirmed using HOMOG and the M test (log likelihood ratio > 10(5)). These results confirm the presence of two distinct USH1 loci on chromosome 11.
In this study, the putative laminin receptor function of the alpha 6 beta 4 integrin was assessed. For this purpose, we used a human cell line, referred to as clone A, that was derived from a highly invasive, colon adenocarcinoma. This cell line, which expresses the alpha 6 beta 4 integrin, adheres to the E8 and not to the P1 fragment of laminin. The adhesion of clone A cells to laminin is extremely rapid with half-maximal adhesion observed at 5 min after plating. Adhesion to laminin is blocked by GoH3, and alpha 6 specific antibody (60% inhibition), as well as by A9, a beta 4 specific antibody (30% inhibition). Most importantly, we demonstrate that alpha 6 beta 4 binds specifically to laminin-Sepharose columns in the presence of either Mg2+ or Mn2+ and it is eluted from these columns with EDTA but not with NaCl. The alpha 6 beta 4 integrin does not bind to collagen-Sepharose, but the alpha 2 beta 1 integrin does bind. Clone A cells do not express alpha 6 beta 1 as evidenced by the following observations: (a) no beta 1 integrin is detected in beta 1 immunoblots of GoH3 immunoprecipitates; and (b) no alpha 6 beta 1 integrin is seen in GoH3 immunoprecipitates of clone A extracts that had been immunodepleted of all beta 4 containing integrin using the A9 antibody. These data establish that laminin is a ligand for the alpha 6 beta 4 integrin and that this integrin can function as a laminin receptor independently of alpha 6 beta 1.
The interaction of tumor cells with laminin is thought to be critical in invasion and metastasis. We found that an endogenous lectin, carbohydrate-binding protein 35 (CBP-35), is the major laminin-binding protein on human colon carcinoma cells and that its surface expression suggests involvement in metastasis. We identified CBP-35 by laminin-affinity chromatography and immunoblotting. Surface expression of CBP-35 on eight human colon carcinoma cell lines was compared by flow cytometry. Poorly differentiated cell lines and DLD-2, a signet-ring carcinoma cell line, expressed more surface CBP-35 than well-differentiated cell lines. Poorly differentiated cell lines and DLD-2 are characterized as aggressive cell lines because they adhere to and invade through reconstituted basement membrane significantly better than well-differentiated cell lines. These data suggest that CBP-35 is involved in tumor cell-basement membrane interactions and that an increase in CBP-35 surface expression may facilitate metastatic potential of colon carcinoma cells.
The bacteriophage P22-based challenge phage system was used to study the binding of integration host factor (IHF) to its H' recognition site in the attP region of bacteriophage lambda. We constructed challenge phages that carried H' inserts in both orientations within the P22 Pant promoter, which is required for antirepressor synthesis. We found that IHF repressed expression of Pant from either challenge phage when expressed from an inducible Ptac promoter on a plasmid vector. Mutants containing changes in the H' inserts that decrease or eliminate IHF binding were isolated by selecting challenge phages that could synthesize antirepressor in the presence of IHF. Sequence analysis of 31 mutants showed that most changes were base pair substitutions within the H' insert. Approximately one-half of the mutants contained substitutions that changed base pairs that are part of the IHF consensus binding site; mutants were isolated that contained substitutions at six of the nine base pairs of the consensus site. Other mutants contained changes at base pairs between the two subdeterminants of the H' site, at positions that are not specified in the consensus sequence, and in the dA + dT-rich region that flanks the consensus region of the site. Taken together, these results show that single-base-pair changes at positions outside of the proposed consensus bases can weaken or drastically disrupt IHF binding to the mutated site.
We used a novel adaptation of the polymerase chain reaction to examine relative levels of mRNA encoding two members of the facilitative glucose transporter gene family, the GLUT1 or erythrocyte/HepG2/brain isoform and the GLUT4 or insulin-regulatable isoform. The method was fast (vs. hybridization methods), required no specific probe, and used total RNA samples of less than 1 microgram. Taking advantage of regions of structural similarity and differences between the two isoforms, we designed a single set of oligonucleotide primers capable of amplifying both GLUT1 and GLUT4 cDNAs such that their respective products could be resolved on the basis of a 12 base pair size differential. Hence, reverse transcription and complementary DNA amplification could be carried out for both transcripts using identical primers in the same reaction tube. Using this methodology, we examined the relative amounts of GLUT4 and GLUT1 mRNAs in several rat tissues. As expected based on prior reports using Northern analysis, rat brain contained only GLUT1 mRNA and skeletal muscle contained a large predominance of GLUT4 mRNA. Both isoform mRNAs were found in adipose tissue whereas adipose cells, heart and diaphragm contained predominantly GLUT4 mRNA. Induction of diabetes with streptozocin decreased the GLUT4 to GLUT1 ratio in adipose tissue 4-fold and 24 h of insulin treatment of the diabetic rats increased this ratio 9- to 10-fold. Insulin treatment of normal rats increased this ratio by 70%. Hindlimb skeletal muscle GLUT4 mRNA was quantified in diabetic and insulin-treated diabetic rats as a function of brain GLUT1 mRNA added as an internal standard. Using this methodology, no significant difference in muscle GLUT4 mRNA was noted as a result of 24 h of insulin therapy. In summary, quantitative PCR may be used to compare mRNA levels encoding specific members of a gene family either within given cells or tissues or as affected by physiological perturbations. Subject to certain limitations discussed within, this methodology may be useful in future measurements of glucose transporter mRNA, especially when only small tissue or cell samples are available.
Although the incidence of cancer of the esophagus is low in the United States, the prognosis of patients with this malignancy is poor, especially when metastases exist. More research concerning the biological characteristics of this tumor is necessary to permit more effective treatment and to determine the etiology. We successfully studied cytogenetically 14 short- and long-term cell lines derived from esophageal carcinoma to determine whether these tumors have nonrandom, unique chromosomal abnormalities. Our results showed that the tumor cells had chromosome numbers clustering around a modal number that varied according to the cell line. The presence in the primary explant of extensive numerical and structural abnormalities involving every chromosome including the sex chromosomes indicate that these abnormalities occur early in the malignant cells. The chromosomes most frequently involved in the structural abnormalities were 1, 9, and 11, each occurring in 13 of the 14 lines, and of three found in 12 of the 14 lines. The major aberrations resulted in deletions of portions of these chromosomes. The most frequent breakpoints for these abnormalities occurred at 3p14, 11q11q12; and 9q11q12 as well as in the centromeric regions of all the acrocentric chromosomes. Another unusual chromosomal marker found in three lines (HCE-1, HCE-3, and HCE-5) was a homogeneously staining region (HSR) that occurred as an extension on 11q12.
The bacteriophage P22-based challenge phage system was used to study lambda integrase (Int) protein binding to its arm-type recognition sequences in the bacteriophage lambda attachment site. Challenge phages were constructed that carried inserts containing either the contiguous P'123 arm-type sites or the single P'1 site within the P22 phage promoter, Pant, which is required for expression of antirepressor. If Int protein binds to these sequences in vivo, it represses transcription from Pant. We found that Int repressed Pant in phages carrying the P'123 sites more efficiently than those carrying only the P'1 site, suggesting that the protein binds cooperatively at the three adjacent sites. The Int protein from a related lambdoid phage, HK022, also repressed transcription by binding to the same arm-type sites. Mutations in the P'123 or P'1 sites that impair Int binding were isolated by selecting mutant phages that express antirepressor in the presence of Int. DNA sequence analyses showed that most of the mutants in the challenge phages carrying the P'123 sites contained multiple changes and that two mutants contained only single-base-pair changes at positions that are completely conserved among all arm-type sites. Thirty-five mutants were isolated and analyzed from phages containing only the P'1 site. Most mutants contained single-nucleotide changes, and mutations were isolated at 8 of the 10 positions of the site, suggesting that most if not all base pairs in the conserved recognition sequence are involved in Int binding.
Strictureplasty is controversial in the management of obstructive Crohn's disease. Only a small proportion of patients undergoing surgery for obstructive Crohn's disease are suitable for strictureplasty. Lesions which are most amenable for this procedure are short, fibrous strictures. Over a 10-year period 24 patients have undergone 30 operations at which 86 strictureplasties were performed. The median follow-up has been 40 (range 4-112) months. No leaks or fistulae arose from the strictureplasties. The median weight gain 3 months postoperatively was +4.0 kg. Four patients subsequently required a further 13 strictureplasty procedures, between 12 and 36 (median 18) months after the initial operation; all but one of the previous strictureplasties were patent. Thirteen patients have been symptom free following surgery, four have required further medical therapy for recurrent Crohn's disease and three have sustained episodes of self-limiting intestinal colic. Strictureplasty is a safe and effective procedure in selected patients undergoing surgery for obstructive Crohn's disease.
Cytogenetic studies were done on the leukemia cells of two patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) who developed erythroleukemia (acute nonlymphocytic leukemia, French-American-British M6) after combined modality chemotherapy and radiotherapy for their lung cancer. Surprisingly, both erythroleukemias exhibited the del(3)(p14p23) predominantly found in SCLC. In four other patients who had secondary erythroleukemias associated with other cancers, no deletions of 3p were found. These findings could be accounted for by one of three possible mechanisms: (a) an inherited recessive gene (anti-oncogene or tumor suppressor gene) in this region of 3p was uncovered by the combined modality therapy, (b) an inherited predisposition to damage of both chromosomes at 3p14 leads to SCLC and erythroleukemia after exposure to carcinogens and/or chemotherapy-radiotherapy, or (c) the finding of lineage specificity for the 3p deletion with the presence of the 3p deletion in SCLC and erythroleukemia suggests a common bone marrow precursor.
Cytogenetic studies of 68 patients who developed secondary leukemia (SL)/dysmyelopoietic syndrome (DMS) after extensive chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy as well as patients who developed SL/DMS without such treatment showed that those patients who received radiation alone or with chemotherapy had more extensive numerical and structural abnormalities than those who received only chemotherapy. In terms of the specific chromosomal abnormalities, there are no differences between the various treatment groups. Hypodiploidy is the most common form of aneuploidy in these patients, with the most common numerical abnormality being the loss of chromosome 7. The most common structural abnormalities involved chromosomes 3 and 5. When compared with patients with de novo leukemia and DMS, the chromosomal abnormalities in these patients are more complex and extensive. Serial studies revealed that cytogenetic abnormalities do not precede the development of hematologic changes by significant time periods.
Cigarette smoking is considered to be the single most important acquired cause of cancer mortality. Studies of chromosome aberrations, sister chromatid exchanges, and fragile sites in peripheral blood or bone marrow are useful methods to detect the effects of the environmental mutagens or carcinogens found in cigarette smoke. The effects of smoking on the immature cells in the bone marrow have not been studied. Here, we examine the peripheral blood and bone marrow in 18 smokers (15 females and 3 males) with a median age of 25 years (range, 21-40) and an average cigarette use corresponding to 6 pack years. In both bone marrow cells and peripheral blood lymphocytes, we were able to show a significantly increased frequency of sister chromatid exchanges in smokers with a 5 or more cigarette pack year history, but not in those who smoked less than 5 pack years. We also found a higher frequency of sister chromatid exchanges in peripheral blood lymphocytes than in bone marrow cells. In addition, the peripheral lymphocytes of smokers demonstrated (a) a significantly higher frequency of fragile sites, (b) an increased number of metaphases with extensive breakage; and (c) elevated expression of fragile sites at the cancer breakpoints 3p14.2, 11q13.3, 22q12.2, and 11p13-p14.2 and at the oncogene sites bcl 1, erb B, erb A, and sis. Our results suggest that chromosomal DNA of peripheral blood lymphocytes is sensitive to cigarette smoking. Studies of the chromosomal changes in these cells provide an index of the mutagenic damage caused by these exogenous agents in individual patients and the ability of individuals to repair that damage, and might predict susceptibility to malignant events.
Patients attending a breast clinic in two different periods were studied. In the first period fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) was not available and in the second it was used on all discrete solid breast lumps and reported immediately in the clinic. With the use of FNAC the overall surgical excision rate for discrete solid lumps was reduced from 83 per cent to 41 per cent and the excision rate in patients with benign disease was reduced from 74 per cent to 23 per cent (P less than 0.001). All patients with breast cancer in the second period had malignant cytology and no patient with benign or acellular cytology has been shown, after a minimum follow-up period of 18 months, to have breast cancer. Using FNAC with immediate reporting, the number of operations performed in patients with benign breast disease can be safely reduced.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The presence of ring chromosomes is a rare finding in patients with de novo acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL). In this report we describe the cytogenetic abnormalities, including ring chromosomes, of a 45-year-old white male who had ANLL of the myelomonocytic type (M4). All of the leukemic cells had both a small unidentified ring and a medium-sized ring which was derived from chromosomes 2 and 11, r(2;11)(2p25;11p15q23;2q37). Four different types of rings or other structural abnormalities were derived from this medium-sized ring. A review of the literature indicated that the median survival of ANLL patients with either identified or unidentified ring chromosomes was 5 to 6 months, and that the presence of these cytogenetic abnormalities was related to a poor prognosis.