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Biomedical subjects

G E Moore

Publications and source records attributed to G E Moore.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Expression of CYP2E1 during human fetal development: methylation of the CYP2E1 gene in human fetal and adult liver samples.

The expression and regulation of cytochrome P450IIE1 (CYP2E1) in adult and fetal human liver has been investigated. Three mRNA transcripts of 1.9, 2.7 and 3.8 kb were detected in all adult liver samples after hybridization with a full length cDNA to CYP2E1 whereas no expression was detected in 12 fetal liver samples studied. Similarly, expression of CYP2E1 was not detected in 11 placental samples (10-17 weeks gestational age) or in two full-term placental samples. CYP2E1 expression was not detected in fetal liver, kidney, lung, placenta (18 weeks gestational age) or liver (6 weeks gestational age) obtained at termination of pregnancy where maternal alcohol abuse had been established. Southern blot analysis of the cytosine methylation status of the CYP2E1 gene revealed substantial methylation of the 3' region of the gene in both adult and fetal human liver samples. No differences were observed in the methylation pattern of fetal liver samples between the gestational ages 12 and 17 weeks. Two small DNA fragments detected by the 5' end of the CYP2E1 cDNA were cleaved by the restriction enzyme HpaII in adult liver DNA but not in the fetal liver DNA samples. Methylation of specific 5' residues in the CYP2E1 gene may be responsible for the lack of transcription of the CYP2E1 gene in fetal liver.

Alcoholism

Preferential chromosome 11q and/or 17q aberrations in short-term cultures of metastatic melanoma in resections from human brain.

Thirteen specimens of metastatic malignant melanoma resected from eight patients undergoing craniotomy were analyzed cytogenetically from short-term cultures. All patients had chromosome 1 aberrations, as did three of four patients with metastases only to extracranial sites. Both groups had variable involvement of chromosomes 3, 6, 7, and 8. Only those with brain metastases had 11q and/or 17q involvement in six of eight patients. In reported cases of nonbrain metastases, when chromosome 11 was involved, the short arm was usually deleted or replaced through translocation; on the contrary, in reports on patients with brain metastases, the long arm of chromosome 11 was deleted at q23 or was the recipient of a translocation at q23, and/or 17q was present as an isochromosome. These aberrations were similar to those found in the patients with brain metastases in this report. Two patients undergoing brain resections did not show 11q or 17q aberrations, one near diploid with t(10;19) and the other near hexaploid with few structural rearrangements. The neural cell adhesion molecule gene is located near 11q23, and the neural growth factor receptor is located near 17q21-q22. The relevance of these genes to brain metastases in melanoma is under investigation.

Brain Neoplasms

Changes in expression of the cyclooxygenase gene in human fetal membranes and placenta with labor.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to examine the expression of the gene coding for cyclooxygenase, the central enzyme in prostaglandin synthesis, in human placenta and fetal membranes during pregnancy and before and after labor at term. STUDY DESIGN: Expression of the gene for cyclooxygenase was examined with Northern hybridization to ribonucleic acid from human placenta throughout pregnancy and human amnion and chorion decidua in the late third trimester. RESULTS: Expression was undetectable in trophoblast during the first and second trimesters. Expression in amnion and trophoblast increased 3.5- and 2.5-fold, respectively, in association with labor. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the increase in prostaglandin synthesis within the uterus that is seen with the onset of labor is associated with an increase in the expression of the gene cyclooxygenase.

Amnion

Expression of human chorionic gonadotrophin alpha and beta subunits is depressed in trophoblast from pregnancies with early embryonic failure.

The expression of the placental proteins human chorionic gonadotrophin alpha (HCG alpha), beta (HCG beta) and human placental lactogen (HPL) was examined in trophoblast from human normal pregnancy and early embryonic failure (EEF) using Northern blot analysis. Trophoblast from EEF expressed significantly depressed levels of HCG alpha (P < 0.05) and HCG beta (P < 0.01) when compared to normal pregnancy. Levels of expression of HPL in EEF were not significantly different to those from normal pregnancy. The gestational ages of the two groups were not significantly different. Immunocytochemistry on paraffin-fixed tissue sections supported these data and showed that mRNA levels reflected protein production of HCG within the tissue. It appears from these data that the depressed level of HCG found in the serum of women with early pregnancy failure is not solely a consequence of diminished placentation in these pregnancies, or placental necrosis, but that the genes of the alpha and beta HCG subunits are down-regulated. This study further suggests that there are two subsets of women with early pregnancy failure; those with apparently normal levels of placental proteins, and those with severely depressed levels. It would seem likely that these two groups have different aetiologies.

Abortion, Spontaneous

Effects of prednisone on thyroxine and 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine metabolism in normal dogs.

Pharmacological doses of glucocorticoids may reduce serum T4 and T3 levels in normal dogs and humans due to hypothalamic-pituitary suppression and/or altered peripheral hormone metabolism. To evaluate the chronic effects of antiinflammatory doses of glucocorticoids on peripheral thyroid hormone metabolism, serum T4 and T3 kinetic studies were performed in five thyroidectomized L-T4-replaced (5 micrograms/kg, sc, daily) normocalcemic male dogs at baseline and after 35 days of oral prednisone (0.55 mg/kg every 12 h). Data were analyzed in a three-pool model, with rapidly (liver and kidney) and slowly (muscle and skin) equilibrating pools exchanging with serum and rapid pool losses. Prednisone lowered the percent free fraction of T4 (to 70% of baseline) and total T3 (to 60%) and free T3 (to 51%) levels without significantly changing total or free T4 or percent free fraction of T3. This was associated with reduced T4 fractional transfer rates from serum rapid (to 39%) and slow (42%) pools and from rapid (to 25%) and slow pools (to 7%) to serum, and increased serum free T4 clearance rates (to 144%) as well as binding in the rapid (162%) and slow (710%) pools. Total T4 clearance and degradation rates were not significantly altered. Significant correlations included T4 binding in the rapid pool with percent free fractions of T4 (r = -0.86), T4 fractional transfer rates from rapid pool to serum with rapid pool T4 binding (r = -0.75), and fractional T4 transfer rates from slow pool to serum with slow pool T4 binding (r = -0.88). In contrast, prednisone increased fractional T3 transfer rates from serum to the slow pool (to 289%) and reduced serum (to 42%) and maximum total body degradation and production rates (to 41%) without altering total or free T3 clearance rates. Fractional T3 transfer rates from the slow pool to serum correlated with slow pool T3 binding (r = -0.84). Prednisone redistributed T4 and T3 from the serum and rapid pools to the slowly equilibrating pool. Thus, the peripheral effects of chronic antiinflammatory doses of prednisone on thyroid hormone metabolism include 1) increased T4 binding to serum carrier proteins, which may contribute to lower T4 transfer rates from serum to extravascular sites and increased extravascular T4 binding; 2) reduced fractional transfer rates of T4 from extravascular sites to serum, which may relate to increased tissue binding of T4; 3) redistribution of T4 and T3 from the serum and rapid pools to the slow pool; and 4) decreased T3 production from T4, resulting in reduced serum total and free T3 levels.

Administration, Oral

Duration of pituitary and adrenocortical suppression after long-term administration of anti-inflammatory doses of prednisone in dogs.

Duration and magnitude of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression caused by daily oral administration of a glucocorticoid was investigated, using an anti-inflammatory dose of prednisone. Twelve healthy adult male dogs were given prednisone orally for 35 days (0.55 mg/kg of body weight, q 12 h), and a control group of 6 dogs was given gelatin capsule vehicle. Plasma cortisol (baseline and 2-hour post-ACTH administration) and plasma ACTH and cortisol (baseline and 30-minutes post corticotropin-releasing hormone [CRH] administration) concentrations were monitored biweekly during and after the 35-day treatment period. Baseline plasma ACTH and cortisol and post-ACTH plasma cortisol concentrations were significantly (P less than 0.05) reduced in treated vs control dogs after 14 days of oral prednisone administration. By day 28, baseline ACTH and cortisol concentrations remained significantly (P less than 0.05) reduced and reserve function was markedly (P less than 0.0001) reduced as evidenced by mean post-CRH ACTH, post-CRH cortisol, and post-ACTH cortisol concentrations in treated vs control dogs. Two weeks after termination of daily prednisone administration, significant difference between group means was not evident in baseline ACTH or cortisol values, post-CRH ACTH or cortisol values, or post-ACTH cortisol values, compared with values in controls. Results indicate complete hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis recovery 2 weeks after oral administration of an anti-inflammatory regimen of prednisone given daily for 5 weeks.

Administration, Oral

Historical progress and the future of human cell culture research.

Progress in human cell culture research is discussed based primarily on our hematopoietic cell culture studies. The article includes a historical background of Burkitt lymphoma cell lines, discovery of EBV, normal B-lymphoblastoid cell lines with EBV, a variety of leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma cell lines, clinical and theoretical contributions made by studies of T-cell leukemia cell lines, the discovery and clinical relevance of HTLV, HIV and HBLV, early attempts at adoptive immunotherapy of patients with cancer, and the future of human cell culture research. Despite the fact that current cell culture methods permit maintenance of only limited cell types of both normal and malignant origins, biotechnological advances such as hybridoma and recombinant DNA technologies should continue to provide unlimited research opportunities in all fields.

Animals

Hematologic and serum biochemical effects of long-term administration of anti-inflammatory doses of prednisone in dogs.

Results of routine hematologic and serum biochemical analyses from 12 healthy adult male dogs that were given prednisone (0.55 mg/kg of body weight, PO, q 12 h) for 35 days were compared with those of a control group of 6 dogs that were given gelatin capsules. Analyses were performed at 2-week intervals during and after prednisone administration. Lymphocyte and eosinophil counts were significantly (P less than 0.005) decreased after 2 and 4 weeks of prednisone treatment, compared with controls. Two weeks after treatment, eosinophil counts in prednisone-treated dogs were similar to those of control dogs, whereas lymphocyte counts remained low 4 weeks after treatment in treated dogs (1,869 +/- 145 cells/microliters), compared with that in control dogs (3,662 +/- 548 cells/microliters). Neutrophil and monocyte counts did not significantly change during glucocorticoid administration. Mean platelet volume significantly (P less than 0.001) decreased after 4 weeks of prednisone treatment, but returned to pretreatment values by 2 weeks after treatment. Four weeks of prednisone treatment did not cause significant increased activity in serum alanine transaminase, total alkaline phosphatase or the steroid-induced isoenzyme of alkaline phosphatase. Significant increases in serum albumin (P less than 0.001) and total protein (P less than 0.05) concentrations were detected after 4 weeks of treatment, but mean values were not significantly different from those of controls 2 weeks after treatment ended. Results of our study indicate that eosinophil and lymphocyte counts are the most sensitive indicators of long-term glucocorticoid administration at anti-inflammatory dosages of 1.1 mg/kg daily.

Alkaline Phosphatase

Absence of retinoblastoma protein expression in primary non-small cell lung carcinomas.

Retinoblastoma (RB) protein expression was examined in paraffin and frozen tissue sections of 36 primary non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) using immunohistochemistry with confirmation by direct Western blotting. A normal RB protein staining pattern was present in 24 and absent in 10 NSCLC. Two additional RB positive primary tumors have major foci in which all tumor cells showed no RB protein staining. Significantly more high-stage (stages III and IV) NSCLC had altered RB protein expression than those with low-stage (stages I and II) tumors (P less than 0.05). The results suggest that absence of the RB expression may be associated with the initiation and/or progression of many NSCLC. This is the first report of successful RB staining in paraffin sections.

Blotting, Northern