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Biomedical subjects

J D Oliner

Publications and source records attributed to J D Oliner.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Amplification of a gene encoding a p53-associated protein in human sarcomas.

Despite extensive data linking mutations in the p53 gene to human tumorigenesis, little is known about the cellular regulators and mediators of p53 function. MDM2 is a strong candidate for one such cellular protein; the MDM2 gene was originally identified by virtue of its amplification in a spontaneously transformed derivative of mouse BALB/c cells and the MDM2 protein subsequently shown to bind to p53 in rat cells transfected with p53 genes. To determine whether MDM2 plays a role in human cancer, we have cloned the human MDM2 gene. Here we show that recombinant-derived human MDM2 protein binds human p53 in vitro, and we use MDM2 clones to localize the human MDM2 gene to chromosome 12q13-14. Because this chromosomal position appears to be altered in many sarcomas, we looked for changes in human MDM2 in such cancers. The gene was amplified in over a third of 47 sarcomas, including common bone and soft tissue forms. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that MDM2 binds to p53, and that amplification of MDM2 in sarcomas leads to escape from p53-regulated growth control. This mechanism of tumorigenesis parallels that for virally-induced tumours, in which viral oncogene products bind to and functionally inactivate p53.

Amino Acid Sequence

Scrambled exons.

Using a sensitive assay for RNA expression, we identified several abnormally spliced transcripts in which exons from a candidate tumor suppressor gene (DCC) were scrambled during the splicing process in vivo. Cloning and sequencing of PCR-amplified segments of the abnormally spliced transcripts showed that exons were joined accurately at consensus splice sites, but in an order different from that present in the primary transcript. Four scrambled transcripts were identified, each involving a different pair of exons. The scrambled transcripts were found at relatively low levels in a variety of normal and neoplastic cells of rodent and human origin, primarily in the nonpolyadenylated component of cytoplasmic RNA. These results demonstrate that the splicing process does not always pair sequential exons in the order predicted from their positions in genomic DNA, thus creating a novel type of RNA product.

Amino Acid Sequence

Relation between anterograde blood flow through a coronary artery and the size of the perfusion bed it supplies: experimental and clinical implications.

The relation between anterograde blood flow through a coronary artery and the size of the perfusion bed it supplies is not known. Accordingly, the left circumflex coronary artery was cannulated and perfused with arterial blood in 12 open chest mongrel dogs. In Group I dogs (n = 7), the goal was to correlate the size of the perfusion bed with the magnitude of anterogradely derived myocardial blood flow. The size of the perfusion bed was measured with use of two-dimensional myocardial contrast echocardiography, whereas anterograde myocardial blood flow was determined by injecting radiolabeled microspheres directly into the artery. In Group II dogs (n = 5), the goal was to study the effects of altering coronary blood flow on both anterogradely and collateral vessel-derived myocardial flow within the perfusion bed. In these dogs, microspheres were injected directly into both the coronary artery and the left atrium at each flow rate. In Group I dogs, the left circumflex perfusion bed size, as defined by myocardial contrast echocardiography, decreased at lower anterograde myocardial blood flow rates. The change in perfusion bed size occurred at the lateral zones. There was a linear relation between the normalized perfusion bed size and the normalized anterograde myocardial blood flow: y = 0.45x + 54.2 (p less than 0.001, r2 = 0.77). These results were substantiated in Group II dogs, in which the size of the perfusion bed was approximated with use of radiolabeled microspheres. The size of the perfusion bed was most affected when anterograde myocardial blood flow decreased to less than approximately 33% of normal. At the lowest flow rates, there was a linear relation between anterograde blood flow versus the fraction of the left circumflex flow derived anterogradely: y = 2.41x + 0.22 (p less than 0.001, r2 = 0.90). The lower the level of anterograde flow, the greater was the blood flow derived from remote vessels. It is concluded that the size of the area perfused by a coronary artery is significantly influenced by the magnitude of anterograde blood flow through that artery. These findings may have important implications in experimental and clinical models of myocardial ischemia.

Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena

Assessment of regional myocardial blood flow with myocardial contrast two-dimensional echocardiography.

It was hypothesized that regional myocardial blood flow could be measured using myocardial contrast echocardiography. Accordingly, arterial blood was perfused into the coronary circulation in 16 dogs. In Group 1 dogs (n = 8), blood flow to the cannulated left circumflex artery was controlled with use of a roller pump, whereas in Group 2 dogs (n = 8) blood flow to the left anterior descending coronary artery was controlled by a hydraulic occluder placed around it. Sonicated microbubbles (mean size 4 microns) were used as the contrast agent. In Group 1 dogs the microbubbles were injected subselectively into the left circumflex artery, whereas in Group 2 dogs they were injected selectively into the left main coronary artery and two-dimensional echocardiographic images were recorded. Computer-generated time-intensity curves were derived from these images and variables of these curves correlated with transmural blood flow measured with radiolabeled microspheres. A gamma-variate function (y = Ate-alpha t) best described the curves, and alpha (a variable of curve width) correlated well with transmural blood flow at different flow rates in all Group 1 and Group 2 dogs (mean r = 0.81 and 0.97, respectively). Other variables of the curve width also correlated well with myocardial blood flow, but peak intensity had a poor correlation with myocardial blood flow in both groups of dogs (r = 0.39 and r = 0.63, respectively). When data from all dogs were pooled, Group 1 dogs still showed good correlation between variables of curve width and myocardial blood flow (r = 0.81); Group 2 dogs did not (r = 0.45). The difference between the two sets of dogs was related to the site of contrast agent injection. It is concluded that measurement of the transit time of microbubbles through the myocardium with two-dimensional echocardiography accurately reflects regional myocardial blood flow. Although injection of contrast agent selectively into the left main coronary artery only allows measurement of relative flow, it may be feasible to measure absolute flow by injecting contrast agent subselectively into a coronary artery. Myocardial contrast echocardiography may, therefore, offer the unique opportunity of simultaneously assessing regional myocardial perfusion and function in vivo.

Animals

Relationship between left ventricular systolic function and plasma clearance of 169Yb-DTPA in normal and ischemic dogs.

UNLABELLED: Plasma clearance of 169Yb-DTPA, a heavy chelate metal excreted only by glomerular filtration, was measured serially in a canine model to determine whether the clearance of this substance correlates with left ventricular systolic function. Fourteen anesthetized open-chest dogs were studied. Six dogs (group I) were used to estimate the clearance of 169Yb-DTPA in the setting of normal left ventricular function. Eight dogs (group II) were used to estimate clearance of 169Yb-DTPA in the presence of ischemic left ventricular dysfunction. Cardiac output, mean arterial pressure, and plasma levels of 169Yb-DTPA were measured serially. In group II dogs, area at risk for necrosis was defined using myocardial contrast echocardiography. The change in clearance of 169Yb-DTPA in group II dogs correlated well with change in cardiac output and area at risk (r = 0.80 and -0.93, respectively) and was significantly different from group I dogs (p less than 0.01). However, changes in clearance of 169Yb-DTPA in the group II dogs did not correlate well with change in mean arterial pressure (r = 0.26). IN CONCLUSION: (1) clearance of 169Yb-DTPA is constant over time in the absence of ischemic left ventricular dysfunction and derangement of other hemodynamic parameters; (2) changes in clearance of 169Yb-DTPA correlate well with changes in systolic pump function and left ventricular area at risk in the setting of ischemic left ventricular dysfunction, and (3) clearance of 169Yb-DTPA is not related to mean arterial pressure.

Animals