Biomedical subjects

L Cazares

Publications and source records attributed to L Cazares.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

Cloning and characterization of UROC28, a novel gene overexpressed in prostate, breast, and bladder cancers.

A novel gene, designated UROC28, was identified by an agarose gel-based differential display technique, and it was found to be up-regulated in prostate, breast, and bladder cancer. Expression of UROC28 was also up-regulated in prostate cancer cells in the presence of androgens as demonstrated by relative quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. The elevated expression of this gene was observed to increase in surgically removed tissues concomitantly with rising Gleason grade and was most elevated in metastatic tissue. UROC28 protein was detected in serum by Western slot blot analyses, and a significant higher UROC28 protein level was found in sera of prostate cancer individuals compared with normal individuals and individuals with nonmalignant prostatic hyperplasia. Northern analyses in normal tissues showed that the UROC28 cDNA hybridizes to two mRNAs at about 2.1 and 2.5 kb. Nucleic acid sequence analyses indicated that these two alternatively spliced mRNA variants differ only at the 3' untranslated region. These two mRNAs encode the same protein with 135 amino acids. Bioinformation analyses suggest that there is a possible transmembrane domain from amino acid aa34 to aa50, three protein kinase-C phosphorylation sites at aa62 (SQK), aa89 (TMK), and aa94 (SMK), and one myristylation site at aa118 (GLECCL). Genomic Southern hybridization and chromosomal mapping demonstrated that UROC28 is encoded by a single copy of gene at chromosome 6q23-24. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry experiments further confirmed up-regulation of this gene in prostate and breast cancers with the expression localizing to the glandular epithelium. This gene did not demonstrate increased expression in lung and colon cancer tissues.

3' Untranslated Regions↗

PubMed1998

Accessing the embryo interior without microinjection.

For decades it has been assumed that in order to insert macromolecules into the embryo blastocoel for numerous experimental purposes, microinjection was required. Microinjection, however, can be only performed on a few embryos at a time, thus precluding many studies that could involve large populations of embryos. Laser scanning confocal microscopy, with its optical sectioning advantage, showed that fluorochrome-labeled macromolecular lectins and bovine albumin enter the blastocoel of living, swimming sea urchin embryos following a period of incubation without microinjection. A procedure is also described that shows macromolecular entry is substantially accelerated in low calcium seawater. The information gained from this study should greatly facilitate experiments on entire populations of millions of embryos at a time that require access of macromolecules to the embryo interior.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Amplification of the rbcL gene from dissolved and particulate DNA from aquatic environments.

The carboxylation of ribulose biphosphate by the enzyme ribulosebisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase is the mechanism for CO2 fixation and primary production in nearly all ecosystems on this planet. Although certain algal isolates and higher plants contain conserved nucleotide sequences in the large subunit of the gene (rbcL) for this enzyme, such genes from natural microbial assemblages have not been heretofore examined. Using oligonucleotide primers designed for conserved regions of the rbcL gene of a Synechococcus sp. (Anacystis nidulans), we have amplified rbcL from DNA preparations from planktonic samples from a Florida reservoir and from algal isolates by the polymerase chain reaction. We have also detected rbcL by gene amplification in the extracellular DNA fraction of this reservoir, indicating that phytoplankton can be a source of dissolved DNA. These results suggest that gene amplification can be applied for the detection of conserved genes encoding enzymes involved in important ecological functions in aquatic environments.

Bacteria↗