Biomedical subjects

Maria Lundin

Publications and source records attributed to Maria Lundin.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Squamous cell carcinoma antigen isoforms in serum from cervical cancer patients.

Squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) is a serological marker of squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). To study whether any of the SCCA isoforms would provide additional and more specific/sensitive clinical information than total SCCA, immunoassays specific for the different forms of SCCA (free SCCA2, total SCCA2, total SCCA1 and total SCCA) were developed. SCCA isoforms were determined before therapy and in follow-up samples from patients with cervical cancer and in serum samples from healthy females. Serum samples from patients with benign skin diseases (psoriasis and eczema) were also selected based on elevated SCCA levels. Rising levels of SCCA1 and SCCA2 were seen in patients with recurrence or progressive disease at the end of the study. The rise in SCCA2 was usually more prominent than that in SCCA1. The dominating serological form of SCCA was free SCCA2 both in healthy controls and in patients with cervical cancer. Both SCCA1 and SCCA2 were elevated in serum from cervical cancer patients and followed the clinical course of the disease during therapy monitoring. SCCA2 did not show improved tumor specificity as compared to SCCA1. A larger study is however necessary to make firm conclusions.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

PubMed2006

Stress-specific role of fission yeast Gcn5 histone acetyltransferase in programming a subset of stress response genes.

Gcn5 is a coactivator protein that contributes to gene activation by acetylating specific lysine residues within the N termini of histone proteins. Gcn5 has been intensively studied in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but the features of genes that determine whether they require Gcn5 during activation have not been conclusively clarified. To allow comparison with S. cerevisiae, we have studied the genome-wide role of Gcn5 in the distantly related fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We show that Gcn5 is specifically required for adaptation to KCl- and CaCl(2)-mediated stress in S. pombe. We have characterized the genome-wide gene expression responses to KCl stress and show that Gcn5 is involved in the regulation of a subset of stress response genes. Gcn5 is most clearly associated with KCl-induced genes, but there is no correlation between Gcn5 dependence and the extent of their induction. Instead, Gcn5-dependent KCl-induced genes are specifically enriched in four different DNA motifs. The Gcn5-dependent KCl-induced genes are also associated with biological process gene ontology terms such as carbohydrate metabolism, glycolysis, and nicotinamide metabolism that together constitute a subset of the ontology parameters associated with KCl-induced genes.

Acetyltransferases↗

PubMed2005

Mucin-chitosan complexes at the solid-liquid interface: multilayer formation and stability in surfactant solutions.

The adsorption of a biologically important glycoprotein, mucin, and mucin-chitosan complex layer formation on negatively charged surfaces, silica and mica, have been investigated employing ellipsometry, the interferometric surface apparatus, and atomic force microscopy techniques. Particular attention has been paid to the effect of an anionic surfactant sodium, dodecyl sulfate (SDS), with respect to the stability of the adsorption layers. It has been shown that mucin adsorbs on negatively charged surfaces to form highly hydrated layers. Such mucin layers readily associate with surfactants and are easily removed from the surfaces by rinsing with solutions of SDS at concentrations > or =0.2 cmc (1 cmc SDS in 30 mM NaCl is equal to 3.3 mM). The mucin adsorption layer is negatively charged, and we show how a positively charged polyelectrolyte, chitosan, associates with the preadsorbed mucin to form mucin-chitosan complexes that resist desorption by SDS even at SDS concentrations as high as 1 cmc. Thus, a method of mucin layer protection against removal by surfactants is offered. Further, we show how mucin-chitosan multilayers can be formed.

Binding Sites↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Isolation of the promoters of Atlantic salmon MHCII genes.

The major histocompatibility complex class II (MHCII) has a central role in the immune response of vertebrates with its function of presenting antigenic peptides to the T-cell receptors. We have isolated the promoters and intron 1 of MHCIIalpha and MHCIIbeta genes of Atlantic salmon. To isolate these promoters, we constructed an Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar) promoter finder kit (analogous to the commercially available "human promoter finder kit"). By nucleotide sequence alignment of known MHCII promoter regions, we identified the 3 conserved regulatory X, X2, and Y boxes in the salmon promoters. The W box was not found. In contrast, a salmon-specific putative W box was identified. Both of the isolated Atlantic salmon MHCIIalpha and beta promoters (included in patent applications by Genomar A/S, Oslo, Norway) were found to be functional since they both gave positive yellow fluorescence protein signal when inserted as promoters in the pEYFP-1 reporter plasmid and transfected into the salmon head kidney cell line (SHK-1).

Animals↗