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Biomedical subjects

S Rong

Publications and source records attributed to S Rong.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Novel X-linked mental retardation syndrome with short stature maps to Xq24.

We describe a large family from Sardinia, Italy, in which a novel X- linked mental retardation (XLMR) syndrome segregates. The phenotype observed in the 8 affected males includes severe mental retardation (MR), lack of speech, coarse face, distinctive skeletal features with short stature, brachydactyly of fingers and toes, small downslanting palpebral fissures, large bulbous nose, hypoplastic ear lobe and macrostomia. Carrier females are not mentally retarded, although some of them have mild dysmorphic features such as minor ear lobe abnormalities, as well as language and learning problems. Linkage analysis for X-chromosome markers resulted in a maximum lod score of 3.61 with marker DXS1001 in Xq24. Recombination observed with flanking markers identified a region of 16 cM for further study. None of the other XLMR syndromes known to map in the same region shows the same composite phenotype. This evidence strongly suggests that the genetic disease in this family is unique.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Human CD8 and CD4 T cell epitopes of epithelial cancer antigens.

Recent human tumor immunology research has identified several genes coding immunogenic peptides recognized by CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in melanoma tumors. Very recently, CD4 T cell antigenic epitopes were also determined in certain melanoma tumors. The use of these peptides in conjunction with human immunotherapy could prove to be of great benefit. However, such peptides in clinically common tumors of epithelial cell origin, such as of the stomach, colon, lung, etc., have not yet been determined extensively. We describe for the first time an HLA-A31 (A*31012)-restricted natural antigenic peptide recognized by the CD8 CTL TcHST-2 of gastric signet ring cell carcinoma cell line HST-2. We also identified the HLA-DRB1*08032-restricted peptide recognized by the CD4 T cell line TcOSC-20 of squamous cell carcinoma OSC-20 derived from the oral cavity. The antigenic peptide of HST-2, designated F4.2, is composed of 10 amino acid residues with two anchor motif residues necessary for binding to HLA-A31 molecules. The synthetic F4.2 peptide enhanced the reactivity of TcHST-2 against HST-2 cells. Furthermore, introduction of an expression minigene coding F4.2 peptide to HLA-A31(+) cells conferred cytotoxic susceptibility to TcHST-2 on the cells. Some stomach cancer lines into which the HLA-A31 gene had been introduced, such as MKN28-A31-2, were lysed by TcHST-2, suggesting the presence of F4.2 peptide in at least some HLA-A31(+) stomach cancers. Furthermore, F4.2 peptide induced an F4.2 peptide-specific CTL response in at least 30-40% of HLA-A31(+) peripheral blood lymphocytes from gastric cancer patients, suggesting that F4.2 peptide could be used as a cancer vaccine for gastric tumors. The natural antigenic peptide of OSC-20 was also determined using acid extraction and biochemical separation and by mass spectrometry. Consequently, OSC-20 peptide was designated as the 6-1-5 peptide, an HLA-DRB1*08032-restricted 16-mer peptide with two possible anchor motifs. It has an amino acid sequence identical to that of human alpha-enolase, suggesting that it was derived from the processed parental alpha-enolase protein. We are presently attempting to determine the genes that code tumor rejection antigens recognized by HLA-A24- and A26-restricted T cells, including those of pulmonary and pancreatic carcinomas. The search for these antigenic peptides may lead to the identification of immunogenic peptide antigens that would be suitable for clinical use in commonly occurring epithelial cancers.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2000

Preparation of (188Re) Re-AEDP and its biodistribution studies.

The synthesis of the Re (V) complex and preparation of 188Re-AEDP are described using 188Re which was obtained from the alumina-based 188W/188Re generator. Dependence of the radiolabeling yields of 188Re-AEDP on reducing agent concentration, AEDP concentration, pH and addition of carrier was examined. In the case of optimum conditions, the radiolabeling yields of 188Re-AEDP were 92-93% for carrier-free 188Re and 95-98% for carrier-added 188Re. The stability of 188Re-AEDP at pH approximately 6 was studied and it is found that the carrier has a significant effect on the stability of 188Re-AEDP. The biodistribution of carrier-free and carrier-added 188Re-labelled compounds in rats was also measured. The results show that 188Re (carrier-added)-AEDP is a potential bone palliation radiopharmaceutical due to its high skeletal uptake, rapid blood clearance and relatively low soft tissue absorption.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

A mouse fibroblast line cycles between monolayer and spheroid forms, regulates Met and HGF expression, and releases an attachment and growth-promoting substance.

A subline of mesoderm-derived mouse NIH3T3 fibroblasts was selected for its ability to proliferate in serum-free media. This cell line (SFDH) grows as a monolayer at low density and spontaneously forms dense, multicellular spheroids at high density. Spheroid formation can also be induced by the addition of dexamethasone, polybrene, or heparin. Spheroids eventually detach from the substrate, but will reattach and re-form monolayers when transferred to fresh culture vessels and media, repeating the cycle again upon reaching high density. Thin section analysis of spheroids shows morphologically-distinct regions of cells, including an attenuated outer surface and a cuboidal interior with occasional lumen-like areas. Over time in culture, spheroids express increasing levels of met, the Met ligand-SF/HGF and cytokeratin, an epithelial marker, in comparison to monolayers. Both monolayer and spheroid-derived cells are rapidly tumorigenic in nude mice. Media conditioned by SFDH cells contain factors that stimulate growth and attachment of a variety of tumorigenic and non-tumorigenic cell lines, inducing cells to divide in serum-free media for up to 14 days when plated on tissue culture-treated and nontreated plastic surfaces pre-coated with SFDH conditional media. The growth-stimulating activity fractionates as a single peak over a sepharose column in the presence of 6 m urea, and sediments as a high molecular weight complex. Growth-stimulating activity can be neutralized by several antisera specific for hepatocyte growth factor, and the same sera recognize a novel approximately 37 kD protein in active supernatants. The cyclic, continuous nature of alternating monolayer and spheroid forms makes this cell line appropriate for studying changing gene expression patterns in progressive cell-cell/cell-matrix interactions.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1996

Autocrine hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor-Met signaling induces transformation and the invasive/metastastic phenotype in C127 cells.

Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) is a pleiotropic effector of cells expressing the Met tyrosine kinase receptor. C127 is a non-tumorigenic mouse cell line which expresses negligible levels of HGF/SF and Met proteins. In the present report we have generated C127 cells which overexpress HGF/SF and/or Met proteins, and have analysed the effect of HGF/SF-Met signaling in these cells. We show that this signaling pathway stimulates the growth and invasiveness of C127 cells in vitro and that cells overexpressing both HGF/SF and Met proteins (but neither alone) are phenotypically transformed and highly tumorigenic and metastatic in vivo. Our data unequivocally demonstrates the autocrine dependency of HGF/SF-Met-induced transformation and metastasis in this system and supports the theory that the inappropriate expression of HGF/SF and Met proteins could play a role in the development and spread of human tumors. In addition, this system may be useful for identifying metastasis-associated genes that are activated by HGF/SF-Met signaling.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor-Met signaling in tumorigenicity and invasion/metastasis.

Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) is a pleiotropic effector of cells expressing the Met tyrosine kinase receptor. While HGF/SF-Met signaling clearly plays a role in a variety of normal cellular process, this signaling pathway has also been implicated in the generation and metastatic spread of tumors. This review discusses in detail several model systems that have been developed to investigate the role of HGF/SF-Met signaling in malignancy and describes additional data regarding the expression of these molecules in human tumors. Collectively the findings support a role for this receptor-ligand pair in human malignancy.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Enhanced tumorigenicity and invasion-metastasis by hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor-met signalling in human cells concomitant with induction of the urokinase proteolysis network.

Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) is a pleiotropic effector of cells expressing the Met tyrosine kinase receptor. Although HGF/SF is synthesized by mesenchymal cells and acts predominantly on epithelial cells, we have recently demonstrated that human sarcoma cell lines often inappropriately express high levels of Met and respond mitogenically to HGF/SF. In the present report we show that HGF/SF-Met signalling in the human leiomyosarcoma cell line SK-LMS-1 enhances its in vivo tumorigenicity, an effect for which the mitogenicity of this signalling pathway is likely to play a role. In addition, we found that HGF/SF-Met signalling dramatically induces the in vitro invasiveness and in vivo metastatic potential of these cells. We have studied the molecular basis by which HGFSF-Met signalling mediates the invasive phenotype. A strong correlation has previously been demonstrated between the activation of the urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) proteolysis network and the acquisition of the invasive-metastatic phenotype, and we show here that HGF/SF-Met signalling significantly increases the protein levels of both uPA and its cellular receptor in SK-LMS-1 cells. This results in elevated levels of cell-associated uPA and enhanced plasmin-generating ability by these cells. These studies couple HGF/SF-Met signalling to the activation of proteases that mediate dissolution of the extracellular matrix-basement membrane, and important property for cellular invasion-metastasis.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Met proto-oncogene product is overexpressed in tumors of p53-deficient mice and tumors of Li-Fraumeni patients.

Inappropriate expression of Met, the receptor for hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor, has been implicated in sarcomagenesis via an autocrine mechanism. Sarcomas occur at high frequency in individuals with Li-Fraumeni syndrome as well as in p53-deficient mice. Here we show that these tumors express high levels of Met. Moreover, late passage fibroblast cell lines established from p53-deficient animals overexpress Met and can be tumorigenic in athymic nude mice, suggesting that progression occurs in vitro. The tumor explants display increased hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor expression and Met turnover, indicating that autocrine Met activation contributes to tumor progression. Thus, the loss of wild-type p53 appears to greatly enhance the opportunity for inappropriate Met expression. Loss of p53 function does not by itself cause transformation, but inappropriate Met expression may be an important factor in sarcomagenesis.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1995

The Met-HGF/SF autocrine signaling mechanism is involved in sarcomagenesis.

Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) can elicit a wide variety of effects upon cells expressing its receptor, the tyrosine kinase proto-oncogene product Met, including mitogenicity, motility, and morphogenesis. Normally, met expression is restricted to epithelial cells and is activated in a paracrine fashion by HGF/SF secreted from cells of mesenchymal origin. In this chapter, we review data showing that: (i) met over-expression in HGF/SF-expressing NIH/3T3 fibroblasts leads to sarcomagenesis and metastasis via an autocrine mechanism; (ii) Met-HGF/SF autocrine signalling occurs to a low level in normal fibroblasts and to a much greater extent in human sarcomas and sarcoma cell lines; (iii) met expression is enhanced as p53-deficient fibroblasts are passaged in vitro and (iv) met and HGF/SF over-expression are selected for during tumorigenesis of p53-deficient late-passage fibroblasts. Thus, loss of p53 predisposes a mesenchymal cell to over-express met and high level Met-HGF/SF autocrine signaling in mesenchymal cells promotes both sarcomagenesis and metastasis through inappropriate induction of the pleiotropic responses to Met-HGF/SF stimulation.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1994

Transformation of mammalian cells by constitutively active MAP kinase kinase.

Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase (MAPKK) activates MAP kinase in a signal transduction pathway that mediates cellular responses to growth and differentiation factors. Oncogenes such as ras, src, raf, and mos have been proposed to transform cells by prolonging the activated state of MAPKK and of components downstream in the signaling pathway. To test this hypothesis, constitutively active MAPKK mutants were designed that had basal activities up to 400 times greater than that of the unphosphorylated wild-type kinase. Expression of these mutants in mammalian cells activated AP-1-regulated transcription. The cells formed transformed foci, grew efficiently in soft agar, and were highly tumorigenic in nude mice. These findings indicate that constitutive activation of MAPKK is sufficient to promote cell transformation.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1994

Invasiveness and metastasis of NIH 3T3 cells induced by Met-hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor autocrine stimulation.

The met protooncogene product, Met, is the tyrosine kinase growth factor receptor for hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF). NIH 3T3 cells express HGF/SF endogenously and become tumorigenic in nude mice via an autocrine mechanism when murine Met is expressed ectopically (Metmu cells) or when human Met and human HGF/SF are coexpressed (HMH cells). Here, we show that Metmu and HMH cells are invasive in vitro and display enhanced protease activity necessary for the invasive phenotype. In experimental and spontaneous metastasis assays, Metmu or HMH cells metastasize to the lung, but lower numbers of subcutaneously injected Metmu and HMH cells produced invasive tumors in the heart, diaphragm, salivary gland, and retroperitoneum. It has been reported elsewhere that Met expression increased with tumor passage in athymic nude mice, and these tumor explants show enhanced activity in the metastasis assays. Autocrine-mediated Met-HGF/SF signal transduction in NIH 3T3 mesenchymal cells may provide an important system for understanding the biological process of metastasis.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1994

The Met proto-oncogene mesenchymal to epithelial cell conversion.

Coexpression of the human Met receptor and its ligand, hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF), in NIH 3T3 fibroblasts causes the cells to become tumorigenic in nude mice. The resultant tumors display lumen-like morphology, contain carcinoma-like focal areas with intercellular junctions resembling desmosomes, and coexpress epithelial (cytokeratin) and mesenchymal (vimentin) cytoskeletal markers. The tumor cells also display enhanced expression of desmosomal and tight-junction proteins. The apparent mesenchymal to epithelial conversion of the tumor cells mimics the conversion that occurs during embryonic kidney development, suggesting that Met-HGF/SF signaling plays a role in this process as well as in tumors that express both epithelial and mesenchymal markers.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1993

Met expression and sarcoma tumorigenicity.

The met protooncogene tyrosine kinase receptor (Met) and its ligand, hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF), ordinarily constitute a paracrine signaling system in which cells of mesenchymal origin produce the ligand, which binds to the receptor that is predominantly expressed in cells of epithelial origin. However, mouse NIH/3T3 fibroblasts overexpressing Met induce tumor formation in nude mice via an autocrine mechanism (S. Rong et al., Mol. Cell. Biol., 12: 5152-5158, 1992). In this study, we report that human cell lines established from various sarcomas express high levels of activated Met receptor. HGF/SF is also detected in the human sarcoma cell lines but at a reduced level when compared to primary fibroblasts. These properties, high Met expression and reduced ligand levels, are indistinguishable from the properties of NIH/3T3 tumor explant cells overexpressing Met (S. Rong et al., Mol. Cell. Biol., 12: 5152-5158, 1992; S. Rong et al., Cell Growth & Differ., 4: 563-569, 1993). Moreover, paraffin-embedded sections of primary tumors from human osteosarcomas, chondrosarcomas, and leiomyosarcoma stain intensely for Met and/or HGF/SF and display extensive tumor cell heterogeneity with regard to both paracrine and autocrine stimulation. On the basis of these findings, we propose that Met-HGF/SF autocrine signaling may contribute to the tumorigenic process in human sarcomas.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1993

Tumorigenesis induced by coexpression of human hepatocyte growth factor and the human met protooncogene leads to high levels of expression of the ligand and receptor.

We have previously shown that, in mouse NIH/3T3 cells, it is necessary to coexpress the gene for human hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SFhu) with its receptor, the human met protooncogene (methu), to activate the transforming activity of the receptor (S. Rong, M. Bodescot, D. Blair, T. Nakamura, K. Mizuno, M. Park, A. Chan, S. Aaronson, and G. F. Vande Woude, Mol. Cell. Biol., 12: 5152-5158, 1992). In this study, we report that exceptionally high levels of the ligand and its receptor are expressed in tumor cell explants after several tumor passages through nude mice. Confluent tumor cells explanted after the second passage in nude mice can express 1700 units/ml/10(6) cells/72 h of scatter activity as determined in Madin-Darby canine kidney cell scatter assays. The motogenic factor produced by these cells is easily purified by heparin-Sepharose chromatography, and the purified factor efficiently induces tyrosine phosphorylation of Methu in YaOvBix2NMA human ovarian carcinoma cells. To account for the unusually high level of HGF/SFhu and Methu expression, we propose that normal levels of Methu receptor are inefficient at transducing the signal(s) required for transformation of mouse cells. Therefore, high levels of Methu receptor are required for tumorigenesis, and corresponding high levels of the ligand are required to induce the signal. Consistent with this model, endogenous mouse scatter factor is not detected in conditioned medium from cells transformed by overexpression of the Metmu receptor.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1992

Mutations in the precursor region of a Bacillus subtilis sporulation sigma factor.

Transcription from some sporulation-specific promoters of Bacillus subtilis is dependent on synthesis of pro-sigma E and its conversion to sigma E by proteolysis. Certain mutations in the precursor region of sigE, the gene encoding pro-sigma E, apparently allow the mutant sigE products to be active as sigma factors without being proteolysed in the normal way.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Tumorigenicity of the met proto-oncogene and the gene for hepatocyte growth factor.

The met proto-oncogene is the tyrosine kinase growth factor receptor for hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF). It was previously shown that, like the oncogenic tpr-met, the mouse met proto-oncogene transforms NIH 3T3 cells. We have established NIH 3T3 cells stably expressing both human (Methu) and mouse (Metmu) met proto-oncogene products. The protein products are properly processed and appear on the cell surface. NIH 3T3 cells express endogenous mouse HGF/SF mRNA, suggesting an autocrine activation mechanism for transformation by Metmu. However, the tumor-forming activity of Methu in NIH 3T3 cells is very low compared with that of Metmu, but efficient tumorigenesis occurs when Methu and HGF/SFhu are coexpressed. These results are consistent with an autocrine transformation mechanism and suggest further that the endogenous murine factor inefficiently activates the tumorigenic potential of Methu. The tumorigenicity observed with reciprocal chimeric human and mouse receptors that exchange external ligand-binding domains supports this conclusion. We also show that HGF/SFhu expressed in NIH 3T3 cells produces tumors in nude mice.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1991

Phosphine-mediated Heinz body formation and hemoglobin oxidation in human erythrocytes.

In this work the in vitro reactions of phosphine with intact red blood cells and membrane-free hemoglobin extracts are reported. We demonstrate that phosphine or phosphine derivatives induce dense aggregates of denatured hemoglobin known as 'Heinz bodies' in intact red blood cells. The reaction products include irreversible hemichrome formation. We further demonstrate an oxygen requirement for these effects. PH3 appears to act as a novel type of O2 radical chain initiator or propagator with heme proteins.

Erythrocytes↗