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No evidence of correlation between p53 codon 72 polymorphism and risk of bladder or breast carcinoma in Tunisian patients.

The TP53 gene, frequently mutated in human cancers, carries several polymorphisms. The one most informative and studied concerns codon 72; a single base changes the CGC (arginine) to CCC (proline). The arginine form was considered to be a significant risk factor in the development of cancer. However, various reports on this polymorphism are controversial. We carried out the same investigation in two groups of patients, a group with bladder cancer and another with breast cancer, and in healthy controls in two regions of our country, using an improved PCR-RFLP method. The number of Arg/Arg, Arg/Pro, and Pro/Pro genotypes was as follows: 21, 23, 3 and 13, 19, 2 for patients (total 47) and controls (34), respectively, in the first group; 18, 9, 3 and 19, 26, 4 for patients (30) and controls (49), respectively, in the second group. Statistical analysis of the genotype and allele frequencies did not reveal any difference between patients and controls in both groups except for a weak difference between the homozygotes to heterozygotes in the second group with a chi square of 4.1 (P = 0.045); the number of breast cancer patients is actually low (30) and should be increased in order to assess such a conclusion. Our overall results are therefore not consistent with a high risk associated with TP53 codon 72 polymorphism in breast and in bladder cancers.

Amino Acid Substitution↗

Precocious mammary gland development and milk protein synthesis in transgenic mice ubiquitously expressing human growth hormone.

A chimeric gene comprising the hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme-A reductase promoter and the human GH (hGH) genomic sequences was used to create transgenic mice expressing hGH in all tissues. In transgenic females, morphological development of the mammary gland and milk protein (WAP) expression commences at 3 weeks of age. At 8 weeks of age the mammary gland is morphologically and functionally comparable to that normally reached after 14-15 days of gestation. Precocious development correlated with local expression of hGH in mammary gland. Organ culture in the presence of different lactogenic hormones revealed that insulin and hydrocortisone are sufficient to maintain transcription of the WAP gene in transgenic mammary gland. In contrast, WAP transcription in normal gland required either hGH or PRL in addition to insulin and hydrocortisone. However, the effect of hGH on mammary differentiation does not appear to be solely mediated through an interaction with PRL receptors, since PRL, when added to cultured mammary tissues, did not elicit an equivalent response.

Animals↗

Seventeen alpha-hydroxylase deficiency with one base pair deletion of the cytochrome P450c17 (CYP17) gene.

Mutation of the cytochrome P450c17 (CYP17) gene causes 17 alpha-hydroxylase deficiency (17OHD). Recently, several researchers have elucidated the molecular basis of 17OHD by gene analysis. We experienced a case of 17OHD and intended to reveal the abnormality of the CYP17 gene in this Japanese female with 17OHD. Leukocytes were obtained from the patient, her mother and sister, and normal control subjects. We amplified the CYP17 gene using polymerase chain reaction and performed the sequence analysis using the dideoxy terminator method and restriction enzyme analysis. We found that the patient had one base-pair deletion at the position of amino acid 438. An identical result was obtained with restriction enzyme analysis. This G deletion altered the reading frame and resulted in a premature stop codon at position 443; the ligand of heme iron (Cys: cystine 442) was absent. This small mutation may account for the patient's clinical manifestations of 17OHD. This is the first case of 17OHD with only one base pair deletion of the CYP17 gene.

Adrenal Hyperplasia, Congenital↗

A humoral response to oligodendrocyte-specific protein in MS: a potential molecular mimic.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the antibody response to oligodendrocyte-specific protein (OSP) in patients with MS. BACKGROUND: OSP is a recently identified CNS-specific myelin protein that is abundant and therefore a candidate autoantigen in MS. METHODS: The presence of anti-OSP antibodies was determined using Western blot analysis, peptide blots, and ELISA in patients with MS and in other neurologic and normal control subjects. RESULTS: Using Western blot analysis, seven patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) were found to contain anti-OSP antibodies in their CSF that were not present in control subjects. Peptide mapping determined that the antibody response was directed to a seven aa peptide (OSP 114-120), which has 71% homology with several common pathogenic proteins. Using OSP 114-120 as antigen, ELISAs were performed on CSF from 85 MS and 51 control patients. Eighty percent of the samples from RRMS patients followed at the University of California at Los Angeles had an ELISA reading above 0.55 optical density units, whereas all 20 control CSF samples had values less than 0.55 U. Similar results were found in specimens from an outside research bank. ELISAs performed on CSF using homologous viral peptides as antigen showed a close correlation with anti-OSP 114-120 ELISA readings, and in some, the readings were higher than those using OSP peptides. CONCLUSIONS: There is a specific humoral response directed against a region of OSP in RRMS patients that cross-reacts with several common viral peptides. This suggests a possible role for molecular mimicry in the development of MS.

Adult↗

Proto-oncogene of genomic DNA, related to the human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene, from clinically normal domestic animals.

Genomic DNAs of cattle, horses, pigs, dogs, cats and chickens were surveyed using Southern blot hybridization analysis, with a human EGFR cDNA fragment. Several bands with different numbers and molecular weights were observed under the condition of low stringency in the individual animal species. The bands showing DNA polymorphism were observed among bovine genomic PstI-digested DNAs from 4 individuals and EcoRI-digested genomic DNAs from 4 chickens. These results may provide basic data which are useful for analysis of tumorigenetic mechanisms in domestic animals.

Animals↗

Human c-yes-1-related proto-oncogene in clinically normal dogs.

Human c-yes-1-related canine proto-oncogene in genomic DNAs from 21 clinically normal dogs was analyzed by Southern blot hybridization. The present study indicated that this proto-oncogene was well conserved in clinically normal dogs, however, there were structural changes in some dogs. These changes were different in each individuals and detected in low frequency.

Animals↗

Non-homologous DNA end joining repair in normal and leukemic cells depends on the substrate ends.

Double-strand breaks (DSBs) are the most serious DNA damage which, if unrepaired or misrepaired, may lead to cell death, genomic instability or cancer transformation. In human cells they can be repaired mainly by non-homologous DNA end joining (NHEJ). The efficacy of NHEJ pathway was examined in normal human lymphocytes and K562 myeloid leukemic cells expressing the BCR/ABL oncogenic tyrosine kinase activity and lacking p53 tumor suppressor protein. In our studies we employed a simple and rapid in vitro DSB end joining assay based on fluorescent detection of repair products. Normal and cancer cells were able to repair DNA damage caused by restriction endonucleases, but the efficiency of the end joining was dependent on the type of cells and the structure of DNA ends. K562 cells displayed decreased NHEJ activity in comparison to normal cells for 5' complementary DNA overhang. For blunt-ended DNA there was no significant difference in end joining activity. Both kinds of cells were found about 10-fold more efficient for joining DNA substrates with compatible 5' overhangs than those with blunt ends. Our recent findings have shown that stimulation of DNA repair could be involved in the drug resistance of BCR/ABL-positive cells in anticancer therapy. For the first time the role of STI571 was investigated, a specific inhibitor of BCR/ABL oncogenic protein approved for leukemia treatment in the NHEJ pathway. Surprisingly, STI571 did not change the response of BCR/ABL-positive K562 cells in terms of NHEJ for both complementary and blunt ends. Our results suggest that the various responses of the cells to DNA damage via NHEJ can be correlated with the differences in the genetic constitution of human normal and cancer cells. However, the role of NHEJ in anticancer drug resistance in BCR/ABL-positive cells is questionable.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

Comparing folding codes in simple heteropolymer models of protein evolutionary landscape: robustness of the superfunnel paradigm.

Understanding the evolution of biopolymers is a key element in rationalizing their structures and functions. Simple exact models (SEMs) are well-positioned to address general principles of evolution as they permit the exhaustive enumeration of both sequence and structure (conformational) spaces. The physics-based models of the complete mapping between genotypes and phenotypes afforded by SEMs have proven valuable for gaining insight into how adaptation and selection operate among large collections of sequences and structures. This study compares the properties of evolutionary landscapes of a variety of SEMs to delineate robust predictions and possible model-specific artifacts. Among the models studied, the ruggedness of evolutionary landscape is significantly model-dependent; those derived from more protein-like models appear to be smoother. We found that a common practice of restricting protein structure space to maximally compact lattice conformations results in (i.e., "designs in") many encodable (designable) structures that are not otherwise encodable in the corresponding unrestrained structure space. This discrepancy is especially severe for model potentials that seek to mimic the major role of hydrophobic interactions in protein folding. In general, restricting conformations to be maximally compact leads to larger changes in the model genotype-phenotype mapping than a moderate shifting of reference state energy of the model potential function to allow for more specific encoding via the "designing out" effects of repulsive interactions. Despite these variations, the superfunnel paradigm applies to all SEMs we have tested: For a majority of neutral nets across different models, there exists a funnel-like organization of native stabilities for the sequences in a neutral net encoding for the same structure, and the thermodynamically most stable sequence is also the most robust against mutation.

Biophysics↗

Major histocompatibility complex-encoded antigen processing gene polymorphism in IDDM.

Susceptibility to insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) is greatly influenced by polymorphisms in the genes of the class II region of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) complex. The complexity of this genetic association and the lack of a direct proof of involvement of HLA class II genes in human IDDM have continued to support speculation on a possible role of genes encoded in the close vicinity of these loci in IDDM. Because the recently discovered transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) and large multifunctional protease (LMP) genes are encoded in the HLA class II region and are implicated in the processing of antigenic proteins for presentation by HLA class I molecules, they are additional candidates for a role in IDDM pathogenesis. We have analyzed genomic and coding sequence polymorphisms in the LMP2, TAP1, and TAP2 genes of 77 Danish IDDM patients and 102 control subjects. Although patients and control subjects did not differ in TAP1 and LMP2 alleles, we found a striking absence of the TAP2 allele B (long form) in IDDM patients. An analysis of the TAP2 alleles in individual DR types, however, revealed that this phenomenon is likely to be caused by linkage disequilibrium between the two loci. Thus, polymorphisms in the TAP and LMP genes are unlikely to be associated with IDDM.

ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Mem↗

Amino acid substitutions in hexokinase II among patients with NIDDM.

Hexokinase (HK) II plays an important role in intracellular glucose metabolism by catalyzing the conversion of glucose to glucose-6-phosphate. HKII is considered to be a promising candidate gene for non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and insulin resistance. Therefore, we investigated the frequency of variants in the coding region of the HKII gene in patients with NIDDM. Initial screening included a population-based sample of 40 Finnish patients with typical NIDDM, and subsequent screening included an additional 72 patients with NIDDM. By applying single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and direct sequencing, the following amino acid substitutions were found among the 112 NIDDM patients: Ala314Val in one patient (0.9%), Arg353Cys in three patients (2.7%), and Arg775Gln substitution in three patients (2.7%). We also screened 97 subjects with completely normal glucose tolerance and a negative family history of diabetes for these mutations. The Ala314Val and the Arg353Cys substitutions were not found in control subjects, but the Arg775Gln substitution was found in two (2.1%) control subjects. None of these mutations were located close to the glucose- and ATP-binding sites of HKII. We conclude that mutations of the HKII gene are not a major etiological factor for NIDDM in the Finnish population.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Identification of four amino acid substitutions in hexokinase II and studies of relationships to NIDDM, glucose effectiveness, and insulin sensitivity.

Human hexokinase (HK) II, a glucose phosphorylating enzyme in muscle tissue, plays a central role in glucose metabolism. Since reduced insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and reduced glucose-6-phosphate content in muscle have been demonstrated in pre-non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (pre-NIDDM) and NIDDM subjects, we have examined the coding region of the HKII gene in NIDDM patients to determine whether these patients show genetic polymorphisms that are associated with or contribute to the disease. Single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis and nucleotide sequencing were initially performed on the entire coding region of the HKII gene of 38 insulin-resistant NIDDM patients and 5 healthy control subjects. This analysis revealed four missense mutations at codons 142 (Gln to His), 148 (Leu to Phe), 497 (Arg to Gln), and 844 (Arg to Lys) and an additional six exon polymorphisms that did not predict any change in amino acid composition of the protein. One homozygous and nine heterozygous carriers of the codon 142 mutation were found among the NIDDM patients. The mutations at codons 148, 497, and 844 were each found in one diabetic subject and only on one allele. There were no carriers of compound heterozygous mutations. A subsequent study of 301 patients with NIDDM and 151 healthy control subjects revealed no additional mutations at codons 148, 497, or 844. The total frequency of the mutated allele at codon 142 was 18.9% among the control subjects and 17.0% among the NIDDM patients (chi 2 = 0.56, P = 0.45).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Isolation and characterization of the human muscle glycogen synthase gene.

Impaired glycogen synthase (GS) activity in skeletal muscle has been considered to be an inherited trait in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). We therefore isolated the human muscle GS gene from genomic libraries and determined the genomic structure. The entire coding region, the 5'-flanking region, and the exon-intron boundaries were sequenced. The gene consists of 16 exons spanning approximately 27 kb of DNA and exists as a single copy in the human genome. The negatively charged parts with all known phosphorylation sites were coded by the first and the last exon. A single transcription initiation site was located 167 nucleotides upstream of the initiation codon. All of the exons and the putative promoter region were analyzed by single-strand conformation polymorphism in 30 insulin-resistant Finnish NIDDM patients, and three polymorphic sites were found. A missense mutation Gly464/Ser in exon 11 was found in 2 of 228 NIDDM patients screened but in 0 of 154 control subjects. These two patients were characterized further by severe insulin resistance and premature arteriosclerosis. The characterization of the genomic structure of the human muscle GS gene will facilitate studies of its role in the development of insulin resistance and NIDDM.

Adult↗

A molecular variant of angiotensinogen is associated with diabetic nephropathy in IDDM.

Recent studies have suggested that an inherited predisposition to essential hypertension may increase susceptibility to nephropathy for patients with IDDM. Essential hypertension has been linked to the angiotensinogen (AGT) gene in genetic linkage studies in American and European populations. A molecular variant (M235T), which has a functional effect, has been described with highest plasma AGT levels being associated with the TT genotype. In a case-control study, we have evaluated the role of this functional genetic marker in patients with IDDM and nephropathy and in IDDM patients without nephropathy. We studied 195 IDDM patients, of whom 95 had established diabetic nephropathy; the remaining 100 patients, who had no evidence of microalbuminuria, served as control subjects. All patients were whites born in Northern Ireland. The point mutation in the AGT gene was analyzed using restriction typing. The background frequency of the M235T variant was assessed in 80 healthy blood donors, and the TT genotype was present in 9%. This genotype occurred in 8% of control IDDM patients without nephropathy and 19% of IDDM patients with nephropathy (P = 0.025). The odds ratio for diabetic nephropathy associated with the TT genotype was 2.7 (95% CI 1.04-7.52). There was no relationship between blood pressure and AGT genotypes in the control group. We cannot exclude the possibility that the observed association in the nephropathy group is due to an association between AGT genotype and hypertension. This evidence may help to explain the predisposition to diabetic nephropathy afforded by hypertension and merits further investigation.

Adult↗

Genetic and functional analysis of the Nkt1 locus using congenic NOD mice: improved Valpha14-NKT cell performance but failure to protect against type 1 diabetes.

Defective invariant natural killer T-cells (iNKT cells) have been implicated in the etiology of type 1 diabetes in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice. In a genome scan of a cross between NOD and C57BL/6 mice, the most significant locus controlling the number of iNKT cells, referred to as Nkt1, was recently mapped to distal chromosome 1. Here, using congenic mice for this chromosomal segment, we definitively demonstrate the existence of Nkt1 and show that introgression of the C57BL/6 allele onto the NOD background improves both the number of iNKT cells and their rapid production of cytokines elicited by alpha-galactosylceramide treatment, explaining at least half of the difference between the NOD and C57BL/6 strains. Using new subcongenic lines, we circumscribed the Nkt1 locus to a 8.7-cM segment, between the NR1i3 and D1Mit458 markers, that notably includes the SLAM (signaling lymphocytic activation molecule) gene cluster, recently involved in murine lupus susceptibility. However, despite a significant correction of the iNKT cell defect, the Nkt1 locus did not alter the course of spontaneous diabetes in congenic mice. Our findings indicate a complex relationship between iNKT cells and autoimmune susceptibility. Congenic lines nonetheless provide powerful models to dissect the biology of iNKT cells.

Animals↗

Feasibility of internally referenced brain temperature imaging with a metabolite signal.

The feasibility of using a metabolite signal as an internal reference for self-referenced temperature distribution measurement was examined. Line scan echo-planar spectroscopic imaging (LSEPSI) was applied to obtain quick multi-voxel spectroscopic measurements and to avoid possible spectral degradation from motion. Temperature distribution in a rabbit brain in vivo was successfully visualized by means of the chemical shift of water, which was measured by using naturally abundant (up to 10 mM) N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) as the reference signal. Unlike the phase-mapping approach, this technique does not require a pixel-by-pixel subtraction. Therefore, in theory, it is more resistant to inter-scan motion or changes in susceptibility. The spatial and temporal resolutions of this technique are 1.5 cm3 and 4.5 min. A higher signal-to-noise ratio and optimization of the water and outer-volume suppression capabilities will be required to further enhance the temperature-mapping capabilities.

Animals↗

Interferon DNA polymorphism in chronic leukemia.

The interferon (IFN) system (alpha, beta and gamma IFNs) is closely related to the first line of defenses against viral and tumoral diseases. Chronic leukemic and chronic lymphoproliferative patients respond in variable degrees to therapy with exogenous IFN. Remission after treatment with IFN-alpha in hairy cell leukemia (HCL) and in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) have been reported by other authors. In order to determine whether there are differences in IFN-alpha and beta genes between healthy and chronic leukemic individuals and among the different chronic leukemic patients, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses was performed in a panel of patients with HCL, CML and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and in a sample of healthy individuals. A significant difference in the allelic frequencies for the IFN-beta and Sst I enzyme in Chronic leukemias, mainly of myeloid origin, compared with the healthy individuals, was found.

Adult↗