Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to F Ryan.
We report on a 2 1/2 year old girl who is dysmorphic, developmentally delayed, and mosaic for an unbalanced, de novo translocation between chromosomes 3 and 15. The karyotype from peripheral blood lymphocytes is 46,XX (50) and the karyotype from skin fibroblasts is 46,XX (28)/46,XX,der(15)t(3;15)(q11;p11) (23). The mechanism for the generation of this unbalanced, de novo translocation is discussed.
Surveillance of measles in the Republic of Ireland has relied until now on notifications of clinically diagnosed infections and a manual system for monitoring coverage. In the light of a measles epidemic predicted in the United Kingdom in 1995, it was considered timely to review the epidemiology of measles and obtain baseline seroepidemiological data on measles immunity in Cork City in the Republic of Ireland. The age specific prevalence of measles IgG in saliva from 2000 schoolchildren aged 5 to 15 years was determined. The study also compared susceptibility rates in children with and without a history of measles vaccination or infection. Histories provided by parents were found to be unreliable in informing vaccination practice, as 79 of the 102 seronegative children would have been classified as immune. The proportion of children immune to measles, as gauged by seropositivity, was 91.9% in children aged 5 to 10 years and 95.8% in 11 to 15 year olds. The implications of the study results are discussed in relation to future prevention and control strategies.
The thyroid-hormone receptors are hormone-dependent transcription factors that control expression of many target genes. This regulation is presumably a consequence of hormone-dependent contacts between the receptors and the basal transcription machinery. We used the yeast two-hybrid system to identify a candidate human transcriptional mediator that interacts with both the thyroid-hormone receptor and the retinoid-X receptor in a ligand-dependent fashion. This protein, Trip1 (for thyroid-hormone-receptor interacting protein), shares striking sequence conservation with the yeast transcriptional mediator Sug1 (refs 6, 7). Here we show that Trip1 can functionally substitute for Sug1 in yeast, and that both proteins interact in vitro with the thyroid-hormone receptor, and with the transcriptional activation domains of yeast GAL4 and of herpes virus VP16.
Chemical face peeling is the application of solutions to the face to lift off various layers of the skin and remove wrinkles. Three types of chemical peels are currently available. Alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) peels are the most mild and, in lower concentrations, can be applied by nurses. Trichloracetic acid (TCA) peels are designed for peels of medium depth. Phenol peels are the oldest form of chemical peels and are used to remove deeper wrinkles. Skin care, including sun block, is important to the success of all three types of peel.
Glucocorticoid regulation of rat growth hormone (rGH) gene expression has been investigated in a series of gene transfer studies into cells in culture. It has been established that sequences (-12 to -523) immediately flanking the start site for rGH gene transcription behave as a functional glucocorticoid inducible enhancer when associated with a heterologous promoter (RSV), displaying independence of orientation and position in mediating the glucocorticoid effect. The induction of chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) gene expression in these constructs by dexamethasone was established at the enzyme and mRNA levels and was inhibited in the presence of the antiglucocorticoid, RU 38486. The glucocorticoid inducible enhancer activity was not restricted to pituitary cells. The constructs containing the rGH-5'-flanking sequences, associated with the RSV promoter, also mediated glucocorticoid induction of CAT gene expression when transiently transfected into MH1C1 cells, a hepatoma cell line. The effect was similarly demonstrable on co-transfection of these constructs with a glucocorticoid receptor expression vector into receptor deficient COS cells. Two elements within these rGH sequences (-97 to -111 and -250 to -264) display partial homology with a consensus sequence computed for a group of glucocorticoid regulatory elements. Mutation of both of these elements or of the more proximal element alone (-97/-111) led to a complete loss of ability to mediate glucocorticoid induction of gene expression. However, the rGH sequences still mediated glucocorticoid induction of gene expression when the distal GRE-like element was mutated or deleted. Thus, the proximal rGH GRE-like element is absolutely required to mediate this glucocorticoid inducible enhancer activity.
We have studied the effects of Fos and Fos/Jun on glucocorticoid induction of hormone-sensitive gene expression. In NIH3T3 cells overexpression of Fos or Fos/Jun by transfection of pSV2-fos and pSV2-jun inhibited glucocorticoid-dependent expression of MMTV LTR-CAT. Expression of p39v-mos had a similar effect on glucocorticoid-dependent reporter gene expression which is most likely mediated by simulation of endogenous Fos. In both cases, this inhibition could be overcome by overexpression of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) from a transiently transfected expression vector. In receptor deficient CV-1 cells glucocorticoid-dependent reporter gene expression was induced by a range of functional GR truncation mutants. It was established that the C/D domain of the receptor was a sufficient target for inhibition by Fos and Fos/Jun. The C/D domain encompasses the DNA-binding domain, a dimerisation domain and a weak transactivational domain of the GR. When present simultaneously in the cell nucleus Fos and Jun were shown to form a specific and stable protein/protein complex with the glucocorticoid receptor. Finally, it was demonstrated that the GR interacts physically with both Fos and Jun when cotranslated simultaneously in vitro. We propose that this interaction may be the mechanism by which Fos or Fos/Jun bring about inhibition of GR function.
Activation of glucocorticoid hormone-dependent transcription involves the binding of the glucocorticoid hormone to its receptor followed by a specific interaction of the hormone/receptor complex with glucocorticoid responsive elements in the promoter region of hormone-inducible genes. In stably transfected NIH3T3 cells expressing the oncogene product of v-mos or fos, the expression from two glucocorticoid responsive promoters, MMTV LTR and metallothionein IIA (MtIIA), was shown to be impaired and was only transient. Cadmium-dependent MtIIA gene expression was not affected by the expression of v-mos in the cells. In transiently transfected NIH3T3 cells constitutive fos expression also inhibited glucocorticoid hormone-induced expression from the MMTV LTR. However, co-expression of antisense fos (here referred to as sof) inhibited the down-regulatory effect of Fos on glucocorticoid induced gene expression. v-mos expression in NIH3T3 cells induces fos mRNA and functional fos product (Fos) as reflected by its ability to induce expression of a transiently transfected AP-1 dependent reporter plasmid. We show that sof expression inhibits the down-regulatory effect of mos on expression of a transiently transfected pMMTV LTR-CAT. Our findings, thus, strongly suggest that the inhibition of glucocorticoid receptor function in cells expressing the v-mos oncogene is mediated by Fos.
Two rare features of minimal change glomerulonephritis occurring together in an adult patient are described. A 70-year-old man presented with acute renal failure and the nephrotic syndrome. Investigation revealed minimal change glomerulonephritis and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Anti-lymphoma treatment reversed both the renal failure and the nephrotic syndrome. Minimal change glomerulonephritis, as a cause of acute renal failure and as a manifestation of malignancy, is briefly reviewed.
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A case of rhabdomyolysis-induced acute renal failure secondary to overdosage with the beta 2-adrenoceptor agonist terbutaline is described. This is a previously undocumented association. We propose that the hyperkinetic effects of intense beta-receptor stimulation may induce rhabdomyolysis.
Hypophosphatemia has been recently highlighted as a reversible cause of respiratory muscle hypocontractility and reduced tissue oxygen extraction in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease and asthma. To define the prevalence and mechanism of hypophosphatemia under these circumstances, we studied phosphate homeostasis in 22 patients with chronic asthma, who had been hospitalized for emergency bronchodilator therapy. Serum phosphate concentration was normal in all patients on presentation, and fell after the initiation of bronchodilator therapy. Twelve patients (54%) developed hypophosphatemia (serum phosphate, less than 0.8 mmol/L). Urinary phosphate level fell in parallel. A negative correlation was observed between serum phosphate and serum theophylline concentrations, and a positive correlation between serum and urinary phosphate concentrations. No correlation was found between serum phosphate and serum albumin or urea concentration. These data indicate that hypophosphatemia is a common metabolic abnormality during the emergency treatment of asthma. The underlying mechanism appears to be drug-induced phosphate flux from the extra-cellular to the intracellular space. We suggest that the serum phosphate level be monitored in patients undergoing emergency treatment of bronchospasm, particularly if a prolonged period of bronchodilator therapy is required or if respiratory muscle fatigue supervenes.
We have employed an in vitro system to study transport and metabolism of organic molecules by gastrointestinal tissues. Such a system would aid in the evaluation of the potential for oral delivery of organic molecules. Transport and metabolism of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) were studied using rabbit intestinal preparations. Unidirectional fluxes and metabolism were measured in vitro in Ussing chambers under short-circuit conditions. Results from these studies reveal that in ileum, proximal, and distal colon, steady-state fluxes of 5-FU (10 microM added to both bathing solutions) are established after 30 min and remain constant for at least 110 min. Transport of 5-FU under "sink" conditions with 10 microM 5-FU present in the mucosal or serosal bathing solution alone demonstrated similar rates of transport as under "nonsink" conditions. The concentration dependence of 5-FU fluxes indicates that the mucosal (m)-to-serosal (s) flux is composed of both a saturable and a linear component over the range of 1-100 microM in the ileum, whereas the s-to-m flux in the ileum and both fluxes in the colon are linear functions of concentration. Over the concentration range employed and the time course of these studies, 5-FU had no effect on the electrical properties of the ileum or colon. In the ileum, the m-to-s but not the s-to-m flux of 5-FU was reduced by (1) serosal ouabain (0.1 mM); (2) reduction of the bathing solution Na concentration; and (3) addition of uracil, thymine, thymidine, uridine, 2-deoxyuridine, or uridine-5'-monophosphate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.