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G Casey

Publications and source records attributed to G Casey.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Localization of a growth suppressor activity in MCF7 breast cancer cells to chromosome 17q24-q25.

Chromosome 17 is one of the most frequently altered chromosomes in malignant breast cancer. At least four genes implicated in breast cancer reside on chromosome 17 (p53, 17p13; Her-2/neu/ERBB2, 17q12; BRCA1, 17q21; and nm23, 17q22). In addition, allelic imbalance has been described for at least five regions of chromosome 17. We have previously shown that the introduction of a normal human chromosome 17 into the breast cancer cell line MCF7 by microcell mediated chromosome transfer (MMCT) results in the in vitro growth arrest of these cells within 8 weeks, suggesting the presence of a growth suppressor on chromosome 17. Additionally, we have shown that the tumor suppressor gene p53 is not responsible for this phenotype, as it is wild type in MCF7 cells, and overexpression has no effect on either the in vitro or in vivo growth of these cells. We have further localized this growth suppressor gene to 17q24-q25 by transfer of chromosome 17 hybrids containing defined deletions. Whereas transfer of hybrids that contained an intact 17q (delta43/A9 and delta26/A9) resulted in growth arrest, two hybrids with overlapping deletions at 17q24-q25, had no effect on growth of MCF7 cells. Molecular analyses revealed that 50/70 (71%) of the resulting delta2/MCF7 or delta624/MCF7 MMCT clones retained an intact introduced chromosome 17. In contrast, only 8/34 (24%) of delta43/MCF7 revertants (deleted for 17p13.1-pter) which escaped growth arrest showed no breakage of the introduced chromosome 17. We did not observe a preferential loss of an intragenic BRCA1 marker in the MMCT hybrids, excluding BRCA1 as the gene responsible for this growth arrest phenotype. These data therefore implicate a new growth suppressor gene involved in breast cancer that is localized to chromosome 17q24-q25.

Breast Neoplasms↗

p53 and HER-2/neu overexpression in ovarian borderline tumors.

OBJECTIVE: To study p53 and HER-2/neu expression in borderline ovarian tumors (BLOT) by assessing their frequency, coexpression, and relationship to histologic type, FIGO stage, tumor recurrence, and survival. METHODS: Forty-two patients with confirmed BLOT (25 serous, 13 mucinous, and 4 seromucinous) were followed for 1.5 to 14 years (mean, 6.3). Thirty (71%) patients had FIGO stage I and 12 (29%) had FIGO stage III disease. Paraffin-embedded sections from the 42 BLOT, 5 normal ovaries, and 10 benign ovarian cystadenomas were stained using monoclonal antibodies against human p53 (DAKO-p53, DAKO, Denmark) and HER-2/neu (C-erB-2, Triton, Parkway, CA). Positive staining was semiquantitated depending on the number of positively stained tumor cells. p53 and HER-2/neu overexpressions were correlated to each other, to histologic subtype, stage, tumor recurrence, and survival. RESULTS: None of the patients had tumor recurrence. The 5- and 10-year disease-free survival was 100%. None of the normal ovaries or ovarian cystadenomas demonstrated overexpression of p53 or HER-2/neu. Ten (24%) BLOT demonstrated overexpression of p53 and 9 (21%) demonstrated overexpression of HER-2/neu. HER-2/neu overexpression was significantly greater in stage III than in stage I tumors (P = 0.0157). Seromucinous BLOT demonstrated significantly greater p53 overexpression compared with other histologic subtypes (P = 0.030). Coexpression of p53 and HER-2/neu occurred in 4 patients (9.5%). There was no significant correlation between the overexpression of p53 and HER-2/neu (P = 0.180) and no significant relationship between p53 and HER-2/neu overexpression and the presence of microinvasion, ability to perform optimal cytoreductive surgery, tumor recurrence, or survival. CONCLUSIONS: p53 and HER-2/neu overexpression occurred in about 20-25% of BLOT overall and more commonly in seromucinous and advanced stage tumors. Coexpression occurred in 9.5% of the cases with no significant correlation between the expression of p53 and HER-2/neu.

Adolescent↗

The BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancer genes.

Between 5% and 10% of breast cancer cases result from an inherited predisposition. The majority of hereditary forms of breast and ovarian cancer can be accounted for by mutations in two recently identified genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2. Inactivating mutations have been found throughout both genes, and the majority are predicted to result in truncated proteins. Surprisingly, whereas germline mutations have been identified in a growing number of breast or breast and ovarian cancer families, few mutations have been reported in sporadic forms of breast or ovarian cancer. Alternative mechanisms of inactivation have been proposed, but there is currently no strong evidence that these genes are involved in sporadic forms of cancer. Recent studies suggest a role for BRCA1 in transcriptional regulation, as it possesses a conserved amino terminal RING finger domain and an acidic carboxyl domain. Although this role would be consistent with the reported localization of the BRCA1 protein to the nucleus, a cytoplasmic localization and a secretory role for BRCA1 has also been proposed. Current findings suggest that BRCA1 may play an as yet undefined protective role in cells, as it is strongly expressed in epithelial cells undergoing high levels of proliferation in association with differentiation.

Adolescent↗

Mutation analysis of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in a male breast cancer population.

A population-based series of 54 male breast cancer cases from Southern California were analyzed for germ-line mutations in the inherited breast/ovarian cancer genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2. Nine (17%) of the patients had a family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer in at least one first-degree relative. A further seven (13%) of the patients reported breast/ovarian cancer in at least one second-degree relative and in no first-degree relatives. No germ-line BRCA1 mutations were found. Two male breast cancer patients (4% of the total) were found to carry novel truncating mutations in the BRCA2 gene. Only one of the two male breast cancer patients carrying a BRCA2 mutation had a family history of cancer, with one case of ovarian cancer in a first-degree relative. The remaining eight cases (89%) of male breast cancer with a family history of breast/ovarian cancer in first-degree relatives remain unaccounted for by mutations in either the BRCA1 gene or the BRCA2 gene.

Aged↗

Assessing wounds.

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Bandages↗

What is oedema?

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Edema↗

Four regions of allelic imbalance on 17q12-qter associated with high-grade breast tumors.

Rearrangements or loss of chromosome 17 are frequent events in breast tumors. Chromosome 17 contains at least four genes implicated in breast cancer (TP53, ERBB2 (Her2/neu), BRCA1, and NM23), as well as other putative tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes implicated in loss of heterozygosity or allelic imbalance studies. Allelic imbalance represents the addition or loss of genetic material in tumor samples, providing circumstantial evidence for the location of cancer related genes. We have analyzed a panel of 85 breast tumor/normal tissue pairs with 21 PCR-based short tandem repeat (STR) markers located at 17q12-qter to more precisely define regions of allelic imbalance and to determine their relation to clinical parameters. Our analysis revealed at least four common regions of allelic imbalance: proximal to BRCA1, including D17S800 (17q12); distal to NM23 around D17S787 (17q22); near the growth hormone (GH) locus, at D17S948 (17q23-24); and between markers D17S937 and D17S802 (17q25). These data also reveal that loss (or gain) of 17q genetic material correlates with poorly differentiated (grade III) tumors (P = < 0.001), high S phase fraction (P = 0.034), and positive TP53 immunohistochemical staining (P = 0.011). However steroid receptor status, ERBB2 (Her2/neu) staining, and aneuploidy do not correlate with allelic imbalance at 17q.

Alleles↗

DNA sequence analysis of exons 2 through 11 and immunohistochemical staining are required to detect all known p53 alterations in human malignancies.

p53 mutations are the most common genetic alterations found in human malignancies. However current estimates of p53 alterations in cancers may be inaccurate because there is evidence that current approaches do not detect all p53 alterations. In this study we determine the status of the p53 gene by complete DNA sequencing of exons 2 through 11 as well as immunohistochemical staining in cohorts of primary human breast, ovarian and non small cell lung cancer. Overall, 24 of 93 (26%) breast cancers, 62 of 108 (57%) ovarian cancers and 88 of 154 (57%) non small cell lung cancers contained DNA sequence mutations, whereas positive immunohistochemical staining was detected in 15 of 64 (23%) breast, 35 of 94 (37%) ovarian, and 63 of 137 (46%) lung cancers. Of those tumors that contained mutations, the mutation occurred outside the 'hot-spot' region in 19% of breast, 18% of ovarian and 17% of lung tumors, indicating that a substantial number of mutations remain undetected in studies that are restricted to exons 5 through 9. We observed a high concordance between the presence of p53 missense mutations and positive immunohistochemical staining, but a poor concordance between other types of mutations and staining in all three types of malignancies. We conclude that a combination of DNA sequence analysis of exons 2 through 11 and immunohistochemical staining are required to detect all known alterations in the p53 gene in human malignancies.

Breast Neoplasms↗

WAF1/CIP1 increases the susceptibility of p53 non-functional malignant glioma cells to cisplatin-induced apoptosis.

Induction of apoptosis in tumor cells is an important determinant in the outcome of therapy. Molecular details of the apoptosis pathway, however, are still poorly defined. The recently discovered WAF1/CIP1 gene is a potent inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases and a mediator of tumor-suppressor p53-dependent apoptosis by DNA damage. In addition, WAF1/CIP1 expression is shown to be triggered through the p53-independent pathway. The relationship between WAF1/CIP1 and p53-independent apoptosis by DNA damage, however, remains unclear. In this study, we show that WAF1/CIP1 was induced in p53-dependent apoptosis of U87-MG glioma cells by cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (cisplatin), and overexpression of WAF1/CIP1 induced apoptosis in U87-MG cells without cisplatin treatment. In contrast, the p53-independent apoptosis of GB-1 glioma cells by cisplatin did not express WAF1/CIP1. Overexpression of WAF1/CIP1 inhibited DNA synthesis in GB-1 cells, but did not induce apoptosis. Interestingly, WAF1/CIP1 increased the susceptibility of GB-1 cells to cisplatin-induced apoptosis. These results suggest that overexpression of WAF1/CIP1 may have potential for the treatment of tumors with non-functional p53.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

Identification of human OGR1, a novel G protein-coupled receptor that maps to chromosome 14.

We describe the cloning of a novel G protein-coupled receptor, termed ovarian cancer G protein-coupled receptor 1 (OGR1), from an ovarian cancer cell line that maps to chromosome 14q31. The predicted open reading frame of OGR1 encodes a protein of 365 amino acids. OGR1 is expressed as a single 3.0-kb transcript in several tissues, including spleen, testis, small intestine, peripheral blood leukocytes, brain, heart, lung, placenta, and kidney, with no detectable OGR1 expression in thymus, prostate, ovary, colon, liver, skeletal muscle, or pancreas. OGR1 shares strongest homology (49-54%) with the human orphan receptor GPR4. The structural features of OGR1 suggest that the ligand for OGR1 is likely to be a small peptide or a small bioactive molecule.

Amino Acid Sequence↗