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Biomedical subjects

I Slavutsky

Publications and source records attributed to I Slavutsky.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Intron 22 factor VIII gene inversions in Argentine families with severe haemophilia A.

Intron 22 factor VIII gene inversion (Inv22) is the most common mutation causing severe haemophilia A (SHA). We studied Inv22 in 34 SHA affected families by Southern blotting. Data from the familial history of the disease and the inhibitor status were also included. We found Inv22 in 41 % of SHA Argentine families (35 % with type 1 and 6 % with type 2), in close agreement with previously reported series. No significant correlation between the inheritance (familiar or sporadic disease) and the presence of inversions was found. Our population showed 24 % of families included at least one hemophiliac with inhibitor. In families positive for Inv22, 29 % of patients developed inhibitor but this increased frequency was not statistically significant. In conclusion, analysis of Inv22 in SHA patients should be used as a first line method because it provides useful and secure information for carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis in a high percentage of cases.

Argentina↗

High frequencies of telomeric associations, chromosome aberrations, and sister chromatid exchanges in ulcerative colitis.

OBJECTIVE: Chromosome instability provides a predisposing background to malignancy, contributing to the crucial genetic changes in multistep carcinogenesis. The aim of this work was to analyze chromosome instability in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) to achieve a better understanding of the increased risk for colorectal cancer. METHODS: Peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures from 20 untreated UC patients and 24 controls were used to study chromosome instability by assessing telomeric associations (TAS), chromosome aberrations (CA), and sister chromatid exchanges (SCE). RESULTS: Mean frequencies of TAS and CA were significantly increased in UC patients compared to controls (p < 0.001). Chromosomes 10, 11, 21, 16, and 19 were the most frequently involved in TAS. A total of 104 CA clustered in 66 breakpoints could be exactly localized. Seven nonrandom bands significantly affected in UC patients were found (p < 0.004), showing a significant correlation with the location of cancer breakpoints (p < 0.003), particularly with colorectal carcinoma rearrangements. SCE analysis showed higher levels in patients compared to controls (p < 0.006), but no differences were observed in cell cycle kinetics. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate the presence of an unstable genome in UC patients that could be related to the cancer development observed in this disease.

Adolescent↗

Dup(12)(q13-q22) and 13q14 deletion in a case of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Cases with partial trisomy 12 have rarely been found in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). We report our clinical, cytogenetic and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) findings in a CLL patient with a duplication of part of the long arm of chromosome 12 between bands q13-q22. This patient was the only case with this duplication among the 112 cases (0.9%) of CLL cytogenetically analyzed in our laboratory. FISH studies using unique-sequence specific probes for the RB-1 (retinoblastoma) gene and the D13S319 locus at the 13q14 band showed a monoallelic loss for the D13S319 locus (20% of cells) with a diploid RB-1 gene. Our case showed an atypical morphology (35% prolymphocytes), a high proliferation rate and progression of the disease, indicating that the duplication of this region may be equivalent to complete trisomy 12 in CLL patients.

Aged↗

Bcl-2 molecular analysis in paraffin-embedded biopsies from diffuse large B-cell lymphomas.

Translocation t(14; 18) has been observed in 50-85% of follicular and in 30% of diffuse non-Hodgkin lymphomas. About half of follicle center lymphoma (FCL) undergo histological conversion at relapse to more aggressive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). This report correlates the molecular bcl-2/IgH rearrangement by PCR and Bcl-2 immunohistochemical (IHC) expression in a series of high grade DLBCLs with and without FCL remnant. Twenty-three paraffin-embedded lymph nodes from DLBCL patients were analyzed. Eleven patients showed FCL remnant (Group A) and 12, did not (Group B). Single PCR from paraffin extracted DNA followed by Southern transfer of products, hybridisation with internal oligoprobes for the MBR/JH and MCR/JH bcl-2 rearrangements and IHC analysis of Bcl-2 expression, were performed. PCR analysis was positive in 34.8% of patients. Bcl-2/IgH gene rearrangements were observed in 8 (34%) cases and 7 (30%) showed Bcl-2 expression on large noncleaved B-cells (centroblasts). All patients from Group A showed IHC positive reaction on FCL remnant (small cleaved cells) but only 2 (18%) were positive in DLBCL areas, suggesting either the loss of the bcl-2 expression on the transformed lymphoma, or, alternatively, the development of a second disease when the first lymphoma transforms. Group B patients showed a clear correlation between PCR and IHC studies. Our results suggest a similar frequency of t(14; 18) in DLBCLs to that reported in Europe and USA series. The discordance observed between PCR and IHC, particularly in Group A, points out the necessity to perform both studies in order to detect bcl-2 gene involvement in DLBCLs.

Adult↗

CD8 expression in a case of chronic lymphocytic leukemia with trisomy 12.

We report a case of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) with aberrant expression of the T-cell-associated antigen CD8, as revealed by two-color flow-cytometric analysis. DNA studies showed immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene rearrangement, but not of gamma-chain T-cell receptor, confirming the B-cell origin of the neoplastic cells. Ploidy analysis showed a tetraploid population and high S-phase fraction. B-CLL cells also carried trisomy 12, detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization. The identification of more cases with the same features would be necessary to establish the prognosis of this subtype of B-CLL.

Aged↗

Spontaneous breakage and fragile site expression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

It has been suggested that genetic predisposition to cancer might be related to spontaneous chromosome instability or to fragile site expression. Therefore, spontaneous breakage and fragile sites were analyzed in nine untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients to determine their relation to cancer rearrangements. Five cases presented spontaneous gaps and breaks with a random distribution of breakpoints. In cultures treated with fluorodeoxyuridine or aphidicolin, 29 specific bands could be defined as fragile sites. A significant clustering of these sites was found with known common fragile sites (c-fra) and cancer breakpoints described in the literature. Most of these cancer breakpoints were involved in structural abnormalities associated with CLL (p < 0.00001). These data suggest that the expression of specific fragile sites might be related to structural chromosomal aberrations in CLL.

Aged↗

Cytogenetic characterization of an extra structurally abnormal chromosome associated with severe mental retardation: inv dup (15) (q13).

We have studied an extra structually abnormal chromosome (ESAC) in a 13 years old boy with profound mental, psychomotor and speech retardation, behavioral problems, seizures and abnormal electroencephalogram. The examination of the bisatellited ESAC with chromosome banding demonstrated that the karyotype was: 47, XY, +inv dup (15) (pter-->q13::q13-->pter). The cytogenetic characterization of the inv dup (15) is reported with special emphasis on the usefulness of DA/DAPI staining when G-banding is sequentially performed to discard possible heteromorphisms in DA/DAPI positive chromosomes, and the importance of Ag-NOR heteromorphisms to ascertain the maternal origin of the inv dup (15). A U-type exchange between two non-sister chromatids is proposed as its mechanism of formation. The clinical features of the case were consistent with those previously reported in similar cases.

Adolescent↗

Age related decrease of NOR activity in bone marrow metaphase chromosomes from healthy individuals.

AIMS: To present data obtained from human bone marrow preparations from healthy individual showing that the proportion of metaphases with silver stained nucleolar organiser region (AgNOR) chromosomes is associated with the age of the donor. METHODS: Bone marrow preparations from eight Russian and 10 Argentinian healthy individuals donating bone marrow for heterologous transplantation were studied by silver staining. The Russian bone marrow preparations were used directly, while the bone marrow specimens from Argentinian donors were incubated for 24 hours at 37 degrees C in F-10 medium with 15% fetal bovine serum. The slides were silver stained by the one step method of Howell and Black with slight modifications. Thirty metaphases with clearly defined D and G group chromosomes were scored for the numbers of AgNORs. All metaphases that were adjacent to silver stained interphase nuclei were analysed to assess the percentage of AgNOR positive mitoses. The Kruskal Wallis test and Kendall's rank correlation coefficient (rK) were used to assess the relation between age and the percentage of AgNOR positive cells. RESULTS: The mean numbers (SE) of AgNORs per metaphase were 5.06 (0.17) and 5.56 (0.23) for the Russian and Argentinian groups, respectively, with no significant differences between the two groups. The common percentage of AgNOR positive cells decreased significantly as a function of age, with an rK = -0.57 (p < 0.0012). CONCLUSIONS: The percentages of AgNOR negative metaphases in bone marrow from healthy individuals is strongly associated with age and this may be related to age related telomere loss.

Adolescent↗

The human breast cancer cell line IIB-BR-G has amplified c-myc and c-fos oncogenes in vitro and is spontaneously metastatic in vivo.

IIB-BR-G is an undifferentiated, highly heterogeneous, hormone receptor negative human breast cancer cell line previously established in our laboratory from a patient's primary tumor. An in vitro growing cell line (IIB-BR-G) and a xenotransplanted tumor growing in nude mice (IIB-BR-G(NUDE)) were derived. To further characterize these systems, immunocytochemical analysis was performed for differentiation antigens (PEM 200 kDa, CEA, NCA 90 kDa), blood-group related antigens (Le(x), sTn), oncogenes and tumor suppressor gene products (Her-2/neu protein, p53), metastasis-related cathepsin D and CD63/5.01 Ag, and the chemokine monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1). Expression of markers was heterogeneous in these different systems. Previously reported karyotypic analysis has shown extensive chromosomal alterations including double min. Searching for oncogene amplification, we detected augmented copy number of c-myc and c-fos, the last one with two rearranged fragments. No amplification was found for c-erbB-2 in the cell line or in IIB-BR-G(NUDE), although this oncogene was amplified in the patient's primary tumor DNA. The differences observed between the patient's tumor, the cell line and the IIB-BR-G(NUDE) tumors are probably due to clonal expansion of cell variants not present in the original tumor. Electron microscopy of IIB-BR-G growing cells revealed epithelial characteristics with abundant dense granules, presumably secretory, distributed all over the cytoplasm and great nuclear pleomorphism. In vitro, IIB-BR-G cells showed a significant number of invading cells by Matrigel assay. After nearly 40 sequential subcutaneous passages of the original xenograft through nude mice, 80% of recipients developed spontaneous metastases, primarily to the lung and lymph nodes. Since this experimental model allowed to analyze changes produced in cancer cells from the primary tumor during adaptation to in vitro and in vivo growth, our results provide novel insights on the behaviour of hormone independent metastatic breast cancer.

Animals↗

Vinorelbine: cell cycle kinetics and differential sensitivity of human lymphocyte subpopulations.

Antiproliferative activity induced by vinorelbine (VRB) was studied in whole blood cultures (WBC) and in lymphocyte subpopulations evaluated by the MAC (morphology-antibody-chromosome) method. In WBC a significant delay in cell cycle kinetics in VRB-treated cultures compared with controls (P < 0.001) was observed. The highest dose (1.0 microg/ml) arrested all cells at the first metaphase. Both WBC and isolated lymphocyte cultures showed a significant increase in the mitotic index (MI) in VRB-treated cultures compared with controls (P < 0.001). Moreover, a significant increase in the MI was found in VRB-treated CD4 cells compared with VRB-treated CD8 (P < 0.01) and B-lymphocytes (P < 0.001).

Adult↗

[Large granular lymphocytic leukemia. Case report with scarce expression in peripheral blood].

The case of a 33 year old woman with a large granular lymphocytic leukemia is presented. The main symptoms were neutropenia and recurrent respiratory bacterial infections. No enlargement of the liver, spleen or lymph nodes was noted. Circulating lymphocytes averaged 3000/microliter with 35% of large granular cells. The bone marrow biopsy showed lymphatic infiltration with both nodular and interstitial pattern. Lymphocytes bore the T suppressor phenotype (CD8+, CD45 RO+, CD20-, kappa-, lambda-). Cytogenetic studies revealed a low expression clone with 7q-: del (7)(q36). Gene rearrangements for immunoglobulins or T-cell receptors could not be demonstrated by Southern Blot. Bone marrow cultures grew normally while both normal and patient bone marrow showed marked inhibition when incubated with patients serum. Normalization of the peripheral granulocytic count was obtained with prednisone, while granulocytic-stimulating factors, chlorambucil, and cyclosporine A were partially active or inactive. We suggest that this case represents a form of the lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocytes. To our knowledge, the deletion of the long arm of chromosome 7 has not been described in this disease.

Adult↗

Chromosome instability in untreated adult celiac disease patients.

Spontaneous chromosome aberrations (CAs) and induced fragile sites (FSs) were analysed in 12 untreated adult coeliac disease (CD) patients and 8 healthy controls. Blood lymphocytes from each individual were cultured for 72 h at 37 degrees C in F-10 medium with 5% fetal calf serum and 0.1 ml phytohemagglutinine. FSs were induced by FudR (10 micrograms/ml, 24 h before harvesting) and caffeine (2.2 mM. 6 h before harvest). Spontaneous CAs and FSs were analysed on 30-50 Giemsa-stained and G-banded metaphases. The mean frequencies of spontaneous CAs (abnormal cells, gaps/cell and breaks/cell) of CD patients (0.24 +/- 0.02, 0.21 +/- 0.02 and 0.13 +/- 0.02, respectively) were significantly higher than those of controls (0.04 +/- 0.01, 0.02 +/- 0.01 and 0.02 +/- 0.01, respectively) (p < 0.001). Fourteen spontaneous CAs and 5 FSs specific for CD patients presented a strong coincidence (70%) with bands involved in T- and B-cell malignant lymphoma rearrangements. These findings suggest that CD has chromosome instability affecting specific points that could be related to the high prevalence of malignancies in this disorder.

Adolescent↗

Variant (8;22) translocation in lymphoblastic lymphoma.

Occasional cases with the chromosomal translocations that juxtapose the c-myc oncogene to Ig genes have been reported in large cell, small lymphocytic, immunoblastic, and follicular lymphomas. In this report, we present a 20 year-old female with lymphoblastic lymphoma of B-cell type and a translocation t(8;22), in which cytogenetic, immunologic, and molecular studies were performed. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of this association.

Adult↗

Molecular study of the interferon genes in chronic myeloid leukemia.

The interferons alpha, beta, and w (IFNA, IFNB, IFNW), are a family of genes that have been mapped on the short arm of chromosome 9 (9p21-22). Deletions of genetic material on 9p are frequently observed in hematological diseases, particularly in lymphoid neoplasias. In this paper we have performed the molecular studies of IFNA and IFNB genes in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in order to determine if the deletions of these genes are prevalent in this pathology. Forty CML patients, Philadelphia positive or with BCR/ABL rearrangement, were studied at diagnosis. The analysis of IFNA and IFNB genes was performed by Southern and dot blot techniques. Homozygous or hemizygous deletions of IFNA and IFNB genes could not be detected, indicating that deletions of these genes would not be present or would be a very infrequent event in the chronic phase of the CML patients.

Adult↗

Micronuclei induction by carboplatin in human lymphocyte subpopulations.

Micronuclei (MN) induction by carboplatin, cis-diammine-1,1-cyclobutane decarboxylate platinum (II) (CBDCA), in B and T lymphocytes was studied by the MAC (morphology/antibody/chromosome) method which allows the immunologic identification of different cell lineages. An increased frequency of MN in B and T lymphocytes in CBDCA-treated cultures compared with controls was observed (p < 0.001). CBD cells were found to be more sensitive to CBDCA damage. CBDCA-treated cultures showed a decrease, albeit statistically non-significant, in the proportion of CBD interphasic and mitotic cells. Furthermore, higher MN frequencies in isolated lymphocytes than in whole blood in both control and CBDCA-treated cultures were observed.

Adult↗

Biologic, immunocytochemical, and cytogenetic characterization of two new human melanoma cell lines: IIB-MEL-LES and IIB-MEL-IAN.

Two human melanoma cell lines, derived from metastases of two patients with epithelioid malignant amelanotic melanomas, and designated IIB-MEL-LES and IIB-MEL-IAN, have been established. Both cell lines have been in continuous culture over 2 years and were propagated continuously for 85 and 75 serial passages, respectively. Morphologically, IIB-MEL-LES is composed predominantly of spindle shaped cells, whereas IIB-MEL-IAN grows as a monolayer of cuboid and stellate shaped cells with many rounded cells in suspension. Immunocytochemical studies revealed that both cell lines express S-100 protein, vimentin, and GD3 and GD2 gangliosides but are negative for keratin and collagen. Both cell lines express HLA class I and HLA-DR antigens in variable proportions. The MAGE-1 gene is expressed only by the IIB-MEL-IAN cell line, as revealed by PCR analysis. Cytogenetic analysis of both cell lines revealed abnormal karyotypes; the modal chromosome numbers of IIB-MEL-LES and IIB-MEL-IAN were 48 and 81, respectively. IIB-MEL-LES cells presented rearrangements in chromosomes 1, 14 and X, gains in chromosomes 10, 20, and 21 losses in chromosomes 15 and Y. The most frequent markers observed in IIB-MEL-IAN cells were 7q+, 10p+, 2p+, i(6p), 2q+, and 10q-. Clonal gains were observed in chromosomes 12 and 21, whereas losses were seen in chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, and 17. Both cell lines were capable of forming colonies in soft agar and developed tumors when transplanted into nude mice, reproducing and maintaining the characteristics of the original tumors. These cell lines and their xenografts appear to provide useful systems for studying the biology, genetics and histogenesis of human malignant melanoma and could be utilized for the development of melanoma vaccines.

Adult↗