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Biomedical subjects

K Teague

Publications and source records attributed to K Teague.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

cisRED: a database system for genome-scale computational discovery of regulatory elements.

We describe cisRED, a database for conserved regulatory elements that are identified and ranked by a genome-scale computational system (www.cisred.org). The database and high-throughput predictive pipeline are designed to address diverse target genomes in the context of rapidly evolving data resources and tools. Motifs are predicted in promoter regions using multiple discovery methods applied to sequence sets that include corresponding sequence regions from vertebrates. We estimate motif significance by applying discovery and post-processing methods to randomized sequence sets that are adaptively derived from target sequence sets, retain motifs with p-values below a threshold and identify groups of similar motifs and co-occurring motif patterns. The database offers information on atomic motifs, motif groups and patterns. It is web-accessible, and can be queried directly, downloaded or installed locally.

Animals↗

Treatment of lentigo maligna with topical imiquimod.

A published case report and anecdotal experience suggested that topical imiquimod is an effective treatment for stage 0 melanoma (lentigo maligna). To gauge the efficacy of this therapy, we undertook a trial of topical imiquimod in 30 subjects with histologically confirmed lentigo maligna. Thirty subjects with lentigo maligna were recruited for an open-labelled efficacy trial with daily topical application of imiquimod 5% cream for 3 months. Study subjects were enrolled from the Dermatology service of the University of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma City Veteran's Administration Hospital Dermatology service and from referrals for the study from other practitioners. In order to determine an initial response rate, a four-quadrant biopsy was carried out on all patients 1 month after cessation of treatment, targeting the most clinically and dermatoscopically suspicious areas. Of 28 evaluable subjects who have completed the 3-month treatment phase, 26 (93%) were complete responders and two were treatment failures at the time of the 4-quadrant biopsy. Over 80% of the 28 subjects that completed treatment have been followed for more than 1 year with no relapses. The results of this study demonstrate that topical imiquimod produces a high complete response rate in lentigo maligna when applied daily for 3 months.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗

T-cell survival.

Like other cells, T cells are dependent on signals from their environment for their survival. Resting T cells are supported in vitro by cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-4, IL-6 and IL-7. The latter two cytokines are made constitutively in animals and hence might affect the lifetimes of their resting T cells. Resting T cells are also kept alive by interaction with an as yet unidentified molecule on the surface of other cells. Activated T cells are also supported in vitro by members of two families of these proteins, the IL-2 family and the interferon-alpha beta family. Members of the latter family may have effects on activated cells in vivo. Thus although both resting and activated T cells require signals to keep themselves alive, the signals are different for the two types of cells. This perhaps allows the immune response to control the numbers of activated cells during infections without compromising its pool of precursor, resting T cells.

Animals↗

DNA and RNA content analysis by flow cytometry in the pathobiologic assessment of bone tumors.

Studies of simultaneous DNA and RNA contents by flow cytometry in hematologic and some solid neoplasms have been shown to provide information that may be useful in the pathobiological evaluation of these neoplasms. We contend that similar analysis may be equally valuable in assessing bone tumors. Our data revealed significant statistical differences in DNA ploidy and proliferative fraction between benign and malignant bone neoplasms. Benign tumors manifested predominantly DNA diploidy and low proliferative activity, whereas the majority of malignant tumors were DNA aneuploid and showed high proliferation rate. No significant difference in the RNA content between different histopathologic categories was found. We observed, however, a distinct and consistently high RNA content pattern in giant cell tumors, aneurysmal bone cysts, and chondroblastomas that may be useful in their differential diagnosis. Analysis of different prognostic factors in malignant tumors indicated that histologic grade and DNA content are a significant prognostic factors. Further analysis of malignant tumors showed that a correlation between the proliferative activity and the clinical outcome in the low grade category and between RNA content and patients' survival in osteosarcomas. Our study also showed that preoperative treatment significantly impacted on the extent of the proliferative fraction in malignant tumors. We conclude that DNA/RNA analysis of bone tumor may assist in: (1) the differential diagnosis of certain bone tumors, (2) evaluation of treatment response, and (3) the biological assessment of osteosarcomas.

Acridine Orange↗

Comparative flow cytometric analysis of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) antibodies in human solid neoplasms.

Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), an auxiliary protein of DNA polymerase delta, associated with DNA synthesis, is increasingly used to determine tumor growth rate. To determine the growth fraction by PCNA, various antibodies and fixation procedures are being used. We assessed the flow-cytometric measurement of PCNA using three monoclonal antibodies (PC10, 19F4, and 19A2) and two fixation protocols (paraformaldehyde and methanol) in tissue-culture cell lines and human solid neoplasms to determine their potential clinical application. Thirty-one solid tumors and four normal tissues were analyzed, along with MOLT-4 and HL-60 cell lines as positive controls and normal peripheral blood lymphocytes as a negative control. PC10 with methanol fixation consistently detected higher PCNA positivity in human solid neoplasms than 19F4 and 19A2. Using PC10, the differences in positivity among fixation methods occurred in the G0/1 phase, not in S + G2M, of the cell cycle. No correlation was found between PCNA positivity and tumor grade and DNA ploidy in tumors analyzed. A statistical correlation was found between overall PCNA positivity and RNA content as determined by acridine orange analysis. The growth fraction by PCNA in solid neoplasms was most reliably determined by PC10 with methanol fixation.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗

Regional DNA content heterogeneity in colonic adenocarcinoma: prognostic significance in patients with liver metastases.

We retrospectively examined by flow cytometry the DNA ploidy pattern in tissue blocks from 25 primary colon adenocarcinomas and their lymph node and liver metastases. Intratumoral heterogeneity was present in 22% of primary tumors and 21% of metastatic liver deposits. Intertumoral heterogeneity, measured between the primary tumor and its lymph node and liver metastases, was 0% and 20%, respectively. Of 24 patients who underwent successful resection of their liver metastases, 8 neoplasms had uniformly diploid DNA content, while 16 tumors had aneuploid DNA pattern in either the primary tumor, the metastases, or both. Five-year survival was better in the diploid group (38% vs. 7%, P = 0.10 by log rank analysis). Three of eight patients in the diploid group remain free of disease, while all 16 patients with aneuploid cell populations have died of recurrent disease.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Single- and double-stranded RNA measurements by flow cytometry in solid neoplasms.

We investigated the ability of single- and double-stranded RNA measurements to discriminate between neoplastic and non-neoplastic solid tissues. Sixty-one solid nonhematopoietic neoplasms, 10 reactive non-neoplastic lesions, and 26 normal tissue samples were the test materials. Single-stranded ribonucleic acid (s-RNA) levels and double-stranded ribonucleic acid (ds-RNA) excess in these specimens were defined in relationship to normal human lymphocytes. The mean s-RNA index in normal, reactive, benign, and diploid and aneuploid malignant tissue samples was 0.90, 1.54, 1.9, 1.2, and 2.2, respectively. For ds-RNA, the mean excess level for normal, reactive, benign, and diploid and aneuploid malignant specimens was 8.5%, 18.5%, 51.0%, 36.0%, and 41.3%, respectively. No statistical differences in s-RNA level were found between non-neoplastic and neoplastic tissue samples. A significant difference in ds-RNA excess was found between non-neoplastic and benign, and diploid and aneuploid malignant neoplastic tissue (P less than 0.001). The specificity of s-RNA level and ds-RNA excess was 94.4% and 100%, and the sensitivity was 29.5% and 67.2%, respectively. Notably, ds-RNA determinations identified 70.0% of the diploid neoplastic samples, in contrast to 20% by s-RNA. Our preliminary data suggest that ds-RNA may be a useful parameter and may complement DNA ploidy in identification of solid neoplasms, especially if the yield of intact cells is improved.

DNA, Neoplasm↗

Tumor proliferative fraction in solid malignant neoplasms. A comparative study of Ki-67 immunostaining and flow cytometric determinations.

Tumor proliferative fraction (TPF) has been shown to correlate with prognosis in some malignancies. A method for its determination that is practical, accurate, and reproducible is still being sought. In this comparative study of techniques, TPF values were determined in mirror-image samples of 126 consecutive solid malignant neoplasms using flow cytometry and immunostaining with Ki-67, a monoclonal antibody that recognizes an unknown nuclear antigen expressed during the entire cell proliferation cycle but not in resting cells. The mean TPF values for all cases were 19.5 +/- 15.6% (percentage of tumor cells stained) by Ki-67 (range, 1-86%) and 15.7 +/- 9.6% (S + G2M) by flow cytometry (range, 3-60%), which correlated significantly at r = 0.53 and P = 0.005. The correlation was less strong in tumors with low S-phase values (less than or equal to 10%, r = 0.28) than in tumors with intermediate and high S-phase values (r = 0.66). Ki-67 staining percentages did not correlate with patient age, sex, or tissue origin of the tumor. Ki-67 staining appears comparable to flow cytometry determination of TPF in solid malignancies with intermediate and high S-phase values. In tumors with low S-phase values, Ki-67 immunostaining shows higher TPF values, which perhaps reflect an increase in the proportion of G1-phase cells or dilutional effect of nonneoplastic cells in the tumors with low proliferative fraction.

Adolescent↗

Flow cytometric analysis of the DNA content of non-small cell lung cancer. Ploidy as a significant prognostic indicator in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.

To assess the prognostic value of DNA ploidy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we performed a flow cytometric study using paraffin-embedded archival material from 158 patients who underwent surgical resection between 1980 and 1982. Single-variable histograms were examined and the results of these histograms were correlated with clinicopathologic characteristics and outcome. Histograms that could be analyzed were obtained in 146 cases, of which 85 (58%) were aneuploid and 61 (42%) were diploid. Survival analysis showed that patients with diploid squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) survived significantly longer than those with aneuploid SCC (a 5-year survival rate of 70% as compared with 26% [P = 0.002], respectively), and the results were independent of stage. However, DNA ploidy was not a significant prognostic factor in non-SCC (P = 0.337). Ploidy did not correlate with other clinicopathologic variables such as stage, nodal status, degree of differentiation, nuclear grade, and mitotic rate. These results suggest that DNA ploidy, as determined by flow cytometric analysis, provides an independent prognostic variable for patients with SCC and that it should be considered in treatment planning. However, non-SCC of lung may have different biologic variables, and their prognostic variables should be evaluated separately.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Acridine orange flow cytometric analysis of renal cell carcinoma. Clinicopathologic implications of RNA content.

To explore the potential role that ribonucleic acid (RNA) content analysis may have in the assessment of primary renal cell carcinomas (RCC), biparametric flow cytometric (acridine orange) measurements for DNA/RNA were obtained on 108 fresh neoplastic specimens. RNA content was divided into low and high groups, based on the average RNA content in normal kidney controls. High RNA content was significantly correlated with aneuploidy, high proliferative index, high nuclear grade, cytoplasmic granularity, and large tumor size. No correlation was found between RNA content and patients' sex, race, and clinical stage of the carcinomas. When diploid RCCs were separately analyzed, high RNA content was correlated with high nuclear grade, large tumor size, high clinical stage, and cytoplasmic granularity. There was no correlation between RNA content and the patient's sex or race or the neoplasm's proliferative index. Of the 16 patients that relapsed (5 diploid and 11 aneuploid), four of the diploid and all 11 aneuploid neoplasms displayed high RNA content. The authors' data show that RNA may be a valuable objective and quantitative parameter in the clinicopathologic assessment of RCC.

Acridine Orange↗