Biomedical subjects

Pedro Jares

Publications and source records attributed to Pedro Jares.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Association of CDK4 and CCND1 mRNA overexpression in laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas occurs without CDK4 amplification.

CDK4 is involved in the control of G1-S phase transition as a part of the CCND1/CDK4 complexes. CCNDI and CDK4 gene alterations have been implicated in the development of different tumors. CCND1 has been associated with progression in laryngeal carcinomas. CDK4 protein overexpression was described associated to CCND 1 overexpression in these tumors. However, the mechanisms implicated were not known. We analyzed CDK4 gene alterations and mRNA expression in a series of carcinomas of the larynx, and the results were compared to CCND1 expression and clinicopathological characteristics of the patients. CDK4 mRNA was overexpressed in 42 out of 60 tumors (70%) associated with CCND1 mRNA overexpression because 15 out of 16 cases with high CCND1 levels showed simultaneous increased levels of CDK4 mRNA (p = 0.023) and 12 (87%) of the tumors overexpressing both genes were in stage 4. No CDK4 gene amplifications, rearrangements, or mutations were detected in any of the tumors, including 24 overexpressed cases. These findings confirm that CDK4 overexpression is a frequent phenomenon in laryngeal carcinomas, which occurs at the transcriptional level but is related neither to gene amplification nor to gene mutation, and suggest that cooperation with CCND1 may be involved in the progression of laryngeal tumors.

Cyclin D↗

PubMed2006

Unbalanced expression of licensing DNA replication factors occurs in a subset of mantle cell lymphomas with genomic instability.

DNA licensing is a crucial process for chromosome replication control. Deregulation of the licensing factors Cdt1, Cdc6 and the licensing inhibitor geminin has been associated with DNA replication defects and chromosomal instability. We examined the expression of these factors, in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and non-neoplastic lymphoid samples, and analysed the potential role of their deregulation in genomic instability. Geminin, Cdt1 and Cdc6 were coordinately expressed in non-neoplastic tissues and most MCL in relationship to the proliferative activity of the cells. However, 6 (18%) tumours showed an unbalanced "licensing signature" characterized by a higher expression of Cdt1 and Cdc6 than the negative regulator geminin. Tumours with this unbalanced signature and p53/p14(ARF) alterations had significantly higher number of chromosome abnormalities than lymphomas with p53/p14(ARF) alterations but with a normal licensing signature. No aberrations of Cdct1, Cdc6, and geminin genes were detected in cases with unbalanced licensing. However, tumours with p53/ARF inactivation and unbalanced licensing signature had significantly higher cyclin D1 levels than tumours with normal licensing signature. These results suggest that an unbalanced mRNA expression of licensing regulatory genes may play a role in the pathogenesis of the chromosomal instability of a subset of MCL with inactivation of the p53/p14(ARF) pathway.

Cell Cycle Proteins↗

PubMed2006

Gene expression profiling of acute myeloid leukemia with translocation t(8;16)(p11;p13) and MYST3-CREBBP rearrangement reveals a distinctive signature with a specific pattern of HOX gene expression.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with translocation t(8;16)(p11;p13) is an infrequent leukemia subtype with characteristic clinicobiological features. This translocation leads to fusion of MYST3 (MOZ) and CREBBP (CBP) genes, probably resulting in a disturbed transcriptional program of a myelomonocytic precursor. Nonetheless, its gene expression profile is unknown. We have analyzed the gene expression profile of 23 AML patients, including three with molecularly confirmed MYST3-CREBBP fusion gene, using oligonucleotide U133A arrays (Affymetrix). MYST3-CREBBP cases clustered together and clearly differentiated from samples with PML-RARalpha, RUNX1-RUNX1T1, and CBFbeta-MYH11 rearrangements. The relative expression of 46 genes, selected according to their differential expression in the high-density array study, was analyzed by low-density arrays in an additional series of 40 patients, which included 7 MYST3-CREBBP AML cases. Thus, genes such as prolactin (PRL) and proto-oncogene RET were confirmed to be specifically overexpressed in MYST3-CREBBP samples whereas genes such as CCND2, STAT5A, and STAT5B were differentially underexpressed in this AML category. Interestingly, MYST3-CREBBP AML exhibited a characteristic pattern of HOX expression, with up-regulation of HOXA9, HOXA10, and cofactor MEIS1 and marked down-regulation of other homeobox genes. This profile, with overexpression of FLT3, HOXA9, MEIS1, AKR7A2, CHD3, and APBA2, partially resembles that of AML with MLL rearrangement. In summary, this study shows the distinctive gene expression profile of MYST3-CREBBP AML, with overexpression of RET and PRL and a specific pattern of HOX gene expression.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed2006

Genomic platforms for cancer research: potential diagnostic and prognostic applications in clinical oncology.

The completion of the Human Genome Project and the achievement of similar goals in other organisms have generated a huge amount of free available information with high potential in biomedical sciences. However, the identification of the DNA sequence was only a starting point for genomic research. This research has been facilitated by the development of new powerful genomic tools that allow the use of the wide amount of genomic information generated to address new biological and biomedical questions. One of these widely accepted and accessible technologies is DNA microarrays. Although the most popular use of DNA microarrays is gene expression profiling, due to the continuous advances in microarray technologies, scientists have also successfully used them for multiple applications, including genotyping, re-sequencing, DNA copy number analysis and DNA methylation. In short, DNA microarrays are changing the way cancer research scientists are addressing different biological questions and will allow the translation of genome research to clinical practice.

Biomedical Research↗

PubMed2004

A Xenopus Dbf4 homolog is required for Cdc7 chromatin binding and DNA replication.

BACKGROUND: Early in the cell cycle a pre-replicative complex (pre-RC) is assembled at each replication origin. This process involves the sequential assembly of the Origin Recognition Complex (ORC), Cdc6, Cdt1 and the MiniChromosome Maintenance (Mcm2-7) proteins onto chromatin to license the origin for use in the subsequent S phase. Licensed origins must then be activated by S phase-inducing cyclin-dependent kinases (S-CDKs) and the Dbf4/Cdc7 kinase. RESULTS: We have cloned a Xenopus homologue of Dbf4 (XDbf4), the sequence of which confirms the results of Furukhori et al. We have analysed the role of XDbf4 in DNA replication using cell-free extracts of Xenopus eggs. Our results indicate that XDbf4 is the regulatory subunit of XCdc7 required for DNA replication. We show that XDbf4 binds to chromatin during interphase, but unlike XCdc7, its chromatin association is independent of pre-RC formation, occurring in the absence of licensing, XCdc6 and XORC. Moreover, we show that the binding of XCdc7 to chromatin is dependent on the presence of XDbf4, whilst under certain circumstances XDbf4 can bind to chromatin in the absence of XCdc7. We provide evidence that the chromatin binding of XDbf4 that occurs in the absence of licensing depends on checkpoint activation. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified XDbf4 as a functional activator of XCdc7, and show that it is required to recruit XCdc7 to chromatin. Our results also suggest that XCdc7 and XDbf4 are differentially regulated, potentially responding to different cell cycle signals.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2004

Frequent polymorphic changes but not mutations of TRAIL receptors DR4 and DR5 in mantle cell lymphoma and other B-cell lymphoid neoplasms.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Tumor necrosis factor related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) receptors DR4 and DR5 have been mapped to chromosome 8p21-22, a region frequently deleted in different lymphoid neoplasms. DESIGN AND METHODS: To investigate the potential alterations of these genes in lymphoid neoplasms, we examined the presence of gene mutations in exons 3, 4, and 9 in 69 cases with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), 16 with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), 12 with follicular lymphomas (FL) and 17 with large B-cell-lymphomas (DLBCL), as well as in 4 lymphoid cell lines carrying the t(11;14) translocation, and 91 healthy blood donors. RESULTS: Three CLL and three MCL cases had 8p deletions. Two nucleotide changes in or near the intron 3 splice consensus sequence and a silent change were found. These rare changes were also present in the germ-line of the patients. The DR4 death domain A1322G polymorphism was significantly more frequent in MCL [odds ratio (OR) = 5.9; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.92-18.1] and CLL (OR = 4.5; CI, 1.18-17) patients than in a sex and age-adjusted healthy population. In contrast, the DR4 exon 4 C626G polymorphism was associated with a significant overall decreased risk for MCL (OR = 0.3; CI, 0.12-0.8). No mutations or cancer-associated polymorphic changes were found in DR5 domains. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that mutations of DR4 and DR5 are uncommon in lymphoid neoplasms but DR4 polymorphic alleles may contribute to the pathogenesis of these malignancies.

Alleles↗

PubMed2002

Presence of occult cytomegalovirus infection in the brain after orthotopic liver transplantation. An autopsy study of 83 cases.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection remains a highly prevalent systemic complication following orthotopic liver transplantation (LT), accounting for a significant increase in morbidity and affiliated costs. However, unlike other immunosuppressed groups of population, CMV infection of the central nervous system in LT is rarely diagnosed, either clinically or postmortem. Furthermore, in 20% of the LT patients who develop preterminal neurological complications, the etiology remains undetermined. With the hypothesis that at least some of these cases could be related to an occult CMV infection, we examined brain tissue from 83 unselected autopsies of LT patients by morphological, immunohistochemical (IHC), in situ hybridization (ISH), and nested polymerase chain reaction (nested PCR) techniques. Microglial nodules were observed in 17 brains of the LT group (20.4%) but in none of the 36 controls. Isolated positive cells by either IHC, ISH, or both techniques, were identified in 11 LT patients (13.2%) and in 2 controls (5.5%). CMV DNA amplification was obtained from paraffin-embedded tissues in 41 of 81 LT cases (50.6%), and in 5 controls (13.8%) (P=0.00017). Viral inclusion bodies, inflammatory infiltrates, or necrotizing changes were not identified in any case. Our findings indicate an increased susceptibility of the brain of LT patients to occult infection by CMV and suggest that a latent or low-grade infection of the central nervous system could operate as a reservoir of the CMV and play a role in some of the unexplained neurological symptoms that appear in the postoperative period.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

DNA microarray applications in functional genomics.

The successful completion of the Human Genome Project and the achievement of similar goals in other species have generated a huge amount of free available information about the genomic sequence of different organisms, opening the door to a postgenome era where new challenges arise. One of the most ambitious objectives of this new period, addressed by the emerging discipline of functional genomics, attempts to understand the genome and the products it encodes for, and how these gene products interact to produce complex living organisms. This new era is also characterized by the development of new technologies, which have produced genomic tools indispensable for understanding how gene products are regulated in normal and diseased conditions on a global genome scale. One of these technologies is DNA microarrays, turned into a very popular tool in the last years. Although the most common use of DNA microarrays is gene expression profiling, scientists have successfully used them for multiple applications, including genotyping, sequencing, DNA copy number analysis, and DNA-protein interactions, among others. In summary, DNA microarrays are changing the way biomedicine and other disciplines are addressing different biological questions and will allow the translation of genome research to the clinic.

Genomics↗