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Biomedical subjects

Q Wei

Publications and source records attributed to Q Wei.

174 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Reappraisal of diagnostic significance of a hepatoma-specific band of serum gamma-glutamyl transferase.

The hepatoma-specific band of serum gamma-glutamyl transferase II (GGT II) and other three markers were evaluated in 77 patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC). The positive rate of GGT II (87%) was much higher than that of the increased alpha-fetoprotein (AFP greater than or equal to 400 ng/ml, 54.5%), the increased alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT greater than or equal to 400 mg/dl, 64.9%) and alkaline phosphatase isoenzyme I (ALP I, 13.0%). In patients with AFP less than 400 ng/ml, the positive rate of GGT II was 95.2%, higher than that of ALP I (22.8%) and AAT (60.0%). The positive rate of GGT II was positively correlated to the volume of PHC (r = 0.324, P less than 0.05), but even in patients with small PHC (less than or equal to 65 cm3), the positive rate of GGT II (78.6%) was higher than that of AFP (50.0%) and AAT (28.6%). The ALP I positivity was only seen in patients with larger PHC. Follow-up study showed that GGT II, like AFP, might occur before liver tumor could be detected by B-mode ultrasonography and computerized tomography. Therefore, GGT II is a valuable marker of PHC, especially in patients whose AFP was negative or slightly increased; GGT II may be useful for relatively early diagnosis of PHC.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗
PubMed1989

Polyclonal antibodies to rabbit skeletal muscle protein phosphatases C-I and C-II.

Polyclonal antibodies against rabbit skeletal muscle phosphatases C-I and C-II were raised in goats and in mice. The goat polyclonal antibodies to phosphatases C-I and C-II were examined for their ability to immunoblot the purified enzymes and crude rabbit muscle extracts. In preparations of phosphatases C-I and C-II that were apparently homogeneous, the expected ca. 35- to 38-kDa polypeptides were immunoblotted, but, in addition, immunoblotting of a 67-kDa polypeptide was observed. Both the antisera blotted only the 67-kDa polypeptide in crude rabbit muscle extracts and not the expected 35- to 38-kDa polypeptides. These findings are qualitatively similar to those reported previously (D.L. Brautigan et al. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 4295-4305) where immunoblotting experiments with a sheep antisera to phosphatase C-I indicated that the ca. 35-kDa polypeptide originates from a 70-kDa precursor. On further investigation, it was found that our antisera were strongly immunoreactive to rabbit serum albumin. The antisera blotted purified rabbit albumin, but not bovine serum albumin. After passage through a rabbit albumin-Sepharose column, the antisera lost immunoreactivity to rabbit albumin, and no longer blotted the ca. 70-kDa band in muscle extracts or in purified enzyme preparations. These findings show that the phosphatase preparations contained traces of albumin which produced a strong antigenic reaction. Production of antisera in BALB/c mice produced similar results; i.e., an antibody to the low-molecular-weight phosphatases was produced that was also a strong antibody to rabbit albumin. This antibody could be removed by affinity adsoption on rabbit albumin-Sepharose columns. In addition, the antibodies to phosphatase C-I displayed no cross-reactivity to phosphatase C-II, while antibodies to C-II showed no cross-reactivity to phosphatase C-I by immunoblotting methods.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Chromosomal localization of the human gene for brain Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type IV.

Cloned cDNAs have been identified as corresponding to a new brain Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase. On the basis of structural and immunological features, we refer to this new kinase as CaM Kinase IV. Two cDNA clones were used to identify CaM Kinase IV: The downstream clone, lambda ICM-1, contains the sequence encoding the calmodulin-binding site and the second clone, lambda ICM-2, encodes a partial amino acid sequence similar to the catalytic domain of several known protein kinases. Within the calmodulin-binding site a stretch of 8 amino acids (and 9 of 10) is identical to the corresponding site in the subunits of CaM Kinase II. Southern blot analysis shows the CaM Kinase IV gene is single copy in the mouse and human genomes. Synteny analysis of Southern blot data of DNA from hamster--human hybrid cells shows that the gene is present in human chromosome 5. Hybridization of cDNA probes to metaphase spreads of human chromosomes indicates that the gene is most likely located within the region of bands q21 to q23 of chromosome 5.

Adenomatous Polyposis Coli↗
PubMed1989

Serum alpha-1-antitrypsin and alpha-1-antichymotrypsin in the diagnosis of primary hepatocellular carcinoma.

Both alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) and alpha-1-antichymotrypsin (AAC) in serum were investigated in various liver diseases. Serum levels of AAT and AAC in normal controls were 293.3 +/- 37.9mg/dl and 119.6 +/- 18.9U/ml, respectively. Both AAT and AAC were significantly higher in 75 patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC) than in patients with acute viral hepatitis, chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis as well as normal controls. In a cut-off value of more than 400 mg/dl AAT showed a sensitivity rate (SS) of 74.7%, specificity (SP) of 97.3%, positive predictive value (PV+) of 86.2%, negative predictive value (PV-) of 95.5% and a total accuracy of 93.3% for diagnosing PHC. In a cut-off value of more than 157 U/ml, the corresponding figures for AAC were 68.0%, 96.7%, 86.4%, 90.6% and 90.0%. If the increased levels in one or both tests are positive, the combined positive rate is 80.0% in PHC. In 11 PHC cases with serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) less than 50 ng/ml, the positive rate of AAT and AAC were 72.7% and 81.8%, respectively, compared to corresponding figures of 71.7%, and 65.2% in 46 cases of PHC with more than 50 ng/ml of AFP. It shows that combined assay of both serum AAT and AAC has a complemental value in the diagnosis of PHC, especially in patients without increased AFP.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗
PubMed1988

Effects of interaction with calcineurin on the reactivities of calmodulin lysines.

Calmodulin was trace labeled by acetylation with [3H]acetic anhydride in the presence and absence of a 30% molar excess of the phosphatase calcineurin; phenylalanine was included in the reaction mixtures as an internal standard. The level of 3H acetylation of each of the 7 lysines was determined and corrected for differences arising from reaction conditions using the labeling of the internal standard, following procedures that are closely similar to those used in a previous study of the interaction of calmodulin with myosin light chain kinase (Jackson, A. E., Carraway, K. L., III, Puett, D., and Brew, K. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 12226-12232). The interaction with calcineurin was found to produce a 10-fold reduction in the acetylation of lysine 75, with lesser but significant effects on lysines 21 and 148. A small but reproducible perturbation of lysine 77 was also observed. The results are similar to those that are produced by the interaction with myosin light chain kinase. However, when they are compared with two recent reports between which there are major discrepancies (Manalan, A. S., and Klee, C. B. (1987) Biochemistry 26, 1382-1390; Winkler, M. A., Fried, V. A., Merat, D. L., and Cheung, W. Y. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 15466-15471), our results are in good agreement with those obtained in the former study. From the location of the perturbed groups in the three-dimensional structure of calmodulin, it appears that the interaction site on calmodulin for calcineurin, as well as for myosin light chain kinase, is very extended and may include hydrophobic pockets at homologous sites near the carboxyl-terminal ends of the two halves of the molecule.

Acetic Anhydrides↗
PubMed1987

The progesterone receptor gene maps to human chromosome band 11q13, the site of the mammary oncogene int-2.

Progesterone is involved in the development and progression of breast cancers, and progesterone receptors (PR) are important markers of hormone dependence and disease prognosis. We have used a human PR cDNA probe, genomic DNA blotting of a series of Chinese hamster-human cell hybrids, and in situ hybridization to map the human PR gene to chromosome 11, band q13. This band also contains the human homolog of the mouse mammary tumor virus integration site, int-2, which surrounds a protooncogene thought to be involved in the development of murine mammary cancers. That these two genes share the same chromosomal location raises important questions about their possible linkage and about the relationship between the mammary-specific oncogene and the steroid hormone in the development, growth, and hormone dependence of human breast cancers.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Chromosomal assignment of the human erythropoietin gene and its DNA polymorphism.

Erythropoietin (EPO), a glycoprotein hormone, is the major physiological regulator of erythrocyte production in mammals. A cDNA clone containing the entire human EPO-coding region was used for Southern blot analysis of a series of human-Chinese hamster somatic cell hybrids containing different combinations of human chromosomes. Synteny analysis revealed 100% concordance between the EPO gene and human chromosome 7. Further localization to the region q11-q22 was accomplished by in situ hybridization of 3H-labeled human EPO cDNA to metaphase chromosomes prepared from both human lymphocytes and the cell hybrid 879-2a that contained human chromosomes 5, 7, 9, 12, and 21. In addition, restriction fragment length polymorphisms were detected at a frequency of approximately 20% in a Chinese population using restriction enzymes either HindIII or HinfI. These polymorphisms were inherited in a Mendelian fashion. Thus, the EPO marker is reasonably polymorphic and should be useful in linkage analysis with other genetic markers on chromosome 7, including the locus for cystic fibrosis.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Carotid ligation alters cholecystokinin-8 (CCK-8) immunoreactivity in gerbil brains.

The unilateral or bilateral carotid arteries were ligated in gerbils used as a model of cerebral ischemia. The effect of different times of bilateral ischemia on the content of CCK-8 in fore regions of gerbil brain and the effect of 30 min of unilateral ischemia on the content of CCK-8 of the same regions in gerbils with or without neurological signs were observed. Our results show that the content of CCK-8 of cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus and hypothalamus decreased significantly. But, in brain stem it remained basically unchanged no matter whether the ischemia was unilateral or bilateral. This suggests that there is a close relationship between CCK-8 and cerebral ischemia, and raises the possibility that CCK-8 may be involved in cerebral ischemia through a yet unclear mechanism.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The role of DNA repair capacity in susceptibility to lung cancer: a review.

Human cancer risk assessment has relied largely on animal experiments and use of short-term biological tests based on chemical-DNA interaction. The recent introduction of biomarkers to molecular epidemiologic studies has provided another means of assessing risk for tobacco-related cancer. Several biomarkers for genetic susceptibility to lung cancer have been developed and validated in pilot studies that have demonstrated their association with increased risk of lung cancer. For instance, metabolic enzymes responsible for bioactivation and detoxification of environmental chemicals, carcinogen-induced DNA adducts and chromosomal aberrations, and host DNA repair capacity have been measured in human peripheral lymphocytes. These markers allow estimation of interindividual variation in response to carcinogen exposure and thus assessment of cancer risk. Therefore, epidemiological studies of exposure and of molecular etiology of human carcinogenesis provide a new avenue of cancer risk assessment.

DNA Repair↗