OBJECTIVE To identify altered gene targets that characterize disease progression in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck (HNSCC). Genetic alterations in HNSCC cell lines reflect the tumor in vivo and can serve as valuable tools to study the development and progression of HNSCC. Identification of key molecular events may be useful for more accurate distinction of prognostic groups ...

Doolen, Suzanne, Diana N. Krause, and Sue P. Duckles. Estradiol modulates vascular response to melatonin in rat caudal artery. Am. J. Physiol. 276 (Heart Circ. Physiol. 45): H1281–H1288, 1999.—The purpose of this study was to determine whether estrogen modulates the function of vascular melatonin receptors. We used the rat caudal artery and found that the contractile effects of melatonin were i...

17a-Ethinyl estradiol is one of most widely prescribed estrogens. We compared the effects of this synthetic estrogen to those of the endogenous ovarian hormone 17b-estradiol on the expression of four estrogen-inducible genes in the rat uterus. The genes examined include c-fos, c-jun, vascular endothelial growth factor, and creatine kinase B, which are all known to be primary responses to estrog...

The HIV-1 envelope (Env) glycoprotein, a trimer of gp120-gp41 heterodimers, relies on conformational flexibility to function in fusing the viral and host membranes. Fusion is achieved after gp120 binds to CD4, the HIV-1 receptor, and a coreceptor, capturing an open conformational state in which the fusion machinery on gp41 gains access to the target cell membrane. In the well-characterized clos...

HIV-1 infection begins with the binding of trimeric viral envelope glycoproteins (Env) to CD4 and a co-receptor on target T-cells. Understanding how these ligands influence the structure of Env is of fundamental interest for HIV vaccine development. Using cryo-electron microscopy, we describe the contrasting structural outcomes of trimeric Env binding to soluble CD4, to the broadly neutralizing...

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive inherited life-threatening disorder that causes severe damage to the lungs and the digestive system. In Palestine, mutations in the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator gene (CFTR) that contributes to the clinical presentation of CF are ill defined. A cohort of thirty three clinically diagnosed CF patients from twenty one different P...

We have demonstrated that the isoflavone, genistein, stimulates growth of estrogen-dependent human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells in vivo (C. Y. Hsieh et al., Cancer Res., 58: 3833–3838, 1998). The isoflavones are a group of phytoestrogens that are present in high concentrations in soy. Whether consumption of genistein from soy protein will have similar effects on estrogen-dependent tumor growth a...

Although skin is the largest organ of the human body, cutaneous drug metabolism is often overlooked, and existing experimental models are insufficiently validated. This proof-of-concept study investigated phase II biotransformation of 11 test substrates in fresh full-thickness human skin explants, a model containing all skin cell types. Results show that skin explants have significant capacity ...

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on carp (Cyprinus carpio) vitellogenin (c-VTG, an estrogendependent precursor of egg yolk) was developed to quantify VTG in the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) and was employed to establish an in vivo testing system for estrogens in fish early life stages. The working range of the c-VTG ELISA was between 1 and 50 ng/ml (20%–80% binding). T...