We used a sensitive, quantitative bisulfite PCR assay, methylation sensitive single nucleotide primer extension (Ms-SNuPE), to measure methylation of the 5' CpG islands of c-abl and p15 in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients during progression. We found that the Pa promoter of c-abl was methylated in 81% (17/21) of the white blood cells (WBCs) of CML patients, which correlates with prev...

Loss of heterozygosity on chromosome 9p has been detected in many primary human tumors and cell lines, suggesting that this chromosomal arm harbors one or more tumor suppressor genes. The recently cloned p16 and p15 genes, mapped to 9p21, are likely candidates for such tumor suppressors. To map the deletion at chromosome 9p21 in non-small cell lung tumors, we analyzed DNA from 25 tumors and mat...

There is now convincing evidence that the human Tap protein plays a critical role in mediating the nuclear export of mRNAs that contain the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus constitutive transport element (CTE) and significant evidence that Tap also participates in global poly(A)(+) RNA export. Previously, we had mapped carboxy-terminal sequences in Tap that serve as an essential nucleocytoplasmic shut...

We have previously detected a large germ-line deletion, which included the entire p15/CDKN2B-p16/CDKN2A-p14/ARF gene cluster, in the largest melanoma-neural system tumor (NST) syndrome family known to date by means of heterozygosity mapping based on microsatellite markers. Here, we used gene dose mapping with sequence-tagged site real-time PCR to locate the deletion end points, which were then ...

Antigen-specific T-helper (Th) lymphocytes are critical for the development of antiviral humoral responses and the expansion of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). Identification of relevant Th lymphocyte epitopes remains an important step in the development of an efficacious subunit peptide vaccine against equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), a naturally occurring lentivirus of horses. This study...

Metazoan NXF1/p15 heterodimers promote export of bulk mRNA through nuclear pore complexes (NPC). NXF1 interacts with the NPC via two distinct structural domains, the UBA-like domain and the NTF2-like scaffold, which results from the heterodimerization of the NTF2-like domain of NXF1 with p15. Both domains feature a single nucleoporin-binding site, and they act synergistically to promote NPC tra...

Malnutrition during pregnancy adversely affects postnatal forebrain development; its effect upon brain stem development is less certain. To evaluate the role of tryptophan [critical for serotonin (5-HT) synthesis] on brain stem 5-HT and the development of cardiorespiratory function, we fed dams a diet ∼45% deficient in tryptophan during gestation and early postnatal life and studied cardiorespi...

OBJECTIVE To determine the effectiveness of oscillating positive expiratory pressure (OPEP) using predetermined expiratory pressures on the viscosity and transportability of sputum in patients with bronchiectasis. METHODS The study involved 15 stable patients with bronchiectasis (7 males; mean age = 53 +/- 16 years), submitted to two consecutive OPEP interventions, with a 24-h interval betwee...

PURPOSE Reports suggest that a subset of uveal melanoma is familial. The association of uveal melanoma with breast and ovarian cancer and the increased risk in BRCA2-linked families implicates germline BRCA2 mutations as the cause of a subset of uveal melanomas. Similarly, the association between cutaneous and uveal melanomas in some families, coupled with the high frequency of somatic deletion...