Hematology-Oncology Department Ospedali Riuniti Largo Barozzi, 1 24128 Bergamo (Italy) Tel. 39 035 269492, Fax 39 035 266659 E-Mail [email protected] All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) inhibits cell growth and proliferation by inducing cyto-differentiation and/or apoptosis in several cell types. These effects have become a therapeutic objective in human cancers. In addition to these functions, ...

Vitamin A affects many aspects of T lymphocyte development and function. The vitamin A metabolites all-trans- and 9-cis-retinoic acid regulate gene expression by binding to the retinoic acid receptor (RAR), while 9-cis-retinoic acid also binds to the retinoid X receptor (RXR). Naive DO11.10 T lymphocytes expressed mRNA and protein for RAR-alpha, RXR-alpha, and RXR-beta. DNA microarray analysis ...

Vitamin A insufficiency has profound adverse effects on embryonic development. Major advances in understanding the role of vitamin A in vertebrate heart formation have been made since the discovery that the vitamin A active form, all-trans-retinoic acid, regulates many genes, including developmental genes. Among the experimental models used, the vitamin A-deficient avian embryo has been an impo...

The effect of all-trans retinoic acid on metastatic B16 melanoma lung colonization and synthesis and properties of glycosaminoglycans was examined. Injection of tumour cells, pretreated with 10(-6) M-retinoic acid or grown to low density, into the tail vein of syngeneic C57 mice produced significantly fewer pulmonary tumours compared to subconfluent control cells. By cochromatography of glycosa...

A 5-year-old girl presented with fever, skin and mucosal bleeds, and pallor. Her hemoglobin was 3.6 g/dL, total white cell count 4.5×103/μL and platelet count 13×103/μL. Peripheral smear revealed 30% blasts, confirmed as APML on bone marrow examination. Cytogenetic analysis showed the typical translocation of t(15:17) with 77% of interphase cells expressing PML:RARA gene fusion. Child was start...