Background and aims: a-Fetoprotein (AFP), a tumour marker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is associated with poor prognosis. Using cDNA microarray analysis, we previously found that ephrin-A1, an angiogenic factor, is the most differentially overexpressed gene in AFP producing hepatoma cell lines. In the present study, we investigated the significance of ephrin-A1 expression in HCC. Methods...

UT-A1 is the primary urea transporter in the apical plasma membrane responsible for urea reabsorption in the inner medullary collecting duct. Although the physiological function of UT-A1 has been well established, the molecular mechanisms that regulate its activity are less well understood. Analysis of the UT-A1 amino acid sequence revealed a potential MDM2 E3 ubiquitin ligase-binding motif in ...

Hypertonicity increases urea transport, as well as the phosphorylation and membrane accumulation of UT-A1, the transporter responsible for urea permeability in the inner medullary collect duct (IMCD). Hypertonicity stimulates urea transport through PKC-mediated phosphorylation. To determine whether PKC phosphorylates UT-A1, eight potential PKC phosphorylation sites were individually replaced wi...

Cyclin A1 is a cell cycle protein that is expressed in testes, brain and CD34-positive hematopoietic progenitor cells. Cyclin A1 is overexpressed in a variety of myeloid leukemic cell lines and in myeloid leukemic blasts. Transgenic cyclin A1 overexpressing mice develop acute myeloid leukemia with low frequency. In this study, we looked for putative target genes of cyclin A1 in hematopoietic ce...

Sensory environments change over a wide dynamic range and sensory processing can change rapidly to facilitate stable perception. While rapid changes may occur throughout the sensory processing pathway, cortical changes are believed to profoundly influence perception. Prior stimulation studies showed that orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) can modify receptive fields and sensory coding in A1, but the en...

The RNA-binding protein hnRNP A1 is a splicing regulator produced by exclusion of alternative exon 7B from the A1 pre-mRNA. Each intron flanking exon 7B contains a high-affinity A1-binding site. The A1-binding elements promote exon skipping in vivo, activate distal 5' splice site selection in vitro and improve the responsiveness of pre-mRNAs to increases in the concentration of A1. Whereas the ...

Positron emission tomography (PET) studies have shown decreased glucose metabolism in brain regions of detoxified alcoholics and cocaine abusers. However, it is not clear whether this decrease is due to chronic drug abuse or a pre-existing condition. Molecular genetic studies have found an association of the D2 dopamine receptor (DRD2) A1 allele with alcoholism and drug abuse. Moreover, reduced...

Annexin A1 is a member of a large superfamily of glucocorticoid-regulated, calcium- and phospholipid-binding proteins. Our previous studies have shown that the abnormal expression of Annexin A1 is related to the occurrence and development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). To understand the roles of Annexin A1 in the tumorigenesis of NPC, targeted proteomic analysis was performed on Annexin A1-...