Previous findings show strong evidence for the role of retinoblastoma (Rb) in myoblast proliferation and differentiation. However, it is not known whether variation in the retinoblastoma gene (RB1 ) is responsible for normal variation in human muscle strength. Therefore, a linkage analysis for quantitative traits was performed on 329 young male siblings from 146 families with muscle strength, u...

A malignant stromal tumor of the testis with an osteosarcoma component and five of its metastases mainly containing osteosarcoma have been analyzed for RB1 and TP53 abnormalities. Whereas in the primary tumor and in some of the metastases loss of heterozygosity could not be detected for RB1 or for the 17p13 region in which TP53 is located, other metastases showed such losses of heterozygosity. ...

We have prepared nearly perfect hexagonal m-plane-oriented RbxWO3 films on (010)-oriented RbLaNb2O7 layers. The prepared bilayer films showed Rb diffusion from the RbLaNb2O7 seed layers, and we obtained uniaxially oriented RbxWO3/Rb1-yLaNb2O7 photoanodes. The RbxWO3/Rb1-yLaNb2O7 bilayer photoanodes exhibited enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting compared with the RbxWO3 and RbLaNb2O7 mo...

Transformation and immortalization require the inactivation of key cell cycle regulatory genes. We examined 19 bladder cancer cell lines derived from 17 patients for alterations in TP53, RB1, CDKN2A, and ARF. Twelve cell lines had a mutation in exons 5-11 of TP53 and, with only one exception, a concomitant loss of RB1 protein expression. Another group of seven cell lines had a wild-type TP53 ge...

BACKGROUND Ginseng (the roots of Panax ginseng Meyer) is a well-known traditional Oriental medicine and is now widely used as a health food. It contains several types of ginsenosides, which are considered the major active medicinal components of ginseng. It has recently been reported that the qualitative and quantitative properties of ginsenosides found in ginseng may differ, depending on culti...

We examined the effect of ginsenoside Rg1 or Rb1, the active ingredients of ginseng, on the release of endogenous glutamate from glutamatergic nerve terminals purified from rat cerebral cortex. Result showed that the Ca(2+)-dependent release of glutamate evoked by 4-aminopyridine was facilitated by ginsenoside Rg1 or Rb1 in a concentration-dependent manner. Sequential experiments reveal that gi...

PURPOSE Glioblastoma (GB, WHO grade IV) is the most common primary brain tumor in adults. Survival is typically <1 year but varies between a few months and a couple of years. The aim of the study was to find novel genetic prognostic factors in a well-defined GB series. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The survival data on 129 GBs were correlated with the results of a detailed analysis of 9 genes. These in...

The authors report a case of a 64-year-old man with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) diagnosed 5 years ago. Recently, the patient was admitted with a tumour of the skin in the left lumbar region. Histological and immunohistochemical examinations established the diagnosis of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). Electron-microscopic examination revealed the formation of spherical aggregates of interme...

p27Kip1 (p27) is an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases. Inhibiting p27 protein degradation is an actively developing cancer therapy strategy. One focus has been to identify small molecule inhibitors to block recruitment of Thr-187-phosphorylated p27 (p27T187p) to SCF(Skp2/Cks1) ubiquitin ligase. Since phosphorylation of Thr-187 is required for this recruitment, p27T187A knockin (KI) mice wer...