Hydra, one of the earliest metazoans with tissue grade organization and nervous system, is an animal with a remarkable regeneration capacity and shows no signs of organismal aging. We have for the first time identified genes of the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway from hydra. Here we report cloning and characterization of hydra homolog of xeroderma pigmentosum group F (XPF) gene that en...

BACKGROUND HOXA11 and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and basic transcriptional element binding protein1 (BTEB1) are expressed in endometrium throughout the menstrual cycle and show a dramatic increase during the mid-luteal phase at the time of implantation. In this case-control study, the expression pattern of these mRNA was evaluated in patients with endometriosis at the time of implantation...

Background: Cisplatin (DDP)-based chemotherapy is the mainstay of first-line therapeutic strategy for the treatment of advanced non-small cell carcinoma (NSCLC). However, the anticancer efficacy of DDP is often limited by the existence or development of chemoresistance. Thus, we investigated the effect of interferon-γ on DDPresistant A549 cell. Methods: Semi-quantitative RT–PCR was used to comp...

PURPOSE Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary cancer of the eye, resulting not only in vision loss, but also in metastatic death. This study attempts to identify changes in the patterns of gene expression that lead to malignant transformation and proliferation of normal uveal melanocytes (UVM) using the Suppressive Subtractive Hybridization (SSH) technique. METHODS The SSH technique ...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To study clinical features of patient presented with severe hydramnios, associated with hydronephrosis, that was antenatally diagnosed and has been successfully treated immediately after birth. At a molecular level, we investigated the gene expression of key steroidogenic enzymes from the maternal ovary. DESIGN Ultrasound scan, MRI, semi-quantitative RT-PCR SETTING: The patien...

Leptin is expressed in various tissues, suggesting that this protein is effective not only at the central nervous system level, but also peripherically. Recent studies have shown leptin production by other tissues, including the placenta, stomach, and mammary tissues, but there is no information available concerning expression levels of leptin in the rat mammary gland at different activation st...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the levels of expression of the sodium iodide symporter (NIS) and three differentiation markers (thyroglobulin (Tg), thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and thyrotrophin receptor (TSH-R)) in 35 patients with primary (n=31) or recurrent (n=4) papillary thyroid carcinoma, and to compare the findings with clinical data. METHODS We performed a multiplex semi-quantitative RT-PCR to a...

Numerous instances of reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibition of the PCR were observed while developing nonquantitative uncoupled RT-PCR techniques for detecting nitrogenase and ammonia monooxygenase gene expression in situ. The inhibitory effect of RT on the PCR was removed with increasing template concentrations beyond 10(5) to 10(6) copies. Including T4 gene 32 protein during the reverse trans...

AIM To investigate the level of expression of proto-oncogene Wip1 and its physiological significance in colorectal cancer. METHODS Immunohistochemistry, semi-quantitative RT-PCR, and Western blotting were used to analyze Wip1 mRNA and protein expression in 120 cases of colorectal cancer and normal tissues to study relationships with clinical symptoms and disease prognosis. RESULTS The level...

BACKGROUND The transcription factor, octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4)/POU5F1, is expressed in embryonic stem cells, germ cells and some types of adult stem cells. Human OCT4 encodes two isoforms, OCT4A and OCT4B. While OCT4A plays a crucial role in the maintenance of stem cell properties, including pluripotency, whereas OCT4B does not. We previously reported that human myometrium c...