The annual number of deaths caused by hepatitis B virus(HBV)-related disease, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC), is estimated as 887000. The reported prevalence of HBV reverse transcriptase(RT) mut...The annual number of deaths caused by hepatitis B virus(HBV)-related disease, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC), is estimated as 887000. The reported prevalence of HBV reverse transcriptase(RT) mutation prior to treatment is varied and the impact of preexisting mutations on the treatment of na?ve patients remains controversial, and primarily depends on geographic factors, HBV genotypes, HBe Ag serostatus, HBV viral loads, disease progression, intergenotypic recombination and co-infection with HIV. Different sensitivity of detection methodology used could also affect their prevalence results. Several genotype-dependent HBV RT positions that can affect the emergence of drug resistance have also been reported. Eight mutations in RT(rtL80I, rtD134N, rtN139K/T/H, rtY141F, rtM204I/V, rtF221Y, rtI224V, and rtM309K) are significantly associated with HCC progression. HBe Ag-negative status, low viral load, and genotype C infection are significantly related to a higher frequency and prevalence of preexisting RT mutations. Preexisting mutations are most frequently found in the A-B interdomain of RT which overlaps with the HBs Ag "a" determinant region, mutations of which can lead to simultaneous viral immune escape. In conclusion, the presence of baseline RT mutations can affect drug treatment outcomes and disease progression in HBVinfected populations via modulation of viral fitness and host-immune responses.展开更多
Mixed gliomas, primarily oligoastrocytomas, account for about 5%-10% of all gliomas. Distinguishing oligoastrocytoma based on histological features alone has limitations in predicting the exact biological behavior, ne...Mixed gliomas, primarily oligoastrocytomas, account for about 5%-10% of all gliomas. Distinguishing oligoastrocytoma based on histological features alone has limitations in predicting the exact biological behavior, necessitating ancillary markers for greater specificity. In this case report, human telomerase reverse transcriptase(hT ERT) and high mobility group-A1(HMGA1); markers of proliferation and stemness, have been quantitatively analyzed in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples of a 34 years old patient with oligoastrocytoma. Customized florescence-based immunohistochemistry protocol with enhanced sensitivity and specificity is used in the study. The patient presented with a history of generalized seizures and his magnetic resonance imaging scans revealed infiltrative ill-defined mass lesion with calcified foci within the left frontal white matter, suggestive of glioma. He was surgically treated at our center for four consecutive clinical events. Histopathologically, the tumor was identified as oligoastrocytoma-grade Ⅱ followed by two recurrence events and final progression to grade Ⅲ. Overall survival of the patient without adjuvant therapy was more than 9 years. Glial fibrillary acidic protein, p53, Ki-67, nuclear atypia index, pre-operative neutrophillymphocyte ratio, are the other parameters assessed. Findings suggest that hT ERT and HMGA1 are linked to tumor recurrence and progression. Established markers can assist in defining precise histopathological grade in conjuction with conventional markers in clinical setup.展开更多
AIM To report naturally occurring mutations in the reverse transcriptase region(RT) of hepatitis B virus(HBV) polymerase from treatment na?ve Korean chronic patients infected with genotype C2.METHODS Here, full-length...AIM To report naturally occurring mutations in the reverse transcriptase region(RT) of hepatitis B virus(HBV) polymerase from treatment na?ve Korean chronic patients infected with genotype C2.METHODS Here, full-length HBV reverse transcriptase RT sequences were amplified and sequenced from 131 treatment na?ve Korean patients chronically infected with hepatitis B genotype C2. The patients had two distinct clinical statuses: 59 patients with chronic hepatitis(CH) and 72 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC). The deduced amino acids(AAs) at42 previously reported potential nucleos(t)ide analog resistance(NAr) mutation positions in the RT region were analyzed. RESULTS Potential NAr mutations involving 24 positions were found in 79 of the 131 patients(60.3%). Notably, AA substitutions at 2 positions(rt184 and rt204) involved in primary drug resistance and at 2 positions(rt80 and rt180) that functioned as secondary/compensatory mutations were detected in 10 patients(1 CH patient and 9 HCC patients) and 7 patients(1 CH and 6 HCC patients), respectively. The overall mutation frequencies in the HCC patients(3.17%, 96/3024 mutations) were significantly higher than the frequencies in the CH patients(2.09%, 52/2478 mutations)(P = 0.003). In addition, a total of 3 NAr positions, rt80, rt139 and rt204 were found to be significantly related to HCC from treatment na?ve Korean patients. CONCLUSION Our data showed that naturally occurring NAr mutations in South Korea might contribute to liver disease progression(particularly HCC generation) in chronic patients with genotype C2 infections.展开更多
Reverse transcriptase (rt) fragments from LINE retrotransposons in the mulberry genome were analyzed in terms of heterogeneity, phylogeny, and chromosomal distribution. We amplified and characterized conserved domains...Reverse transcriptase (rt) fragments from LINE retrotransposons in the mulberry genome were analyzed in terms of heterogeneity, phylogeny, and chromosomal distribution. We amplified and characterized conserved domains of the rt using degenerate primer pairs. Sequence analyses indicated that the rt fragments were highly heterogeneous and rich in A/T bases. The sequence identity ranged from 31.8% to 99.4%. Based on sequence similarities, the rt fragments were categorized into eight groups. Furthermore, similar stop codon distribution patterns among a series of clones in the same group indicated that they underwent a similar evolutionary process. Interestingly, phylogenetic analyses of the rt fragments isolated from mulberry and 13 other plant species revealed that two distantly related taxa (mulberry and Paeonia suffruticosa) grouped together. It does not appear that this phenomenon resulted from horizontal transposable element transfer. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis revealed that most of the rt fragments were concentrated in the subtelomeric and pericentromeric regions of the mulberry chromosomes, but that these elements were not abundant in the mulberry genome. Future studies will focus on the potential roles of these elements in the subtelomeric and pericentromeric regions of the mulberry genome.展开更多
As follow-up of our past publication?[1], we propose that quinolones (as part of the pyridinone family) are capable to increase the number of interactions with HIV reverse transcriptase (RT) or integrase (IN) by addin...As follow-up of our past publication?[1], we propose that quinolones (as part of the pyridinone family) are capable to increase the number of interactions with HIV reverse transcriptase (RT) or integrase (IN) by adding a halogen in position C-8 of aromatic portion of the quinolones. This addition could help with the activity of dual inhibitors of RT and IN. In this work, we add a chlorine atom with the rationale to identify in the docking simulations a halogen interaction with the oxygen in the near aminoacids in the binding pockets of RT and IN enzymes. Our docking studies started with RT and 320 structures. Later, we took 73 structures with good results in docking with RT. The structures that we choose contain ester or acids groups in C-3 due the structural similarity with groups in charge to interact with the Mg++ ions in Elvitegravir. In conclusion, we obtained 14 structures that could occupy the allosteric pocket of RT and could inhibit the catalytic activity of IN, for this reason could be dual inhibitors. A major perspective of this work is the synthesis and testing of the potential dual inhibitors designed.展开更多
Dear Editor,Prototype foamy virus(PFV)belongs to the genus Spumavirus in the Spumaretrovirinae subfamily of Retroviridae.Although PFV and HIV have much in common,research into PFV has lagged far behind that into HIV,a...Dear Editor,Prototype foamy virus(PFV)belongs to the genus Spumavirus in the Spumaretrovirinae subfamily of Retroviridae.Although PFV and HIV have much in common,research into PFV has lagged far behind that into HIV,as PFV appeared to be non-pathogenic both in accidentally infected humans and in experimentally infected animals.In recent decades,however,more attention has been focused on PFV because it seems to展开更多
The objective of the present study was to investigate human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA and protein expressions during the cadmium chloride-induced malignant transformation of human bronchial epithel...The objective of the present study was to investigate human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA and protein expressions during the cadmium chloride-induced malignant transformation of human bronchial epithelial (16HBE) cells. Fluorescence quantitative PCR (FQ-PCR) and Western blot analyses were performed to detect the hTERT mRNA and protein expressions in normal 16HBE cells, cadmium chloride-transformed 16HBE cells, and tumorigenic cells from nude mice inoculated with cadmium chloride-transformed 16HBE cells. Under the inner standard of GAPDH, the hTERT mRNA expression was significantly higher at different stages of malignant transformation (cadmium chloride-transformed 16HBE cells at passages 15 and 35 and tumorigenic cells from nude mice) than in normal 16HBE cells, and increased with the development of malignancy (P < 0.01). In addition, hTERT protein expression increased with the development of malignancy. These findings demonstrate that hTERT expression is related to cadmium chlorideinduced malignant transformation. Cadmium chloride-induced malignant transformation is involved in changes in the hTERT activity, and might be an early event in cadmium chloride-induced malignant transformation.展开更多
A previous study, focused on the correlation of muta-tion pairs of synonymous (S) and asynonymous (A) mutations, distinguished only between the treated and untreated data of protease and reverse tran-scriptase (RT) of...A previous study, focused on the correlation of muta-tion pairs of synonymous (S) and asynonymous (A) mutations, distinguished only between the treated and untreated data of protease and reverse tran-scriptase (RT) of HIV-1 subtype B. It is well known that single mutation patterns in HIV-1 are treat-ment-specific. It logically follows that covariation between mutations will also be treatment specific. Thus, our motivation is to give a more in depth study of the covariation between mutation pairs, analyzing not only treated and untreated, but what specific treatments were used, and how they affected the co-variation between the mutations differently. We in-tended to further deepen this study by analyzing the covariation of mutations in protease and RT in dif-ferent subtypes of HIV-1. We found that virus sam-ples subjected to antiretroviral Protease- and RT- inhibitors do show different patterns of mutation covariation in B-subtype protease and RT of HIV-1, while maintaining the same overall trend. covariation will tend to be higher and more distinct from and covariation after treatment. The same trend continues in protease and RT re-gardless of subtype. We also found the highly cova-ried codon positions, position pairs, and position- covariation clusters in protease, affected by different treatments. Most of them are well known major drug-resistance sites for these treatments.展开更多
Objective: The aim of this study was to detectmicromethetuses in bone marrow of primary breast cancerpatients, and compare with other clinical parameters.Methods: Cytokeratin 19 (CK-19) genc mRNA expressionwas detecte...Objective: The aim of this study was to detectmicromethetuses in bone marrow of primary breast cancerpatients, and compare with other clinical parameters.Methods: Cytokeratin 19 (CK-19) genc mRNA expressionwas detected by reverse tra nscri ptase- polymerase chainreaction (RT-PCR) and Southern blot hybridization.Human breast cancer cell line T47D was mixed with bonemarrow cells in different proportions. The positive detectionrate was compared among RT-PCR, Southern blotting andimmunohistochemistry (IHC) methods. Results: Cytokeratin 19 gene was expressed in all 6 positive controlsamples while the expression was not seen in 8 negativecontrol samples. In all 54 patients l4 cases were CK-19positive (25.9%) by RT-PCR, another positive signal wasobtained in 5/54 (9.3%) of bone marrow samples bySouthern blotting. The totul positive cases are 19/54 (35.2% ).CK-19 IHC+ cells were detected at a dilution of one T47Dcen in 5×104 bone marrow cells, while the sensitivitydetected by PCR and Southern blot hybridization was at1:5×105 and 1:1×106, respectively. This demonstrates thatRT-PCR and Southern blotting was at Ieast 20 times moresenstive than the IHC method. The micrometastasespositive rate of the larger tumor size group (>5.0 cm) wassignificantly (P<0.05) greater than that of the smaller tumorsize group (0-2.0 cm). Conclusion: detection of micrometastues in bone marrow by RT-PCR and Southernblotting, using CK-19 as a biological marken is highlysensitive and it is a method to be used for anticipating theprognosis of breast cancer patients.展开更多
Objective:The presence of lymph nodes and bone marrow micrometastases of patients with breast carcinoma by immunohistochemistry (IHC) methods has been strongly correlated to early recurrence and shorter overall surviv...Objective:The presence of lymph nodes and bone marrow micrometastases of patients with breast carcinoma by immunohistochemistry (IHC) methods has been strongly correlated to early recurrence and shorter overall survival. The aim of this study was to detect micrometastases in matched sample pairs of lymph nodes and the bone marrow of primary breast cancer patients using a more sensitive method, and compare with other clinical parameters. Methods: Cytokeratin 19 (CK-19) gene mRNA expression was detected by reverse trauscriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Southern blot hybridization. Human breast cancer cell line T47D was mixed with bone marrow cells at different proportions. The positive detection rate was compared among RT-PCR, Southern blotting and IHC methods. Results: Cytokeratin 19 gene was expressed in all 6 positive control samples, while the expression wasn’t seen in 18 negative control samples. CK-19 IHC positive cells were detected at a dilution of one T47D cell in 5 x105 bone marrow cells, while the sensitivity detected by PCR and Southern blot hybridization was at 1:5x104 and 1:106, respectively. In the samples from the 35 patients, we found CK-19 positive cells in 2 cases (5.7%) by IHC. CK-19 gene expression signal was detected in 14/35 (40%) by RT-PCR, and 17/35 (48.6%) by southern blotting. Four cases were micrometastases positive both in lymph node and bone marrow (11.4%). There was no correlation between CK-1 9 detection and other clinical parameters. Conclusion: combined detection of micrometastases in lymph node and bone marrow by RT-PCR and Southern blotting, using CK-19 as a biological marker is a highly sensitive method for breast cancer.展开更多
Hepatitis B virus (HBV), a typical member of the Hepadnaviridae family, is responsible for infections that cause B-type hepatitis which leads to severe public health problems around the world. The small enveloped DNA-...Hepatitis B virus (HBV), a typical member of the Hepadnaviridae family, is responsible for infections that cause B-type hepatitis which leads to severe public health problems around the world. The small enveloped DNA-containing virus replicates via reverse transcription, and this unique process is accomplished by the virally encoded reverse transcriptase (RT). This multi-functional protein plays a vital role in the viral life cycle. Here, we provide a summary of current knowledge regarding the structural characteristics and molecular mechanisms of HBV RT. Improved understanding of these processes is of both theoretical and practical significance for fundamental studies of HBV and drug discovery.展开更多
AIM: To study the changes of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA expression in human hepatocarcinoma cell lines (HepG2) and cholangiocarcinoma cell lines (QBC939) after HBx gene transfection and to ill...AIM: To study the changes of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA expression in human hepatocarcinoma cell lines (HepG2) and cholangiocarcinoma cell lines (QBC939) after HBx gene transfection and to illustrate the significance of transcriptional regulation of hTERT gene by HBx gene in the carcinogenesis.METHODS: HepG2 and QBC939 cell lines were cultured and co-transfected with eukaryotic expression vector containing the HBx coding region and cloning vector containing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) coding sequence using lipid-mediated gene transduction technique. Thirty-six hours after transfection, EGFP expression in cells was used as the indicator of successful transfection. Flow cytometry was performed to determine the transfection efficiency.Cells were harvested and total RNA was extracted using TRIzol() reagent. The expression of hTERT mRNA in HepG2and QBC939 cell lines was assayed by reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction. The expression of HBx protein in both cell lines was detected by immunocytochemical staining and Western blotting.RESULTS: Flow cytometry showed that the transfection efficiency was 46.4% in HepG2 cells and 29.6% in QBC939cells for both HBx gene expression vector and blank vector. The expression of hTERT mRNA was meaningfully increased in HepG2 and QBC939 cell lines when transfected with HBx gene expression vector compared to those transfected with OPTI-MEM medium and blank vector.Immunocytochemical staining and Western blotting revealed HBx protein expression in HepG2 and QBC939cells only when transfected with HBx gene.CONCLUSION: HBx gene transfection can upregulate the transcriptional expression of hTERT mRNA. The transactivation of hTERT gene by HBx gene is a newfound mechanism for pathogenesis of hepatocarcinomas and cholangiocarcinomas after HBV infection.展开更多
Aim: To evaluate the quantitative detection of human telomerase RNA (hTR) and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA as diagnostic parameters in the workup of testicular tissue specimens from patients pre...Aim: To evaluate the quantitative detection of human telomerase RNA (hTR) and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA as diagnostic parameters in the workup of testicular tissue specimens from patients presenting with non-obstructive azoospemia. Methods: hTR and hTERT mRNA expression were quantified in 38 cryopreserved testicular tissue specimens by fluorescence real-time reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)in a LightCycler(r). This was paralleled by conventional histological workup in all tissue specimens and additional semithin sectioning preparation in cases with maturation arrest ( n = 12) and Sertoli-cell-only syndrome ( n = 12). Results: The average normalized hTERT expression (NhTERT) Was 131.9 ± 48.0 copies (mean ± SD) in tissue specimens with full spermatogenesis, NhTERT = 51.2 ± 17.2 copies in those with maturation arrest and NhTERT = 2.7 ± 2.4 copies in those with Sertoli-cell-only syndrome (SCOS). The discriminant analysis showed that detection of NhTERT (NhTR) had a predictive value of 86.8 % (55.3 % ) for correct classification in one of the three histological subgroups.Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that quantitative detection of hTERT mRNA expression in testicular tissue enables a molecular-diagnostic classification of gametogenesis. Quantitative detection of hTERT in testicular biopsies is thus well suited for supplementing the histopathological evaluation.展开更多
Objective To investigate the effects of sodium selenite on telomerase activity, apoptosis and expression of TERT, c-myc and p53 in rat hepatocytes. Methods Selenium at doses of 2.5, 5.0, and 10 μmol/kg was given to S...Objective To investigate the effects of sodium selenite on telomerase activity, apoptosis and expression of TERT, c-myc and p53 in rat hepatocytes. Methods Selenium at doses of 2.5, 5.0, and 10 μmol/kg was given to SD rats by gavage. In rat hepatocytes, telomerase activity was measured by the telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP), apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry, and expressions of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), c-myc and p53 were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). c-Myc and P53 proteins were detected by immunochemistry. Results Selenium at doses of 2.5, 5.0, and 10 μmol/kg significantly increased hepatocellular telomerase activity and induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. Although selenium at doses of 2.5, 5.0, and 10 μmol/kg displayed no obvious enhancing effect on the TERT mRNA expression in rat hepatocytes (P>0.05), it significantly increased the c-myc mRNA and p53 mRNA expression at the dose of 10 μmol/kg (P<0.05). Selenium at doses of 5.0 and 10 μmol/kg obviously increased the content of P53 protein in rat hepatocytes, but only at the dose of 10 μmol/kg, it significantly promoted the value of c-Myc protein in them. Conclusion Selenium can slightly increase telomerase activity and TERT expression, and significantly induce apoptosis and over-expression of c-myc and p53 at relatively high doses. The beneficial effects of selenium on senescence and aging may be mediated by telomerase activation and expression of TERT, c-myc, and p53 in rat hepatocytes.展开更多
Two different types of 1-[2-(hydroxyethoxy)methyl]-6-naphthylmethylthymines have been designed, synthesized and evaluated for their anti-HIV-1 activities in different cells lines. The binding free energy (DG) includin...Two different types of 1-[2-(hydroxyethoxy)methyl]-6-naphthylmethylthymines have been designed, synthesized and evaluated for their anti-HIV-1 activities in different cells lines. The binding free energy (DG) including steric and electrostatic between the two different ligands and reverse transcriptase Non-Nucleoside Binding Pocket (NNBP) have been docked and calculated to evaluate their accommodation circumstance on a SGI work station. The DG and anti-HIV-1 activity has been correlated in order to guide further drug design, which showed that the steric binding effect dominated in the whole binding action between the compounds and reverse transcriptase (RT). The results showed that more negative DG led to higher activity of compounds.展开更多
BACKGROUND:Numerous current studies have suggested that human telomerase reverse transcriptase(hTERT) gene has neuroprotective effects and can inhibit apoptosis induced by various cytotoxic stresses;however,the mechan...BACKGROUND:Numerous current studies have suggested that human telomerase reverse transcriptase(hTERT) gene has neuroprotective effects and can inhibit apoptosis induced by various cytotoxic stresses;however,the mechanism of action remains unknown. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the neuroprotective effects and possible mechanism of action of hTERT gene transfection in human embryonic cortical neurons treated with beta-amyloid fragment 25-35 (Aβ_(25-35)). DESIGN,TIME AND SETTING:The randomized,controlled and molecular biological studies were performed at the Department of Anatomy and Brain Research,Zhongshan School of Medicine,Sun Yat-sen University,China,from September 2005 to June 2008. MATERIALS:AdEasy-1 Expression System was gifted by Professor Guoquan Gao from Sun Yat-Sen University,China.Human cortical neurons were derived from 12-20 week old aborted fetuses,obtained from the Guangzhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital,China.Mouse anti-Cdk5 and mouse anti-p16 monoclonal antibodies(Lab Vision,USA),and mouse anti-hTERT monoclonal antibody(Epitomics,USA),were used in this study. METHODS:(1) Recombinant adenovirus vectors,encoding hTERT(Ad-hTERT) and green fluorescent protein(Ad-GFP),were constructed using the AdEasy-1 Expression System.Human embryonic cortical neurons in the Ad-hTERT group were transfected with Ad-hTERT for 1-21 days. Likewise,human embryonic cortical neurons in the Ad-GFP group were transfected with Ad-GFP for 1-21 days.Human embryonic cortical neurons in the control group were cultured as normal.(2) Human embryonic cortical neurons in the Ad-hTERT group were treated with 10μmol/L Aβ_(25-35) for 24 hours.Normal human embryonic cortical neurons treated with 10μmol/LAβ_(25-35) for 24 hours served as a model group.Human embryonic cortical neurons in the Ad-GFP and control groups were not treated with Aβ_(25-35). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Expression of hTERT in human embryonic cortical neurons was evaluated by immunocytochemical staining and Western blot assay.Telomerase activity was measured using a PcR-based telomeric repeat amplification protocol(TRAP) ELISA kit.Neural activity in human embryonic cortical neurons was examined by MTT assay;apoptosis was measured using TUNEL assay;and Cdk5 and p16 protein expressions were measured by Westem blot. RESULTS:Expression of hTERT protein was significantly increased and peaked at day 3 post-transfection in the Ad-hTERT group.No hTERT expression was detected in the Ad-GFP and control groups.Telomerase activity was significantly greater in the Ad-hTERT group compared with the Ad-GFP and control groups(P<0.01).Compared with the control group,cell activity was significantly decreased(P<0.05),and cell apoptotic rate,Cdk5 and p16 expression were significantly increased(P<0.01) in the model group.Compared with the model group,cell activity was increased in the Ad-hTERT group,and peaked at day 3 post-transfection(P<0.05). Neuroprotective effects also peaked at day 3 post-transfection;and the apoptotic rate,Cdk5 and p16 expression significantly decreased(P<0.01). CONCLUSION:Expression of hTERT in human embryonic cortical neurons can relieve Aβ_(25-35)-induced neuronal apoptosis.The possible mechanism by which hTERT produces these neuroprotective effects may be associated with inhibition of Cdk5 and p16 expression.展开更多
基金Supported by the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute and the Ministry of Health and Welfare,South Korea,No.HI14C0955
文摘The annual number of deaths caused by hepatitis B virus(HBV)-related disease, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC), is estimated as 887000. The reported prevalence of HBV reverse transcriptase(RT) mutation prior to treatment is varied and the impact of preexisting mutations on the treatment of na?ve patients remains controversial, and primarily depends on geographic factors, HBV genotypes, HBe Ag serostatus, HBV viral loads, disease progression, intergenotypic recombination and co-infection with HIV. Different sensitivity of detection methodology used could also affect their prevalence results. Several genotype-dependent HBV RT positions that can affect the emergence of drug resistance have also been reported. Eight mutations in RT(rtL80I, rtD134N, rtN139K/T/H, rtY141F, rtM204I/V, rtF221Y, rtI224V, and rtM309K) are significantly associated with HCC progression. HBe Ag-negative status, low viral load, and genotype C infection are significantly related to a higher frequency and prevalence of preexisting RT mutations. Preexisting mutations are most frequently found in the A-B interdomain of RT which overlaps with the HBs Ag "a" determinant region, mutations of which can lead to simultaneous viral immune escape. In conclusion, the presence of baseline RT mutations can affect drug treatment outcomes and disease progression in HBVinfected populations via modulation of viral fitness and host-immune responses.
基金Supported by M.P.Biotech Council,M.P.for financial assistanceBMHRC for infrastructural facilities,No.249
文摘Mixed gliomas, primarily oligoastrocytomas, account for about 5%-10% of all gliomas. Distinguishing oligoastrocytoma based on histological features alone has limitations in predicting the exact biological behavior, necessitating ancillary markers for greater specificity. In this case report, human telomerase reverse transcriptase(hT ERT) and high mobility group-A1(HMGA1); markers of proliferation and stemness, have been quantitatively analyzed in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples of a 34 years old patient with oligoastrocytoma. Customized florescence-based immunohistochemistry protocol with enhanced sensitivity and specificity is used in the study. The patient presented with a history of generalized seizures and his magnetic resonance imaging scans revealed infiltrative ill-defined mass lesion with calcified foci within the left frontal white matter, suggestive of glioma. He was surgically treated at our center for four consecutive clinical events. Histopathologically, the tumor was identified as oligoastrocytoma-grade Ⅱ followed by two recurrence events and final progression to grade Ⅲ. Overall survival of the patient without adjuvant therapy was more than 9 years. Glial fibrillary acidic protein, p53, Ki-67, nuclear atypia index, pre-operative neutrophillymphocyte ratio, are the other parameters assessed. Findings suggest that hT ERT and HMGA1 are linked to tumor recurrence and progression. Established markers can assist in defining precise histopathological grade in conjuction with conventional markers in clinical setup.
基金Supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF)funded by the Ministry of Education,Science and Technology No.NRF-2015R1C1A1A02037267Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute,funded by the Ministry of Health and Welfare,South Korea,No.HI14C0955
文摘AIM To report naturally occurring mutations in the reverse transcriptase region(RT) of hepatitis B virus(HBV) polymerase from treatment na?ve Korean chronic patients infected with genotype C2.METHODS Here, full-length HBV reverse transcriptase RT sequences were amplified and sequenced from 131 treatment na?ve Korean patients chronically infected with hepatitis B genotype C2. The patients had two distinct clinical statuses: 59 patients with chronic hepatitis(CH) and 72 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC). The deduced amino acids(AAs) at42 previously reported potential nucleos(t)ide analog resistance(NAr) mutation positions in the RT region were analyzed. RESULTS Potential NAr mutations involving 24 positions were found in 79 of the 131 patients(60.3%). Notably, AA substitutions at 2 positions(rt184 and rt204) involved in primary drug resistance and at 2 positions(rt80 and rt180) that functioned as secondary/compensatory mutations were detected in 10 patients(1 CH patient and 9 HCC patients) and 7 patients(1 CH and 6 HCC patients), respectively. The overall mutation frequencies in the HCC patients(3.17%, 96/3024 mutations) were significantly higher than the frequencies in the CH patients(2.09%, 52/2478 mutations)(P = 0.003). In addition, a total of 3 NAr positions, rt80, rt139 and rt204 were found to be significantly related to HCC from treatment na?ve Korean patients. CONCLUSION Our data showed that naturally occurring NAr mutations in South Korea might contribute to liver disease progression(particularly HCC generation) in chronic patients with genotype C2 infections.
文摘Reverse transcriptase (rt) fragments from LINE retrotransposons in the mulberry genome were analyzed in terms of heterogeneity, phylogeny, and chromosomal distribution. We amplified and characterized conserved domains of the rt using degenerate primer pairs. Sequence analyses indicated that the rt fragments were highly heterogeneous and rich in A/T bases. The sequence identity ranged from 31.8% to 99.4%. Based on sequence similarities, the rt fragments were categorized into eight groups. Furthermore, similar stop codon distribution patterns among a series of clones in the same group indicated that they underwent a similar evolutionary process. Interestingly, phylogenetic analyses of the rt fragments isolated from mulberry and 13 other plant species revealed that two distantly related taxa (mulberry and Paeonia suffruticosa) grouped together. It does not appear that this phenomenon resulted from horizontal transposable element transfer. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis revealed that most of the rt fragments were concentrated in the subtelomeric and pericentromeric regions of the mulberry chromosomes, but that these elements were not abundant in the mulberry genome. Future studies will focus on the potential roles of these elements in the subtelomeric and pericentromeric regions of the mulberry genome.
文摘As follow-up of our past publication?[1], we propose that quinolones (as part of the pyridinone family) are capable to increase the number of interactions with HIV reverse transcriptase (RT) or integrase (IN) by adding a halogen in position C-8 of aromatic portion of the quinolones. This addition could help with the activity of dual inhibitors of RT and IN. In this work, we add a chlorine atom with the rationale to identify in the docking simulations a halogen interaction with the oxygen in the near aminoacids in the binding pockets of RT and IN enzymes. Our docking studies started with RT and 320 structures. Later, we took 73 structures with good results in docking with RT. The structures that we choose contain ester or acids groups in C-3 due the structural similarity with groups in charge to interact with the Mg++ ions in Elvitegravir. In conclusion, we obtained 14 structures that could occupy the allosteric pocket of RT and could inhibit the catalytic activity of IN, for this reason could be dual inhibitors. A major perspective of this work is the synthesis and testing of the potential dual inhibitors designed.
基金supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.31000086,No.31170154,No.1371790)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(GK201305001,GK201404003)the Innovative Experiment Projects of Educational Ministry of China for Undergraduate(201310718053,cx14069)
文摘Dear Editor,Prototype foamy virus(PFV)belongs to the genus Spumavirus in the Spumaretrovirinae subfamily of Retroviridae.Although PFV and HIV have much in common,research into PFV has lagged far behind that into HIV,as PFV appeared to be non-pathogenic both in accidentally infected humans and in experimentally infected animals.In recent decades,however,more attention has been focused on PFV because it seems to
文摘The objective of the present study was to investigate human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA and protein expressions during the cadmium chloride-induced malignant transformation of human bronchial epithelial (16HBE) cells. Fluorescence quantitative PCR (FQ-PCR) and Western blot analyses were performed to detect the hTERT mRNA and protein expressions in normal 16HBE cells, cadmium chloride-transformed 16HBE cells, and tumorigenic cells from nude mice inoculated with cadmium chloride-transformed 16HBE cells. Under the inner standard of GAPDH, the hTERT mRNA expression was significantly higher at different stages of malignant transformation (cadmium chloride-transformed 16HBE cells at passages 15 and 35 and tumorigenic cells from nude mice) than in normal 16HBE cells, and increased with the development of malignancy (P < 0.01). In addition, hTERT protein expression increased with the development of malignancy. These findings demonstrate that hTERT expression is related to cadmium chlorideinduced malignant transformation. Cadmium chloride-induced malignant transformation is involved in changes in the hTERT activity, and might be an early event in cadmium chloride-induced malignant transformation.
文摘A previous study, focused on the correlation of muta-tion pairs of synonymous (S) and asynonymous (A) mutations, distinguished only between the treated and untreated data of protease and reverse tran-scriptase (RT) of HIV-1 subtype B. It is well known that single mutation patterns in HIV-1 are treat-ment-specific. It logically follows that covariation between mutations will also be treatment specific. Thus, our motivation is to give a more in depth study of the covariation between mutation pairs, analyzing not only treated and untreated, but what specific treatments were used, and how they affected the co-variation between the mutations differently. We in-tended to further deepen this study by analyzing the covariation of mutations in protease and RT in dif-ferent subtypes of HIV-1. We found that virus sam-ples subjected to antiretroviral Protease- and RT- inhibitors do show different patterns of mutation covariation in B-subtype protease and RT of HIV-1, while maintaining the same overall trend. covariation will tend to be higher and more distinct from and covariation after treatment. The same trend continues in protease and RT re-gardless of subtype. We also found the highly cova-ried codon positions, position pairs, and position- covariation clusters in protease, affected by different treatments. Most of them are well known major drug-resistance sites for these treatments.
文摘Objective: The aim of this study was to detectmicromethetuses in bone marrow of primary breast cancerpatients, and compare with other clinical parameters.Methods: Cytokeratin 19 (CK-19) genc mRNA expressionwas detected by reverse tra nscri ptase- polymerase chainreaction (RT-PCR) and Southern blot hybridization.Human breast cancer cell line T47D was mixed with bonemarrow cells in different proportions. The positive detectionrate was compared among RT-PCR, Southern blotting andimmunohistochemistry (IHC) methods. Results: Cytokeratin 19 gene was expressed in all 6 positive controlsamples while the expression was not seen in 8 negativecontrol samples. In all 54 patients l4 cases were CK-19positive (25.9%) by RT-PCR, another positive signal wasobtained in 5/54 (9.3%) of bone marrow samples bySouthern blotting. The totul positive cases are 19/54 (35.2% ).CK-19 IHC+ cells were detected at a dilution of one T47Dcen in 5×104 bone marrow cells, while the sensitivitydetected by PCR and Southern blot hybridization was at1:5×105 and 1:1×106, respectively. This demonstrates thatRT-PCR and Southern blotting was at Ieast 20 times moresenstive than the IHC method. The micrometastasespositive rate of the larger tumor size group (>5.0 cm) wassignificantly (P<0.05) greater than that of the smaller tumorsize group (0-2.0 cm). Conclusion: detection of micrometastues in bone marrow by RT-PCR and Southernblotting, using CK-19 as a biological marken is highlysensitive and it is a method to be used for anticipating theprognosis of breast cancer patients.
基金a grant from the key project of breast cancer of Beijing Science & Technology Committee.
文摘Objective:The presence of lymph nodes and bone marrow micrometastases of patients with breast carcinoma by immunohistochemistry (IHC) methods has been strongly correlated to early recurrence and shorter overall survival. The aim of this study was to detect micrometastases in matched sample pairs of lymph nodes and the bone marrow of primary breast cancer patients using a more sensitive method, and compare with other clinical parameters. Methods: Cytokeratin 19 (CK-19) gene mRNA expression was detected by reverse trauscriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Southern blot hybridization. Human breast cancer cell line T47D was mixed with bone marrow cells at different proportions. The positive detection rate was compared among RT-PCR, Southern blotting and IHC methods. Results: Cytokeratin 19 gene was expressed in all 6 positive control samples, while the expression wasn’t seen in 18 negative control samples. CK-19 IHC positive cells were detected at a dilution of one T47D cell in 5 x105 bone marrow cells, while the sensitivity detected by PCR and Southern blot hybridization was at 1:5x104 and 1:106, respectively. In the samples from the 35 patients, we found CK-19 positive cells in 2 cases (5.7%) by IHC. CK-19 gene expression signal was detected in 14/35 (40%) by RT-PCR, and 17/35 (48.6%) by southern blotting. Four cases were micrometastases positive both in lymph node and bone marrow (11.4%). There was no correlation between CK-1 9 detection and other clinical parameters. Conclusion: combined detection of micrometastases in lymph node and bone marrow by RT-PCR and Southern blotting, using CK-19 as a biological marker is a highly sensitive method for breast cancer.
基金National Nature Science Foundations of China (30870131)Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (0802021SA1)
文摘Hepatitis B virus (HBV), a typical member of the Hepadnaviridae family, is responsible for infections that cause B-type hepatitis which leads to severe public health problems around the world. The small enveloped DNA-containing virus replicates via reverse transcription, and this unique process is accomplished by the virally encoded reverse transcriptase (RT). This multi-functional protein plays a vital role in the viral life cycle. Here, we provide a summary of current knowledge regarding the structural characteristics and molecular mechanisms of HBV RT. Improved understanding of these processes is of both theoretical and practical significance for fundamental studies of HBV and drug discovery.
文摘AIM: To study the changes of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA expression in human hepatocarcinoma cell lines (HepG2) and cholangiocarcinoma cell lines (QBC939) after HBx gene transfection and to illustrate the significance of transcriptional regulation of hTERT gene by HBx gene in the carcinogenesis.METHODS: HepG2 and QBC939 cell lines were cultured and co-transfected with eukaryotic expression vector containing the HBx coding region and cloning vector containing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) coding sequence using lipid-mediated gene transduction technique. Thirty-six hours after transfection, EGFP expression in cells was used as the indicator of successful transfection. Flow cytometry was performed to determine the transfection efficiency.Cells were harvested and total RNA was extracted using TRIzol() reagent. The expression of hTERT mRNA in HepG2and QBC939 cell lines was assayed by reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction. The expression of HBx protein in both cell lines was detected by immunocytochemical staining and Western blotting.RESULTS: Flow cytometry showed that the transfection efficiency was 46.4% in HepG2 cells and 29.6% in QBC939cells for both HBx gene expression vector and blank vector. The expression of hTERT mRNA was meaningfully increased in HepG2 and QBC939 cell lines when transfected with HBx gene expression vector compared to those transfected with OPTI-MEM medium and blank vector.Immunocytochemical staining and Western blotting revealed HBx protein expression in HepG2 and QBC939cells only when transfected with HBx gene.CONCLUSION: HBx gene transfection can upregulate the transcriptional expression of hTERT mRNA. The transactivation of hTERT gene by HBx gene is a newfound mechanism for pathogenesis of hepatocarcinomas and cholangiocarcinomas after HBV infection.
文摘Aim: To evaluate the quantitative detection of human telomerase RNA (hTR) and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA as diagnostic parameters in the workup of testicular tissue specimens from patients presenting with non-obstructive azoospemia. Methods: hTR and hTERT mRNA expression were quantified in 38 cryopreserved testicular tissue specimens by fluorescence real-time reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)in a LightCycler(r). This was paralleled by conventional histological workup in all tissue specimens and additional semithin sectioning preparation in cases with maturation arrest ( n = 12) and Sertoli-cell-only syndrome ( n = 12). Results: The average normalized hTERT expression (NhTERT) Was 131.9 ± 48.0 copies (mean ± SD) in tissue specimens with full spermatogenesis, NhTERT = 51.2 ± 17.2 copies in those with maturation arrest and NhTERT = 2.7 ± 2.4 copies in those with Sertoli-cell-only syndrome (SCOS). The discriminant analysis showed that detection of NhTERT (NhTR) had a predictive value of 86.8 % (55.3 % ) for correct classification in one of the three histological subgroups.Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that quantitative detection of hTERT mRNA expression in testicular tissue enables a molecular-diagnostic classification of gametogenesis. Quantitative detection of hTERT in testicular biopsies is thus well suited for supplementing the histopathological evaluation.
基金supported by the Scientific Foundation and Teacher’s Foundation of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University (No.2006GGW01)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.30271110)
文摘Objective To investigate the effects of sodium selenite on telomerase activity, apoptosis and expression of TERT, c-myc and p53 in rat hepatocytes. Methods Selenium at doses of 2.5, 5.0, and 10 μmol/kg was given to SD rats by gavage. In rat hepatocytes, telomerase activity was measured by the telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP), apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry, and expressions of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), c-myc and p53 were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). c-Myc and P53 proteins were detected by immunochemistry. Results Selenium at doses of 2.5, 5.0, and 10 μmol/kg significantly increased hepatocellular telomerase activity and induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. Although selenium at doses of 2.5, 5.0, and 10 μmol/kg displayed no obvious enhancing effect on the TERT mRNA expression in rat hepatocytes (P>0.05), it significantly increased the c-myc mRNA and p53 mRNA expression at the dose of 10 μmol/kg (P<0.05). Selenium at doses of 5.0 and 10 μmol/kg obviously increased the content of P53 protein in rat hepatocytes, but only at the dose of 10 μmol/kg, it significantly promoted the value of c-Myc protein in them. Conclusion Selenium can slightly increase telomerase activity and TERT expression, and significantly induce apoptosis and over-expression of c-myc and p53 at relatively high doses. The beneficial effects of selenium on senescence and aging may be mediated by telomerase activation and expression of TERT, c-myc, and p53 in rat hepatocytes.
文摘Two different types of 1-[2-(hydroxyethoxy)methyl]-6-naphthylmethylthymines have been designed, synthesized and evaluated for their anti-HIV-1 activities in different cells lines. The binding free energy (DG) including steric and electrostatic between the two different ligands and reverse transcriptase Non-Nucleoside Binding Pocket (NNBP) have been docked and calculated to evaluate their accommodation circumstance on a SGI work station. The DG and anti-HIV-1 activity has been correlated in order to guide further drug design, which showed that the steric binding effect dominated in the whole binding action between the compounds and reverse transcriptase (RT). The results showed that more negative DG led to higher activity of compounds.
基金the National Key Basic Research Program of China,No. 2006cb500700the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.30470904the Natural Science and Technology Foundation of Guangdong Province,No. 04009356, 2008B030301320
文摘BACKGROUND:Numerous current studies have suggested that human telomerase reverse transcriptase(hTERT) gene has neuroprotective effects and can inhibit apoptosis induced by various cytotoxic stresses;however,the mechanism of action remains unknown. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the neuroprotective effects and possible mechanism of action of hTERT gene transfection in human embryonic cortical neurons treated with beta-amyloid fragment 25-35 (Aβ_(25-35)). DESIGN,TIME AND SETTING:The randomized,controlled and molecular biological studies were performed at the Department of Anatomy and Brain Research,Zhongshan School of Medicine,Sun Yat-sen University,China,from September 2005 to June 2008. MATERIALS:AdEasy-1 Expression System was gifted by Professor Guoquan Gao from Sun Yat-Sen University,China.Human cortical neurons were derived from 12-20 week old aborted fetuses,obtained from the Guangzhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital,China.Mouse anti-Cdk5 and mouse anti-p16 monoclonal antibodies(Lab Vision,USA),and mouse anti-hTERT monoclonal antibody(Epitomics,USA),were used in this study. METHODS:(1) Recombinant adenovirus vectors,encoding hTERT(Ad-hTERT) and green fluorescent protein(Ad-GFP),were constructed using the AdEasy-1 Expression System.Human embryonic cortical neurons in the Ad-hTERT group were transfected with Ad-hTERT for 1-21 days. Likewise,human embryonic cortical neurons in the Ad-GFP group were transfected with Ad-GFP for 1-21 days.Human embryonic cortical neurons in the control group were cultured as normal.(2) Human embryonic cortical neurons in the Ad-hTERT group were treated with 10μmol/L Aβ_(25-35) for 24 hours.Normal human embryonic cortical neurons treated with 10μmol/LAβ_(25-35) for 24 hours served as a model group.Human embryonic cortical neurons in the Ad-GFP and control groups were not treated with Aβ_(25-35). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Expression of hTERT in human embryonic cortical neurons was evaluated by immunocytochemical staining and Western blot assay.Telomerase activity was measured using a PcR-based telomeric repeat amplification protocol(TRAP) ELISA kit.Neural activity in human embryonic cortical neurons was examined by MTT assay;apoptosis was measured using TUNEL assay;and Cdk5 and p16 protein expressions were measured by Westem blot. RESULTS:Expression of hTERT protein was significantly increased and peaked at day 3 post-transfection in the Ad-hTERT group.No hTERT expression was detected in the Ad-GFP and control groups.Telomerase activity was significantly greater in the Ad-hTERT group compared with the Ad-GFP and control groups(P<0.01).Compared with the control group,cell activity was significantly decreased(P<0.05),and cell apoptotic rate,Cdk5 and p16 expression were significantly increased(P<0.01) in the model group.Compared with the model group,cell activity was increased in the Ad-hTERT group,and peaked at day 3 post-transfection(P<0.05). Neuroprotective effects also peaked at day 3 post-transfection;and the apoptotic rate,Cdk5 and p16 expression significantly decreased(P<0.01). CONCLUSION:Expression of hTERT in human embryonic cortical neurons can relieve Aβ_(25-35)-induced neuronal apoptosis.The possible mechanism by which hTERT produces these neuroprotective effects may be associated with inhibition of Cdk5 and p16 expression.
