0000000000319198
AUTHOR
Ansgar Schmidt
Cloning, structure, cellular localization, and possible function of the tumor suppressor gene lethal(3)malignant blood neoplasm-1 of Drosophila melanogaster.
The tumor suppressor gene, lethal(3)malignant blood neoplasm-1+, of Drosophila melanogaster is required for the differentiation of the phagocytic blood-cell type, the plasmatocyte. In the homozygously mutated state it causes the malignant transformation of these blood cells. We present here the cloning, sequencing, structure, and expression of the l(3)mbn-1+ gene during development. The cloned gene was identified by germ-line transformation, generation of revertants, and the detection of the corresponding mRNA in blood cells and other tissues. Homologies of the G-S-rich C-terminus of the putative MBN83 protein to human cytokeratins K1, K10, and mouse loricrin were found. The structure and p…
The Immune Checkpoint Molecule CD200 Is Associated with Tumor Grading and Metastasis in Bladder Cancer.
BACKGROUND We examined the expression of CD200, a ligand of immune tolerance, in transitional cell carcinoma of the human bladder (TCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS CD200 was analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in 90 patients with suspected TCC lesions of the bladder. Expression of CD200 was exemplarily validated by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. RESULTS CD200 was detectable at mRNA and protein levels in TCC homogenate and TCC cell lines (T24, UMUC3). TCC tissues showed significantly higher CD200 expression (p<0.005) than normal bladder tissues. CD200 signals were also higher in metastasized compared to localized TCC (p<0.05). CD200 was …
Loss of desmoglein 2 suggests essential functions for early embryonic development and proliferation of embryonal stem cells.
Summary Desmoglein 2 (Dsg2) is a Ca 2+ -dependent adhesion molecule of desmosomes and is synthesized in all desmosome-bearing tissues from their earliest appearance onward. To examine the function of Dsg2, its gene was inactivated by homologous recombination in embryonal stem (ES) cells for the generation of knockout mice. DSG2 −/− mice and a considerable number of DSG2 +/− mice died at or shortly after implantation. On the other hand, DSG2 −/− blastocysts developed an apparently normal trophectoderm layer, the first tissue known to produce desmosomes, and hatched properly. Immunofluorescence analyses of these blastocysts showed, however, that the distribution of the desmosomal plaque prote…