Search results for "SIGNALING"

Sequential transcriptome analysis of human liver cancer indicates late stage acquisition of malignant traits

2014

Background & Aims Human hepatocarcinogenesis is as a multi-step process starting from dysplastic lesions to early carcinomas (eHCC) that ultimately progress to HCC (pHCC). However, the sequential molecular alterations driving malignant transformation of the pre-neoplastic lesions are not clearly defined. This lack of information represents a major challenge in the clinical management of patients at risk. Methods We applied next-generation transcriptome sequencing to tumor-free surrounding liver (n=7), low- (n=4) and high-grade (n=9) dysplastic lesions, eHCC (n=5) and pHCC (n=3) from 8 HCC patients with hepatitis B infection. Integrative analyses of genetic and transcriptomic changes were pe…

Rare NLRP12 variants associated with the NLRP12-autoinflammatory disorder phenotype: an Italian case series.

2013

Replication of interleukin 23 receptor and autophagy-related 16-like 1 association in adult- and pediatric-onset inflammatory bowel disease in Italy.

2008

AIM: To investigate gene variants in a large Italian inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) cohort, and to analyze the correlation of sub-phenotypes (including age at diagnosis) and epistatic interaction with other IBD genes. METHODS: Total of 763 patients with Crohn's disease (CD, 189 diagnosed at age < 19 years), 843 with ulcerative colitis (UC, 179 diagnosed < 19 years), 749 healthy controls, and 546 healthy parents (273 trios) were included in the study. The rs2241880 [autophagy-related 16-like 1 (ATG16L1)], rs11209026 and rs7517847 [interleukin 23 receptor (IL23R)], rs2066844, rs2066845, rs2066847 (CARD15), rs1050152 (OCTN1), and rs2631367 (OCTN2) gene variants were genotyped. RESULTS: The f…

DLG5 variants do not influence susceptibility to inflammatory bowel disease in the Scottish population

2005

Introduction: Recent data have suggested that specific haplotypic variants of the DLG5 gene on chromosome 10q23 may be associated with susceptibility to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Germany. Haplotype D, notably characterised by the presence of a G→A substitution at nucleotide 113, was associated with susceptibility to Crohn’s disease (CD) whereas an extended haplotype A conferred protection. Aims: Association of DLG5 haplotypic variants with disease susceptibility, genotype-phenotype relationships, and epistasis with CARD15 was investigated in the Scottish population. Patients and methods: A total of 374 CD, 305 ulcerative colitis (UC), and 294 healthy controls (HC) were studied. Ge…

Variants of CARD15 are associated with an aggressive clinical course of Crohn's Disease. An IG-IBD Study

2005

Three major variants of the CARD15 gene confer susceptibility to Crohn's disease (CD). Whether or not these variants correlate with specific clinical features of the disease is under evaluation.We investigated the possible association of CARD15 variants with specific clinical characteristics, including the occurrence of anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA) and antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA), in a large cohort of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients and their unaffected relatives.Three hundred and sixteen CD patients (156 with positive family history), 408 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients (206 with positive family history), 588 unaffected relatives, and 205 unre…

Apoptosis resistance in epithelial tumors is mediated by tumor-cell-derived interleukin-4

2008

We investigated the mechanisms involved in the resistance to cell death observed in epithelial cancers. Here, we identify that primary epithelial cancer cells from colon, breast and lung carcinomas express high levels of the antiapoptotic proteins PED, cFLIP, Bcl-xL and Bcl-2. These cancer cells produced interleukin-4 (IL-4), which amplified the expression levels of these antiapoptotic proteins and prevented cell death induced upon exposure to TRAIL or other drug agents. IL-4 blockade resulted in a significant decrease in the growth rate of epithelial cancer cells and sensitized them, both in vitro and in vivo, to apoptosis induction by TRAIL and chemotherapy via downregulation of the antia…

The role of CARD15 mutations and smoking in the course of Crohn's disease in a Mediterranean area.

2008

To evaluate the role of CARD15 mutations and smoking in the main events of Crohn's disease (CD).A total of 182 patients with CD were included in a prospective study in order to evaluate the role of CARD15 mutations and smoking in the main outcomes of disease course: first operation and surgical recurrence. The following variables were evaluated in a univariable and multivariable analysis: age, sex, site of disease, pattern, smoking habit, extraintestinal manifestations, duration of disease, and CARD15 mutation. The Kaplan-Meier method for survival curves and Cox model for multivariable analysis were, respectively, used.A total of 110 patients were operated on and 32 were reoperated on. The …

NF-κB protects Behçet's disease T cells against CD95-induced apoptosis up-regulating antiapoptotic proteins

2005

Objective To determine whether prolongation of the inflammatory reaction in patients with Behcet's disease (BD) is related to apoptosis resistance and is associated with the up-regulation of antiapoptotic factors. Methods The percentage of cell death was evaluated by flow cytometry in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 35 patients with BD and 30 healthy volunteers. The expression levels of antiapoptotic factors and NF-κB regulatory proteins were measured using Western blotting and immunohistochemical analyses. To down-regulate NF-κB nuclear translocation, BD T lymphocytes were exposed in vitro to thalidomide and subjected to transfection with NF-κB small interfering RNA. Results Althou…

Clinical, histological and genetic characterization of reducing body myopathy caused by mutations in FHL1

2008

We recently identified the X-chromosomal four and a half LIM domain gene FHL1 as the causative gene for reducing body myopathy, a disorder characterized by progressive weakness and intracytoplasmic aggregates in muscle that exert reducing activity on menadione nitro-blue-tetrazolium (NBT). The mutations detected in FHL1 affected highly conserved zinc coordinating residues within the second LIM domain and lead to the formation of aggregates when transfected into cells. Our aim was to define the clinical and morphological phenotype of this myopathy and to assess the mutational spectrum of FHL1 mutations in reducing body myopathy in a larger cohort of patients. Patients were ascertained via th…

MFAP5 Loss-of-Function Mutations Underscore the Involvement of Matrix Alteration in the Pathogenesis of Familial Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms and Dissec…

2014

Thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection (TAAD) is an autosomal-dominant disorder with major life-threatening complications. The disease displays great genetic heterogeneity with some forms allelic to Marfan and Loeys-Dietz syndrome, and an important number of cases still remain unexplained at the molecular level. Through whole-exome sequencing of affected members in a large TAAD-affected family, we identified the c.472CT (p.Arg158(∗)) nonsense mutation in MFAP5 encoding the extracellular matrix component MAGP-2. This protein interacts with elastin fibers and the microfibrillar network. Mutation screening of 403 additional probands identified an additional missense mutation of MFAP5 (c.62GT …