In the present review, the evidence that vasculoprotective properties of some antihypertensive drugs may predict improved outcomes in hypertensive patients is discussed.

CHROMOSOME 11: Disease Gene Assignments, Selected References, Testing Sites

CHROMOSOME 10: Disease Gene Assignments, Selected References, Testing Sites

In spite of extensive research in molecular carcinogenesis, genes that can be considered primary targets in human carcinogenesis remain to be identified. Mutated oncogenes or cellular growth regulatory genes, when incorporated into normal human epithelial cells, failed to immortalize or transform these cells. Therefore, they may be secondary events in human carcinogenesis. such as melanoma, pheochromocytoma, medulloblastoma, glioma, sarcoma, and colon cancer.

Dendritic cells (DC) are professional antigen-presenting cells whose primary function is the initiation of immune response. Based on the finding that the immune system usually fails to identify and kill cancer cells, DC have been recently used as vaccines for stimulation of tumour-specific immunity. This review focuses on pitfalls related to DC-based vaccination against solid tumours and on improvement of this immunotherapeutic approach for routine treatment of cancer disease.

The inflammation that is involved in the development of glomerulonephritis is tightly regulated by the expression of antiinflammatory factors. These include circulating hormones, such as glucocorticoids, and mediators that are produced by intrinsic cells and infiltrating leucocytes. The present review focuses on these anti-inflammatory factors, summarizing in particular their activities in existing models of glomerulonephritis. In addition, experimental evidence is presented that anti-inflammatory mediators are able to increase glucocorticoid binding or signalling in target cells. These data help to explain the in-vivo efficacy of anti-inflammatory mediators, and offer a promising new avenue for therapeutic intervention.

Transgenic technology has been revolutionised by the development of techniques that allow temporo-spatial control of gene deletion or expression in transgenic animals. The ability to switch gene expression ‘on’ or ‘off' in restricted tissues at specific times allows unprecedented flexibility for exploring gene function in both health and disease.

A simple, but flexible and scalable software package is presented to facilitate data generation and storage for large sequencing projects. Open source and largely platform and database independent, we wish FOUNTAIN to be improved and extended in a community effort.

This paper reviews the clinical use of 5-FU in the treatment of solid tumors, and discusses strategies for improving the efficacy and safety of 5-FU. It also discusses the developing role of the oral fluoropyrimidine capecitabine, a novel fluoropyrimidine carbamate that generates 5-FU preferentially in tumor tissue.

The mammalian cell nucleus is a membrane-bound organelle that contains the machinery essential for gene expression. Although early studies suggested that little organization exists within this compartment, more contemporary studies have identified an increasing number of specialized domains or subnuclear organelles within the nucleus.

A vast amount of circumstantial evidence implicates oxygen-derived free radicals (especially superoxide and hydroxyl radical) and high-energy oxidants (such as peroxynitrite) as mediators of inflammation, shock, and ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Rapid progress in deciphering the biological mechanism of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has arisen from the application of molecular and cell biology to this complex disorder of the limbic and association cortices. In turn, new insights into fundamental aspects of protein biology have resulted from research on the disease.

Conserved domains in proteins have crucial roles in protein interactions, DNA binding, enzyme activity and other important cellular processes. It will be of interest to determine the proportions of genes containing such domains in the proteomes of different eukaryotes.

Genetic screens in Drosophila have provided a wealth of information about a variety of cellular and developmental processes. It is now possible to screen for mutant phenotypes in virtually any cell at any stage of development by performing clonal screens using the flp/FRT system.

The availability of complete genome sequences has allowed the prediction of all exported proteins of the corresponding organisms with dedicated algorithms.Even though numerous studies report on genome-based predictions of signal peptides and cell retention signals, they lack a proteomic verification.

Genomic sequence analyses have shown that horizontal gene transfer occurred during the origin of eukaryotes as a consequence of symbiosis. However, details of the timing and number of symbiotic events are unclear.

A conserved mechanism for post-transcriptional gene silencing?

Proteins with homology to RNA-directed RNA polymerases function in post-transcriptional gene silencing: in quelling in the fungus Neurospora crassa, RNAi in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, and co-suppression in the mustard plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

Recently, a member of the GATA-binding family of transcription factors was shown to be involved in the human hypoparathyroidism, sensorineural deafness and renal anomalies (HDR) syndrome.

The human major histocompatibility complex HLA has been implicated repeatedly as a regulator of the outcome of HIV exposure and infection. A new study of long-term survivors who naturally depress HIV-1 replication and avoid the signs of AIDS for years after infection suggests that homozygosity for a group of HLA-Blocus alleles termed Bw4confers resistance, ostensibly by regulating natural killer cell–ligand interactions. However, close inspection of the accumulated evidence raises some questions and urges validation of the potential Bw4effects in additional studies.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV), a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus of the Flaviviridae family, is a major cause of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide.

March