ABSTRACT
Candida albicans (C. albicans) is an opportunistic fungus that quickly adapts to various microniches. It causes candidiasis, a common fungal infection for which the pathogenic mechanism has not been elucidated yet. To explore the pathogenic mechanism of candidiasis we used several methods, including microscopic observation of morphological changes of HeLa cells and fungus, analysis of differentially expressed genes using gene chips, and a series of biological and bioinformatic analyses to explore genes that are possibly involved in the pathogenesis of C. albicans. During the C. albicans infection, significant morphological changes of the fungus were observed, and the HeLa cells were gradually destroyed. The gene chip experiments showed upregulated expression of 120 genes and downregulated expression of 178 genes. Further analysis showed that some genes may play an important role in the pathogenesis of C. albicans. Overall, morphological variation and adaptive gene expression within a particular microniche may exert important effects during C. albicans infections.
Subject(s)
Candida albicans/genetics , Candida albicans/metabolism , Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal , Candidiasis/microbiology , Computational Biology , Down-Regulation , Gene Expression , Gene Expression Profiling , HeLa Cells , Humans , Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis , RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional , Time FactorsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the rare entity of partial mole or choriocarcinoma with co-existing fetus. METHODS: A total of 7 cases of partial mole or choriocarcinoma with co-existing fetus were selected to collect clinical profiles and perform auxiliary examinations such as serum ß-hCG and sonography. The data were analyzed retrospectively and all cases confirmed by surgery and histopathological diagnosis. RESULTS: There were 5 cases of partial moles with co-existing fetus. All patients stayed alive at follow-up. However, only 1 fetus delivered at 32-week gestation survived. All patients of choriocarcinoma with co-existing fetus died. Among them, 1 newborn died and another one lost follow-up after 2 years. CONCLUSION: Recently the rate of gestational trophoblastic disease with co-existing fetus is rising. It is quite important that the professionals of genetics, reproductive medicine, gynecological oncology, perinatal medicine and pathology should pay more attention to this emerging disease.
Subject(s)
Choriocarcinoma , Hydatidiform Mole , Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic , Uterine Neoplasms , Adult , Female , Gestational Trophoblastic Disease , Humans , Pregnancy , Retrospective Studies , Trophoblastic NeoplasmsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To survey incidence of gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) in China and to provide useful information for prevention and better treatment of the disease. METHODS: The survey was retrospectively carried out from 1991 to 2000 and included 143 hospitals in the following seven Chinese provinces: Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, Anhui, Jiangxi, Shanxi and Henan. RESULTS: Excluding incomplete data, data from 118 hospitals from seven provinces were finally analyzed. The total numbers of pregnancy and GTD were 3,674, 654 and 14,222, respectively. The GTD cases occurred mainly among 20 - 34 year old women, which accounted for 85.5% of total GTD. The incidence of GTD was 3.87 per thousand. There were 9,194 cases (64.6%) of hydatidiform, 3,452 cases (24.3%) of invasive mole, 1521 cases (10.7%) of choriocarcinoma, 55 cases (0.4%) of placenta-site trophoblastic tumor, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this survey are reliable and representative due to large sampling and hospital-based data collection. The incidences of GTD decreased significantly compared with 1950s'. It is important to take pathological examination for GTD and to diagnose complate mole and partial mole correctly.
Subject(s)
Gestational Trophoblastic Disease/epidemiology , Uterine Neoplasms/epidemiology , Adult , China/epidemiology , Choriocarcinoma/diagnosis , Choriocarcinoma/epidemiology , Female , Gestational Trophoblastic Disease/diagnosis , Gestational Trophoblastic Disease/prevention & control , Humans , Hydatidiform Mole/diagnosis , Hydatidiform Mole/epidemiology , Incidence , Pregnancy , Retrospective Studies , Trophoblastic Tumor, Placental Site/diagnosis , Trophoblastic Tumor, Placental Site/epidemiology , Uterine Neoplasms/diagnosisABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the inhibitory effect of tumor suppressor PTEN on cell growth of endometrial carcinoma. METHODS: The exogenous wild PTEN cDNA via an adenoviral vector (Ad-PTEN) was introduced into Ishikawa cells. The expression of PTEN protein was detected by Western blot. The growth of Ishikawa cells was evaluated by trypan blue exclusion method and MTT. RESULTS: The expression of PTEN protein was induced on day 1, and greatly increasing on day 3 - 5 after Ad-PTEN infection. The expression of PTEN significantly inhibited the growth of Ishikawa cells, and also significantly inhibited the growth of Ishikawa cells induced by IGF-II. CONCLUSION: Adenovirus-mediated introduction of exogenous PTEN into human endometrial carcinoma cells can induce growth suppression. PTEN gene may be a novel therapeutic agent for endometrial carcinoma.
Subject(s)
Adenoviridae/genetics , Endometrial Neoplasms/pathology , Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases/biosynthesis , Tumor Suppressor Proteins/biosynthesis , Cell Proliferation , Endometrial Neoplasms/metabolism , Female , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Humans , Insulin-Like Growth Factor II/pharmacology , PTEN Phosphohydrolase , Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases/genetics , Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases/physiology , Recombination, Genetic , Transfection , Tumor Suppressor Proteins/genetics , Tumor Suppressor Proteins/physiologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship of changes in gene expression profiles of hydatidiform mole and choriocarcinoma with hyperplasia of trophoblasts. METHODS: The differentially expressed genes were analyzed in two pairs of tissues of hydatidiform mole versus normal villi, and in two pairs of normal primary culture trophoblasts versus JAR cell line of chariocarcinoma, using cDNA microarray containing 4096 genes. To confirm the results of cDNA microarray analysis, expressions of some up-regulated genes related to DNA synthesis in normal villi, hydatidiform mole, and 2 choriocarcinoma cell lines (JAR and JEG-3) were examined by immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting and RT-PCR. RESULTS: A total of 89 genes were differentially expressed in all hydatidiform moles, accounting for 2.2% of the genes arrayed. Of the 89 genes, 24 were up-regulated and 65 were down-regulated. Compared with normal primary trophoblasts, there were 433 genes up-regulated and 380 genes down-regulated in JAR cell line. Forty six genes were up-regulated in both hydatidiform mole and choriocarcinoma, while 13 genes were down-regulated. Some genes associated with cell proliferative inhibition were significantly down-regulated, whereas those associated with cell proliferation, malignant transformation, metastasis and drug resistance were highly up-regulated. The expressions of thymidine kinase 1, the small subunit of ribonucleotide reductase (RRM2) were significantly increased in hydatidiform mole, JAR and JEG-3 cells. CONCLUSION: Abnormal expression of genes exists in hydatidiform mole and choriocarcinoma. Hyperplasia of trophoblasts may be related to over-expression of genes coding for synthetic enzymes.
Subject(s)
Choriocarcinoma/genetics , Gene Expression Profiling , Hydatidiform Mole/genetics , Trophoblasts/pathology , Uterine Neoplasms/genetics , Adult , Cell Line, Tumor , Cell Proliferation , Cell Transformation, Neoplastic , Choriocarcinoma/metabolism , Choriocarcinoma/pathology , Drug Resistance, Neoplasm , Female , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Humans , Hydatidiform Mole/metabolism , Hyperplasia , Neoplasm Metastasis , Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis , Pregnancy , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Ribonucleoside Diphosphate Reductase/metabolism , Thymidine Kinase/metabolism , Uterine Neoplasms/metabolism , Uterine Neoplasms/pathologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine candidate genes of endometrial adenocarcinoma. METHODS: To compare the gene expression profile in 2 endometrial adenocarcinoma tissues and 2 normal endometria by HGEC-40s GeneChip probe including 4096 genes array. Expression differences between normal and malignant tissue groups were measured by GenePixPro3.0 software. RESULTS: 350 genes with a ratio below 0.5 and above 2.0 showed discrimination between normal and malignant groups. Thirty three genes with ratio above 3 were up-regulated, forty-four genes with ratio below 0.3 were down-regulated. CONCLUSION: The overexpression of oncogenes with their disturbed or constitutively activated signal transduction cascades alone or in combination with the mutation-induced silencing of tumor suppressor genes is associated with malignant transformation.
Subject(s)
Adenocarcinoma/genetics , Endometrial Neoplasms/genetics , Gene Expression Profiling , Aurora Kinases , Cell Cycle Proteins , Female , GPI-Linked Proteins , Humans , Membrane Proteins/genetics , Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/genetics , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit/geneticsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To screen genes which may associate with the development and malignant transformation of hydatidiform mole. METHOD: The differentially expressed genes were analyzed between the tissues of two cases of hydatidiform mole and the normal placental tissues of two cases of pregnancy which had almost the same pregnant ages as hydatidiform mole, using cDNA chips containing 4,096 genes. RESULTS: There were total 89 genes significantly differently expressed in all hydatidiform moles, counting for 2.2% of total genes. Compared with normal villi, 24 genes in hydatidiform mole were up-regulated and 65 genes were down-regulated. Bioinformatical analysis of genes showed genes associated with cell proliferative inhibition, such as Ras GTPase activating protein, TGF-beta IIR alpha, BTG2 were significantly down-regulated, whereas genes associated with cell proliferation, malignant transformation and tumor metastasis as thymidine kinase, ribonucleotide reductase, glucose transport protein were highly up-regulated. CONCLUSION: cDNA chip technique is one kind of very effective methods in screening associated genes in hydatidiform mole.
