Human papilloma virus early proteins E6 (HPV16/18-E6) and the cell cycle marker P16 (INK4a) are useful prognostic markers in uterine cervical carcinomas in Qassim Region--Saudi Arabia.

Cervical cancer is a common and an important public health problem for adult women in developing countries. In contrast, cervical cancer incidence is low in Saudi Arabia. High-risk types of human papilloma viruses (HPV16 and HPV18) are the most significant risk factors for cervical cancer. HPV16/18-E6 oncoprotein is associated with HPV etiology, viral persistence and epithelial transformation. Cell cycle protein p16 INK4a (p16) plays an important role in the pathophysiology of cervical carcinomas. The aims of this study were to investigate the expression of HPV16/18-E6 and p16 in uterine cervical carcinomas in Qassim Region--Saudi Arabia, and to relate the results to the established clinicopathological prognostic parameters (age of the patient, educational level, birth control methods, number of pregnancy, smoking status, degree of histological differentiation, clinical stage, and lymph node metastasis) The study included 40 specimens of uterine cervical squamous cell carcinomas diagnosed and confirmed by biopsy. Histopathological classification of cervical tumors cases was performed according to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO). Immunohistochemical analysis for HPV16/18-E6 and p16 were carried out on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections of cervical tissues using avidin-biotin peroxidase method. There was a significant statistical correlation between HPV16/18-E6 expression in cervical carcinoma and nationality, smoking status and size of the tumor. HPV16/18-E6 oncoprotein expression in normal lymphocytes and endothelial cells in the tumor tissues and the adjacent normal cervical tissues suggest the possibility that HPV infection might spread to other organs through blood circulation. P16 expression has been correlated with high grade, stage of cervical SCC and HPV16/18-E6 expression. The current study supports the critical function of p16 and HPV16/18-E6 as specific markers for cervical carcinoma. However the potential for usage of p16 and HPV16/18-E6 as prognostic markers will require detailed follow data for a larger group of patients.

Molecular mechanisms of GD3-induced apoptosis in U-1242 MG glioma cells.

An increasing amount of evidence indicates that the disialoganglioside GD3 is involved in apoptosis in many cell lines. Our previous studies demonstrated that endogenous GD3 expression induced apoptosis in U-1242 MG glioma cells transfected with the GD3 synthase gene (U1242MG-GD3 cells). In this paper, we present further investigations on the molecular mechanisms of GD3-induced apoptosis in this cell line. We found that endogenously synthesized GD3 localizes to the caveolae of this cell line, where it promotes the localization of death receptor 5 (DR5), tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 (TNF-R1), and Fas (Apo-1) to the caveolae. In addition, caspase-8 was translocated to the caveolar fraction and cleaved; the cleaved proteins were then re-located into the high density fractions. However, GD3 had no effect on the distribution of the adapter protein Fas-associated death domain (FADD). We conclude that GD3 functions as a regulatory molecule early in the extrinsic apoptosis pathway.

TRAIL-induced apoptosis in U-1242 MG glioma cells.

Tumor necrosis factor related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) induces apoptosis in U-1242 MG cells. To investigate the molecular events involved in this process, we studied the effects of TRAIL on the localization within membrane fractions of molecules critical to the extrinsic apoptotic pathway. We report here that death receptor-5 (DR5), tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 (TNF-R1), and Fas receptor (FasR) are all located in the caveolin-1-enriched membrane fractions, and TRAIL caused the translocation of DR5, FasR, and TNF-R1 to the caveolar fractions. Caspase-8 is mainly located outside of caveolae, but TRAIL caused it to redistribute to the caveolin-1-enriched fractions where it was cleaved. Within 6 hours, the cleaved caspase-8 appeared in the high-density, noncaveolin fractions. Using confocal microscopy, we found that DR5, caspase-8, and caveolin-1 became progressively concentrated in blebs of plasmalemma as they formed in response to TRAIL. Our results provide the first evidence for the caveolar localization of TNF-R1 and DR5 and the coordinated redistribution among membrane fractions of several death receptors in response to TRAIL. We propose that the coordinated movement of these molecules among membrane compartments is probably an important component of the mechanisms regulating and initiating the extrinsic apoptotic pathway in human glioma cells.