Cloves syndrome: a case report and perinatal diagnostic findings.

We report a neonate with prenatal ultrasound imaging features suggestive of CLOVES syndrome, confirmed postnatally by clinical and imaging findings of the constellation of truncal overgrowth, cutaneous capillary malformations, lymphatic and musculoskeletal anomalies. The clinical, radiological and histopathological findings noted in our patient help differentiate from other overgrowth syndromes such as Proteus syndrome. We report perinatal findings and add new clinical findings of this rare syndrome.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4 metastasis suppressor gene expression is inversely related to histological pattern in advancing human prostatic cancers.

We have shown recently (B. A. Yoshida et al., Cancer Res., 59: 5483-5487) that mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4 (MKK4) can suppress AT6.1 rat prostate cancer metastases in vivo. Evaluation of the expression of components of the MKK4 signaling cascade showed a loss or down-regulation of expression of MKK4 or c-Jun, a downstream mediator of MKK4, in six of eight human prostate cancer cell lines. Given these findings, we next assessed whether MKK4 dysregulation occurs during the development of clinical prostate cancer. Immunohistochemical studies showed high levels of MKK4 expression in the epithelial but not the stromal compartment of normal prostatic tissues. In neoplastic tissues, a statistically significant, direct, inverse relationship between Gleason pattern and MKK4 was established. These results demonstrate that MKK4 protein is consistently down-regulated during prostate cancer progression and support a role for dysregulation of its signaling cascade in clinical disease. To test the possibility that down-regulation of MKK4 protein is the result of allelic loss, metastatic prostate cancer lesions were examined for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) within the MKK4 locus (D17S969). These studies showed a 31% (5 of 16) LOH of MKK4 that is not associated with coding region mutations, which suggests that the nucleotide sequence of the gene in the remaining allele is infrequently mutated.

Northern and southern blotting and the polymerase chain reaction to detect gene expression.

For cancer cells to form a metastasis, cells from the primary tumor must overcome the local adhesive forces, migrate and invade the microcirculation, arrest at a secondary site, and then finally proliferate (1). As implied by its mult]step nature, cancer metastasis is a complex and dynamic process that is likely to be regulated by a series of genes at each step (2). A variety of approaches have been used to discern the molecular events that regulate this process. It is likely that the ability of a cancer cell to form clinically detectable metastases is influenced by a variety of factors, including alt]rations in the pattern of gene expression within the cancer cell. Such changes could be the result]of genetic or epigenetic modifications (3). Alt]ough there has been a growing emphasis on array-based techniques for high-throughput screening of gene expression patterns, there are several well established protocols that can be used to identify such molecular changes. This chapter describes two of these techniques: Northern and Southern blotting.E. M. Southern first described a method for immobilizing size-fractionated DNA fragments on a nitrocellulose membrane in 1975. Since then, a number of different variations of this blotting method have been developed, as well as a variety of ways by which scientists can generate and hybridize probes to detect specifically the sequences thus immobilized. Southern blotting is now a general term for a number of different methods by which DNA is transferred from a gel to a membrane, and because nitrocellulose is relatively fragile, improved membranes have been developed that are more durable and that have been optimized for allowing binding of nucleic acids.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4/stress-activated protein/Erk kinase 1 (MKK4/SEK1), a prostate cancer metastasis suppressor gene encoded by human chromosome 17.

The introduction of a discontinuous approximately 70-cM portion of human chromosome 17 significantly suppresses the metastatic ability of AT6.1 rat prostate cancer cells without affecting tumorigenicity (M. A. Chekmareva et al., Prostate, 33: 271-280, 1997). We have recently demonstrated that AT6.1 cells containing the approximately 70-cM region (AT6.1-17-4 cells) escape from the primary tumor and arrest in the lung but are growth-inhibited unless the metastasis suppressor region is lost (M. A. Chekmareva et al., Cancer Res., 58: 4963-4969, 1998). A series of in vivo studies indicated that the observed growth inhibition was due to the effect of a gene(s) at the metastatic site (M. A. Chekmareva et al., Cancer Res., 58: 4963-4969, 1998). We have now identified the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4/stress-activated protein/Erk kinase 1 (MKK4/SEK1) gene as a candidate metastasis suppressor gene encoded by the approximately 70-cM region. AT6.1 cells were transfected with a MKK4/SEK1 expression construct, and the cells were tested in standard spontaneous metastasis assays. Whereas the metastatic ability of the AT6.1-MKK4/SEK1 cells was significantly reduced as compared with that of transfection controls, the growth rate of the primary tumors was not affected; the average tumor volume at day 29 after injection was approximately 2 cm. Furthermore, histological examination of the lungs of AT6.1-MKK4/SEK1 tumor-bearing animals revealed that the suppression by MKK4/SEK1 is due to an effect at the metastatic site, consistent with the phenotype conferred by the original approximately 70-cM chromosomal region. These studies implicate MKK4/SEK1 as a metastasis suppressor gene encoded by human chromosome 17.

Duplicated seminal vesicle.

We report a case of complete, unilateral seminal vesicle duplication without concomitant reproductive duct or renal anomalies encountered during radical retropubic prostatectomy. We also discuss the possible embryologic origin of this anomaly and the clinical implications.

Chromosome 17-mediated dormancy of AT6.1 prostate cancer micrometastases.

To improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, an increased understanding of the molecular and cellular changes that regulate metastatic ability is required. We have recently demonstrated a prostate cancer metastasis-suppressor activity encoded by a discontinuous approximately 70-cM region of human chromosome. The presence of this region suppresses the spontaneous metastatic ability of AT6.1 rat prostatic cancer cells by greater than 30-fold (M. A. Chekmareva et al., Prostate, 33: 271-280, 1997). Interestingly, a number of potentially important genes which have been mapped to human chromosome 17, including TP53, NM23, and BRCA1, are not retained (M. A. Chekmareva et al., cited above) or are not expressed in these microcell hybrids (B. A. Yoshida et al., In Vivo, in press), which suggests the presence of a novel metastasis-suppressor gene(s) or novel function of a known gene(s) encoded by this region(s). We hypothesize that identification of the "step" in the metastatic cascade that is inhibited by the presence of the approximately 70-cM metastasis-suppressor region will facilitate the identification of candidate metastasis-suppressor genes. For a cancer cell to metastasize, it must escape from the primary tumor, enter the circulation, arrest in the microcirculation, extravasate into a tissue compartment, and grow. This suppression of spontaneous macroscopic lung metastases could be due to the inhibition of a number of steps within this cascade. Results of the current study demonstrate that AT6.1 cells containing the approximately 70-cM region (AT6.1-17-4 cells) escape from the primary tumor and arrest in the lung but are growth-inhibited unless the metastasis-suppressor region is lost. This growth inhibition seems to result from an effect of one or more genes at the metastatic site and not from a circulating angiogenesis inhibitor. Our findings suggest that the approximately 70-cM region of human chromosome 17 may encode a gene(s) that regulates the "dormancy" of AT6.1-17-4 micrometastases.

Prostate cancer metastasis-suppressor genes: a current perspective.

Prostate cancers account for 43% of all cancers diagnosed in American men. It is estimated that in 1996, 317,000 new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed and 41,000 men died of the disease. The challenge of treating prostate cancer lies in accurately distinguishing those histologically-localized cancers which will complete metastatic progression from those that will remain indolent. At this time, we lack appropriate histological markers to make such distinctions, therefore, it is often difficult to accurately predict the clinical course of an individual patient's disease. There is growing evidence that a critical event in the progression of a tumor cell from a non-metastatic to metastatic phenotype is the loss of function of metastasis-suppressor genes. These genes specifically suppress the ability of a cell to metastasize. Work from several groups has demonstrated that human chromosomes 8, 10, 11 and 17 encode prostate cancer metastasis suppressor activities. As a result of these efforts the first prostate cancer metastasis-suppressor gene, KAI1, was identified and mapped to the p11-2 region of chromosome 11. In subsequent studies, an additional gene encoded by the same region, CD44 was also determined to have metastasis-suppressor activity. Recent studies have shown a correlation between decreased expression of KAI1 and CD44 and an increased malignant potential of prostate cancers. It is anticipated that the identification of other metastasis suppressor genes may allow for the development of diagnostic markers useful in the clinical substaging of individual tumors. This manuscript is intended to present our perspective on the importance of these genes in the understanding of prostate cancer progression. More importantly, we present new findings from our laboratory's effort to identify the metastasis-suppressor genes encoded by human chromosome 17. Specifically we report the strategy currently being used to evaluate a series of candidate genes and the approach being utilized to pinpoint the metastasis-suppressor region on human chromosome 17.

Localization of prostate cancer metastasis-suppressor activity on human chromosome 17.

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in American men. Currently, it is difficult to accurately predict the clinical course of histologically localized prostatic cancer in the individual patient. Identification of markers for metastatic potential of prostate cancer may improve the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. We have previously demonstrated that human chromosome 17 (17pter-q23) suppresses the metastatic ability of AT6.1 rat prostatic cancer cells. In this study we report on the further localization of the metastasis suppressor activity encoded by human chromosome 17. METHODS: A series of AT6.1-17 microcell hybrids was constructed using microcell-mediated chromosomal transfer of human chromosome 17 into highly metastatic AT6.1 cells. Hybrids which had spontaneously deleted regions of chromosome 17 were analyzed by PCR for the presence of 32 sequence-tagged sites (STS) markers as well as the prostate cancer tumor-suppressor loci reported on 17q. In addition, we examined a number of candidate genes and markers that previously have been mapped to chromosome 17. The in vivo metastatic potential of these AT6.1-17 deletion hybrids was determined. RESULTS: We have localized metastasis-suppressor activity to a approximately 70-centiMorgan (cM) portion of chromosome 17, consisting of three distinct regions of 30 cM (D17S952-->D17S805), 6 cM (D17S930-->D17S797), and 34 cM (D17S944-->D17S784). Three of the four markers on 17p13, including HIC1 and TP53, and 12 of the 13 markers in 17q21-23, including BRCA1 (D17S855) and NM23 (NME1), were not retained in the conserved approximately 70-cM metastasis-suppressor region. CONCLUSIONS: These results support a role for a novel metastasis-suppressor gene(s) or a novel metastasis-suppressor function on chromosome 17. Complementary candidate gene and positional cloning approaches are being used to identify the gene(s) within the approximately 70-cM conserved region responsible for metastasis suppression.

The role of motility proteins and metastasis-suppressor genes in prostate cancer progression.

In 1996, an estimated 317,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the United States. The incidence of prostate cancer has more than doubled in the past five years; in fact, it is estimated that aggressive screening starting at age 50 could potentially identify 10,000,000 American men with histologically localized prostate cancer. In order to reduce deaths from prostate cancer, it is necessary not only to diagnose but also to accurately predict the clinical course of an individual patient's cancer, thus allowing for more effectively directed treatment. Acquisition of metastatic ability is a well-recognized criterion for the aggressiveness of prostate cancer. A number of molecular and cellular changes associated with the malignant progression of prostate cancer have been identified. Certain of these changes may potentially be used as markers for metastatic ability of histologically localized prostate cancer cells. This concise review will consider two parameters which are associated with the acquisition of metastatic ability: increased cellular motility and loss of metastasis-suppressor gene function. A link between these two parameters has been demonstrated and may contribute to the development of innovative approaches for predicting the metastatic ability of individual tumors.

[The use of an ortofen-containing paste in the combined treatment of periodontal diseases]. / Ispol'zovanie ortofensoderzhashchei pasty v kompleksnom lechenii zabolevanii parodonta.

A periodontal dressing for the treatment of gingivitis and periodontitis, characterized by antiinflammatory and antibacterial action, was developed and clinically tried. Application of this dressing cut down the periods of treatment of chronic gingivitis and periodontitis, shortens the period of preparation to surgery, and provides a smooth course of the postoperative period.