Urinary EpCAM in urothelial bladder cancer patients: characterisation and evaluation of biomarker potential

Background: Epithelial cell adhesion molecule is overexpressed in bladder tumours and released from bladder cancer cells in vitro. We test the hypotheses that urinary EpCAM could act as a biomarker for primary bladder cancer detection and risk stratification. Methods: Epithelial cell adhesion molecule was measured by ELISA in urine from 607 patients with primary bladder tumours and in urine from 53 non-cancer controls. Mann–Whitney tests and ROC analyses were used to determine statistical significance and discrimination between non-cancer controls and different stages and grades of disease. Multivariable modelling and Kaplan–Meier analyses were used to determine prognostic significance. The structure of urinary EpCAM was investigated by western blotting and mass spectrometry. Results: Urinary EpCAM levels increase with stage and grade of bladder cancer. Alongside grade and stage, elevated urinary EpCAM is an independent indicator of poor prognosis with a hazard ratio of 1.76 for bladder cancer-specific mortality. The soluble form of EpCAM in urine is the extracellular domain generated by cleavage between ala243 and gly244. Further studies are required to define the influence of other urinary tract malignancies and benign urological conditions on urinary EpCAM. Conclusion: The extracellular domain of EpCAM is shed into urine by bladder tumours. Urinary EpCAM is a strong indicator of bladder cancer-specific survival, and may be useful within a multi-marker panel for disease detection or as a stand-alone marker to prioritise the investigation and treatment of patients. The mechanisms and effects of EpCAM cleavage in bladder cancer are worthy of further investigation, and may identify novel therapeutic targets

Lezioni e materiali di diritto ecclesiastico comparato

Il volume nasce con lo specifico intento di essere un supporto alla didattica nel quadro delle evoluzioni in atto nello studio del Diritto ecclesiastico comparato. Esso si compone di due parti. La prima (“Lezioni di diritto ecclesiastico comparato”) raccoglie gli interventi, in forma di seminari o di lezioni, che negli anni un gruppo di colleghi ha proposto nell’insegnamento di Diritto ecclesiastico italiano e comparato tenuto nel Corso di laurea magistrale in Giurisprudenza della sede piacentina dell’Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. La seconda parte (“Materiali di diritto ecclesiastico comparato”) raccoglie contributi che, sulla scorta delle tematiche emergenti nelle ricerche di diritto straniero e comparato, offrono un quadro variegato ed eterogeneo dei nuovi contenuti e del nuovo approccio metodologico della disciplina giuridica del fenomeno religioso in ordinamenti europei (Grecia, Albania e Paesi dell’Est) ed extraeuropei (Giordania e altri Paesi di area musulmana)

The nucleotide sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome VII.

The complete nucleotide sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome VII has 572 predicted open reading frames (ORFs), of which 341 are new. No correlation was found between G+C content and gene density along the chromosome, and their variations are random. Of the ORFs, 17% show high similarity to human proteins. Almost half of the ORFs could be classified in functional categories, and there is a slight increase in the number of transcription (7.0%) and translation (5.2%) factors when compared with the complete S. cerevisiae genome. Accurate verification procedures demonstrate that there are less than two errors per 10,000 base pairs in the published sequence

The nucleotide sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome VII.

The complete nucleotide sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome VII has 572 predicted open reading frames (ORFs), of which 341 are new. No correlation was found between G+C content and gene density along the chromosome, and their variations are random. Of the ORFs, 17% show high similarity to human proteins. Almost half of the ORFs could be classified in functional categories, and there is a slight increase in the number of transcription (7.0%) and translation (5.2%) factors when compared with the complete S. cerevisiae genome. Accurate verification procedures demonstrate that there are less than two errors per 10,000 base pairs in the published sequence.journal articleresearch support, non-u.s. gov't1997 May 29importe