Genomic organization and promoter function of the mouse uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) gene1The nucleotide sequences reported in this paper will appear in the DDBJ, and GenBank/EMBL Data Bank with accession number AB012159.1

AbstractWe cloned and characterized the mouse uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) gene and its promoter region. The gene spans approximately 6.3 kb and contains eight exons and seven introns. Two short exons are located in the 5′ untranslated region, and each of the remaining exons encodes one of the transmembrane domains. 3′-RACE analysis showed that a polyadenylation signal 257 bp downstream from the stop codon was functional. Primer extension analysis indicated a single transcriptional start site 369 bp upstream from the translational start site. The promoter region lacks both TATA and CAAT boxes but is GC-rich. A construct containing 1250 bp of the promoter region showed significant activity in all 6 cell lines examined, and the region between −160 and −678 bp exhibited strong positive regulatory activity. These features of the UCP2 gene are different from those of the UCP1 gene and may contribute to its ubiquitous expression

Solitary mandibular metastasis as an initial manifestation of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Oral metastases from hepatocellular carcinoma are very rare. We encountered a case of hepatocellular carcinoma with a solitary metastasis to the mandible as an initial manifestation. The patient was a 76-year-old man who was admitted for left mandibular swelling. A biopsy specimen of mandible was suspected to be a metastatic tumor. The histological findings, abdominal computed tomography, bone scintigraphy, and F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) revealed it to be a solitary metastasis from hepatocellular carcinoma. As a result, he was diagnosed to have liver cirrhosis due to a hepatitis C virus infection and hepatocellular carcinoma with a solitary metastasis to the mandible. The primary lesion was treated with transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE), and the metastasis to the mandible was surgically resected. The patient survived for 9 months after treatment without recurrence