Gene Expression Profiles are Altered in Human Papillomavirus-16 E6 D25E-Expressing Cell Lines

Previously, we have reported that the human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 E6 D25E is the most prevalent variant in Korean women at high risk for cervical cancers. Several studies have identified an association between the increased frequency of this variant and the elevated risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive cervical carcinoma. To investigate whether the HPV-16 E6 D25E variant might influence cervical cancer progression, we used an oligonucleotide microarray approach to identify transcriptionally altered gene expression patterns in recombinant wild-type E6 or E6 D25E variant-expressing HPV-negative cancer cells. We found that 211 genes were significantly up- or down-regulated (at least 1.5-fold, p < 0.05). We identified 14 genes, nine down-regulated and five up-regulated upon E6 D25E expression, compared with wild-type E6 expression. These results further emphasize the unique biological activity of the HPV-16 E6 D25E variant

Congenital Atrophoderma of Pasini and Pierini

Idiopathic atrophoderma of Pasini and Pierini is a form of dermal atrophy of unknown etiology, usually affecting women during their adolescence and young adulthood. A 2-yr-old girl was presented with erythematous atrophic lesion on the right shoulder, which appeared from birth. The histologic findings were consistent with atrophoderma. This patient, to the best of our knowledge, is the first case of atrophoderma with an onset since birth

Sequential activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, beta pix, rac1, and nox1 in growth factor-induced production of h2o2

The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells stimulated with growth factors requires the activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and the Rac protein. We report here that the COOHterminal region of Nox1, a protein related to gp91 phox (Nox2) of phagocytic cells, is constitutively associated with ␤Pix, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Rac. Both growth factor-induced ROS production and Rac1 activation were completely blocked in cells depleted of ␤Pix by RNA interference. Rac1 was also shown to bind to the COOH-terminal region of Nox1 in a growth factor-dependent manner. Moreover, the depletion of Nox1 by RNA interference inhibited growth factor-induced ROS generation. These results suggest that ROS production in growth factor-stimulated cells is mediated by the sequential activation of PI3K, ␤Pix, and Rac1, which then binds to Nox1 to stimulate its NADPH oxidase activity. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as superoxide anions and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), are produced in mammalian cells in response to the activation of various cell surface receptors and contribute to intracellular signaling and to the regulation of various biological activities, including host defense and metabolic conversion Nonphagocytic cells also produce superoxide anions in response to a variety of extracellular stimuli, including plateletderived growth factor (PDGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) (3, 5, 35, 38) Several homologs (Nox1, Nox3, Nox4, Nox5, Duox1, and Duox2) of gp91 phox (Nox2) have been identified in various nonphagocytic cell

Prevalence of human papillomavirus infection and genotype distribution among high-risk Korean women for prospecting the strategy of vaccine development

We investigated the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and the distribution of high-risk HPV genotypes among 2,308 high-risk Korean women to predict how much the current prophylactic HPV vaccines might affect the prevention of cervical cancer in Korea. HPV DNA was detected in 939 women (40.7%) but only one-third of women were positive for HPV-16 and/or HPV-18, the genotypes used for developing the HPV vaccines. Thus, the development of area-specific HPV vaccines based on dominant HPV genotypes in our country is needed for preventing HPV infection and the development of premalignant lesions in the cervix of Korean women

A comprehensive and high-resolution genome-wide response of p53 to stress

Tumor suppressor p53 regulates transcription of stress-response genes. Many p53 targets remain undiscovered because of uncertainty as to where p53 binds in the genome and the fact that few genes reside near p53-bound recognition elements (REs). Using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by exonuclease treatment (ChIP-exo), we associated p53 with 2,183 unsplit REs. REs were positionally constrained with other REs and other regulatory elements, which may reflect structurally organized p53 interactions. Surprisingly, stress resulted in increased occupancy of transcription factor IIB (TFIIB) and RNA polymerase (Pol) II near REs, which was reduced when p53 was present. A subset associated with antisense RNA near stress-response genes. The combination of high-confidence locations for p53/REs, TFIIB/Pol II, and their changes in response to stress allowed us to identify 151 high-confidence p53-regulated genes, substantially increasing the number of p53 targets. These genes composed a large portion of a predefined DNA-damage stress-response network. Thus, p53 plays a comprehensive role in regulating the stress-response network, including regulating noncoding transcription

Birth statistics of high birth weight infants (macrosomia) in Korea

PurposeThe authors analyzed the trend from the birth-related statistics of high birth weight infants (HBWIs) over 50 years in Korea from 1960 to 2010.MethodsWe used 2 data sources, namely, the hospital units (1960's to 1990's) and Statistics Korea (1993 to 2010). The analyses include the incidence of HBWIs, birth weight distribution, sex ratio, and the relationship of HBWI to maternal age.ResultsThe hospital unit data indicated the incidence of HBWI as 3 to 7% in the 1960's and 1970's and 4 to 7% in the 1980's and 1990's. Data from Statistics Korea indicated the percentages of HBWIs among total live births decreased over the years: 6.7% (1993), 6.3% (1995), 5.1% (2000), 4.5% (2000), and 3.5% (2010). In HBWIs, the birth weight rages and percentage of incidence in infants' were 4.0 to 4.4 kg (90.3%), 4.5 to 4.9 kg (8.8%), 5.0 to 5.4 kg (0.8%), 5.5 to 5.9 kg (0.1%), and >6.0 kg (0.0%) in 2000 but were 92.2%, 7.2%, 0.6%, 0.0%, and 0.0% in 2009. The male to female ratio of HBWIs was 1.89 in 1993 and 1.84 in 2010. In 2010, the mother's age distribution correlated with low (4.9%), normal (91.0%), and high birth weights (3.6%): an increase in mother's age resulted in an increase in the frequency of low birth weight infants (LBWIs) and HBWIs.ConclusionThe incidence of HBWIs for the past 50 years has been dropping in Korea. The older the mother, the higher was the risk of a HBWI and LBWI. We hope that these findings would be utilized as basic data that will aid those managing HBWIs