Insulinu slični čimbenici rasta/receptori kod raka pluća

Perturbation in a level of any peptide from insulin-like growth factor (IGF) family (ligands, receptors, binding proteins) seems to be implicated in lung cancer formation; IGF ligands and IGF-R1 through their mitogenic and antiapoptotic action, and the IGF-R2/M-6-P possibly as a tumor suppressor. In this respect we have found that human lung cancers overproduce IGF-1, IGF-2 and IGF-R1, which in turn stimulates their proliferation by autocrine mechanism, decrease apoptosis rate and increase telomerase activity. At the same time majority of tumors underproduce IGF-R2 possibly due to the mutations in both alleles of this gene. However, cancer cell proliferation can be abrogated or alleviated by blocking the mRNA activity of IGF-1, IGF-2 and/or IGF-R1 genes indicating that the use of monoclonal antibodies or an anti-sense approach may represent an effective and practical cancer gene therapy strategy.Velike promjene vrijednosti bilo kojeg peptida iz porodice insulinu sličnih čimbenika rasta /IGF/ (ligandi, receptori, vezujući proteini) čini se imaju utjecaja na nastanak raka pluća; IGF ligandi i IGF-R1 svojim mitogeničnim i anti-apopstotskim djelovanjem, a IGF-R2/M-6-P vjerojatno kao tumorski supresor. U tom pogledu otkrili smo da rak pluća u ljudi proizvodi previše IGF-1, IGF-2 i IGF-R1, čime se pak potiče njihovo širenje pomoću autokirnog mehanizma, smanjuje brzina apoptotskog procesa i povećava aktivnost telomeraze. Istodobno većina tumora proizvodi premalo IGF-R2, vjerojatno zbog mutacija prisutnih u oba alela toga gena. Me|utim, širenje stanica raka moguće je prekinuti ili usporiti blokadom aktivnosti mRNA gena IGF-1, IGF-2 i/ili IGF-R1, što upućuje na to da bi primjena monoklonskih protutijela ili tzv. antisense pristupa mogla biti učinkovita strategija upotrebljiva u genskoj terapiji raka

Objavljena knjiga "Downov sindrom"

Objavljena je knjiga naslova «Downov sindrom», koju je pisalo dvanaest autora. Urednice knjige su doc. dr. sc. Vida Čulić, prim.dr.med. (specijalistica za dječje bolesti i subspecijalistica medicinske genetike) i doc. dr. sc. Srđana Čulić, prim.dr.med. (specijalistica za dječje bolesti i subspecijalistica dječje hematologije i onkologije), zaposlene u Klinici za dječje bolesti, Klinički odjel za dječju hematologiju, onkologiju, imunologiju i medicinsku genetiku, Klinički bolnički centar, Split i Medicinskom fakultetu Sveučilišta u Splitu

Common Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Ph＋ Following Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis in a Multi-Malformed Child with INV (9) (p12;q13) (mat):Case Report

The occurrence of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) and another malignancy in the same patient is infrequent but has been recognized. The genetic changes that could be responsible for LCH and/or concomitant leukemia development are obscure. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first description of constitutional maternally derived inv (9) (p12;q13) in an LCH patient, and also of the development of common ALL Ph after LCH diagnosis and therapy. The potential significance of these findings [inv (9)LCHALL Ph] and their mutual relationship are unknown. Therefore, cooperative studies of large numbers of patients are needed to identify the common risk factors, if any

Sijamski blizanci – od slučaja do slučaja

Sijamski se blizanci rađaju spojeni različitim dijelovima tijela. U nekim je slučajevima kirurško razdvajanje moralno dopustivo, a u nekim slučajevima nije. Zato svaki slučaj treba promatrati zasebno i donositi odluke za upravo taj slučaj. Ponekad je odluka jednostavna, ali u nekim slučajevima nije. Uvijek se donosi nakon konzultacija s roditeljima i medicinskim osobljem uključenim u rješavanje problema, vodeći računa o poštovanju ljudskog života. Donošenje odluka kompliciraju i etički problemi koji uključuju privatnost bolesnika, razmještaj organa koji su zajednički za oba blizanca i, u nekim slučajevima, nužnost žrtvovanja jednog blizanca da bi se spasio život drugom. U radu je prikazano nekoliko slučajevima koji vrlo dobro osvjetljavaju moralne i etičke nedoumice vezane uz razdvajanje sijamskih blizanaca

Head and Neck Tumor Cells Exhibit Altered Proliferation upon Overexpression of nm23 Genes

nm23 was identified as a metastasis suppressor gene but is also appointed to a number of other biological functions. The goal of this study was to reveal the influence of ectopic expression of nm23-H1 and nm23-H2 on proliferation properties of head and neck tumor cells. The proliferation rate of transfected cells was evaluated using EGFP reporter system and flow cytometry. HEp-2 and CAL 33 cells transiently transfected with nm23 cDNA containing constructs exhibited enhanced proliferation. CAL 27 cells constitutively expressing GFP-Nm23-H2 protein, exhibited intense proliferation the first day after seeding, while the GFP-Nm23-H1 expressing clone started to proliferate after one-day lag period. The results on transiently transfected HEp-2 and CAL 33 cells generally confirmed previous findings connecting nm23 expression with altered proliferation of head and neck tumors. We speculate that the effects observed on stably transfected CAL 27 clones are due to their different attachment properties

Fetal Macrosomia in Pregnant Women with Gestational Diabetes

The aim of the study was to determine the frequency of fetal macrosomia in newborns from mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and healthy mothers, as well as determining the influence of fetal growth on pregnancy termination, on complications in pregnancy, during delivery and puerperium and on neonatal complications. In the study were included 351 pregnant women with GDM, as well as control group of 1502 healthy pregnant women. Newborns of mothers with GDM had significantly higher birth weight and length, ponderal index >2.85 was more frequent, they were macrosomic and hypertrophic (disproportional and proportional), had smaller Apgar score and more frequent neonatal complications (p<0.05). Fetal macrosomia and fetal hypertrophy alone or, particularly, connected with disproportional fetal growth, but disproportional hypotrophy as well, had significantly influence on greater frequency of delivery and puerperal complications, delivery completion with Cesarean section and neonatal complications in pregnant women with GDM