前沿科技及其它

The human ras genes (H-, K-, and N-rus) are members of a superfamily of low-mol-wt GTP-binding proteins that function as G proteins in signal transduction pathways controlling cell proliferation and differentiation (1,2). Ras genes acquire oncogenic potential primarily as a result of point, ...

As cancer treatment options broaden, there is a corresponding increase m the need for Improved methods of detecting various stages and forms of the disease. Only through the use of highly sensitive and discriminating dtagnostic tests can a rational and Informed decision be made from among the c ...

The current status of the evaluation of many neoplasias (e.g., carcinoma of the prostate), relies on analysis of tumor stage and/or grade to predict the outcome of disease. Recent developments in screening practices with circulating markers, such as prostate-specific antigen (PSA), has led ...

Emerging evidence suggests that malignant tumors are composed of a small subset of distinct cancer cells, termed “cancer stem cells” (typically less than 5% of total cancer cells based on cell surface marker expression), which have great proliferative potential, as well as more differenti ...

The cancer stem cell hypothesis states that within a tumor only a subset of cells, the “cancer stem cells” (CSC), are capable of initiating and propagating the disease. In various cancers such cells have been identified and prospectively isolated based on the presence of specific cell surface an ...

The identification of a subpopulation of brain tumor cells with potent tumorigenic capacity strengthens the cancer stem cell hypothesis of the origin of the tumors that has recently attracted the attention of many researchers. Reports have been published on the identification of tumor ...

In normal adult tissues, paracrine signals that derive from the stem cell niche, or microenvironment, play an important role in regulating the critical balance between activity and quiescence of stem cells. Similarly, evidence has emerged to support the hypothesis that signals derived ...

Aberrant DNA methylation is one of the major characteristics of tumor cells in addition to genetic and other epigenetic alterations. Evidence shows that both regional hypermethylation and global hypomethylation can occur in cancer cells. Increased DNA methylation can be found at sel ...

Accumulating evidence suggests that only a fraction of neoplastic cells, defined as cancer stem cells (CSC), are responsible for tumor perpetuation. Recent data suggest that neurospheres (NS) from glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) are enriched in CSC. The characterization of this subp ...

Despite advances for the treatment of cancer, the prognosis for patients suffering from malignant brain tumors remains dismal. High-grade neoplasms, such as gliomas, are highly invasive and spawn widely disseminated microsatellites that have limited the efficacy of surgical and a ...

Multiple drug resistance, mediated by the expression and activity of ABC-transporters, is a major obstacle to antineoplastic therapy. Normal tissue stem cells and their malignant counterparts share MDR transporter activity as a major mechanism of self-protection. Although MDR ac ...

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has become an increasingly utilized and relevant model organism in the study of cancer. The use of transgenic and reverse genetic approaches has yielded several strains that model a variety of human neoplasms. In addition to modeling human disease, these strains p ...

Metastatic spread of cancer cells from the primary tumors to distant vital organs, such as lung, liver, brain, and bone, is responsible for the majority of cancer-related deaths. Cancer stem cells are likely to play essential roles in the metastatic spread of primary tumors because of their self-r ...

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a clonal neoplasm of terminally differentiated plasma cells (PCs). Conventional cytogenetic analysis is one of the widely accepted DNA genome-screening tools for identification of chromosomal aberrations in MM. The success rate of detection of abnormal ka ...

Multiple myeloma (MM), like other hematological malignancies, has both normal and clonal neoplastic cells coresiding in the bone marrow. To perform interphase fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis accurately, for the detection of clonal chromosome abnormalities, ...

Multiple myeloma is a plasma cell disorder characterized at the cytogenetic level by aneuploid karyotypes with numerous complex structural aberrations. Unfortunately, conventional chromosome-banding techniques are unable to resolve many of these aberrations. Multico ...

Chromosome analysis has become an important diagnostic tool in the assessment of patients with multiple myeloma. Conventional cytogenetic analysis of myeloma cells is complicated by the difficulty in inducing myeloma cells to divide. A method for the culture and harvest of bone marrow s ...

Multiple myeloma is characterized by proliferation of monoclonal plasma cells (PCs), mostly in the bone marrow. The proliferative rate of the malignant plasma cell is an important determinant of the disease biology and can be measured as the percentage of PCs in the S-phase of the cell cycle. This p ...

Multiparametric immunophenotyping of multiple myeloma (MM) and other plasma cell (PC) dyscrasias represents an attractive approach not only for research purposes but also in clinical practice. Based on well-established antigenic patterns, discrimination between myelom ...

The fast advance of genomic science and nucleic acid detection technology provides medical researchers new tools for detecting genetic and expressional variations of individuals and their relations to pathology, etiology, and diagnostics. DNA microarrays, also called DNA chip ...