The overview of cancer patients attending in a specialized hospital: A cross sectional study.

According to National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital most frequently observed cancers in Bangladeshi population are lungs, breast, cervix, lymph node, esophagus, larynx and stomach. The point of epidemiological background, the rate of incidence and mortality are likely unavailable due to lack of population based cancer registry system in Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study was conducted from 2003 to 2012 with an aim to describe trends and pattern of cancer cases attended a specialized hospital in Dhaka city. A total of 29,999 cancer cases was enrolled and among them the male and female ratio was 1.2:1. The study revealed that around half of the patients attended from Dhaka division, followed by Chittagong division (22.9%) and Sylhet division (8.8%). According to the organ involvement most frequently reported malignancies in males were lung cancer (24.2%), followed by eight percent larynx cancer and six percent lymph node cancer, whereas in females were breast cancer (27.5%), followed by cervix cancer (19.5%) and five percent lung cancer. It has been found that the system involvement was observed of cancers among male's respifatory system (33.5%) followed by the digestive organs (20.0%) and oral cavity (14.2%) whereas in females were reproductive organs (26.3%), followed by fourteen percent digestive organs and eight percent oral cancer. The overall cancer trend showed a gradual rise of cancer cases in both sexes. The rate was higher in females rather than male. Without the availability of population based registries, incidence and mortality figures; studies like the present one may provide useful leads for health planning and future exploration.

A synthetic cadmium metallothionein gene (PMCd1syn) of Paramecium species: expression, purification and characteristics of metallothionein protein.

Metallothioneins (MTs) are metal binding proteins that are rich in cysteine residues constituting 10-30 % of the total protein, and in which the thiol groups bind to the metal ions. The increasing amount of metal ions in the medium have shown increased production of MTs by different organisms such as bacteria, protozoa and mammals like humans. PMCd1 is the first gene ever discovered in Paramecium, a ciliated protozoan, that could produce this MT in response to cadmium. In this study the PMCd1syn gene has been cloned in pET41a expression vector and expressed in an Escherichia coli BL21-codonplus strain for the first time. Since the gene PMCd1 amplified from Paramecium contained 10 codons, which could act as stop codons during expression in E. coli, this gene of 612 bps was synthesized to substitute these (stop) codons for the Paramecium sp. specific amino acids. For stability of the expressed protein, glutathione-S-transferase gene was fused with PMCd1syn gene and coexpressed. The cells expressing PMCd1syn demonstrated increased accumulation of cadmium. This is the first report of cadmium MT protein expressed from Paramecium species, particularly from synthetic MT gene (PMCd1syn). This fusion protein, the molecular weight of which has been confirmed to be 53.03 kDa with MALDI analysis, is rich in cysteine residues, and has been shown for the first time in this ciliate to bind to and sequester Cd(2+)-ions.

Hemin upregulates Egr-1 expression in vascular smooth muscle cells via reactive oxygen species ERK-1/2-Elk-1 and NF-kappaB.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidant stress are important mediators of cardiovascular pathologies including atherosclerosis. One source of ROS in the vasculature is free heme released from hemoglobin. Because Egr-1, the regulator of cell proliferation and apoptosis, is also induced by oxidant stress and is likewise implicated in atherosclerosis, we examined the regulation of Egr-1 by heme in vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Hemin increased Egr-1 expression (mRNA, protein) within 30 minutes and ERK-1/2 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation within 5 minutes. Inhibiting hemin-induced ERK-1/2 activation by U0126 (MAPK-inhibitor), the antioxidant N-acetyl cysteine, the NADPH oxidase inhibitors apocynin and diphenyleneiodonium chloride, the superoxide scavenger tiron, or tricarbonyldichlororuthenium(II)-dimer (carbon-monoxide donor; CORM-2) blocked hemin-induced Egr-1 expression. Hemin activated Elk-1, SRF, and NF-kappaB and promoted their interaction with the Egr-1 promoter. Downregulating Elk-1 (via siRNA) or blocking NF-kappaB activation (via BAY-11-7082) abolished hemin induction of Egr-1. Finally, hemin-induced Egr-1 bound the promoters of tissue factor (TF), Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor (PAI)-1, and NGF-1A Binding (NAB)-2, upregulating their expression, and increased the biochemical activity of TF and PAI-1. Upregulation of Egr-1 and its target genes by heme-induced oxidant stress may be an important event in the initiation and progression of inflammatory vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis.

Identification, cloning and sequencing of a novel stress inducible metallothionein gene from locally isolated Tetrahymena tropicalis lahorensis.

A novel cadmium inducible metallothionein (TMCd1) gene has been identified and sequenced from the locally isolated ciliate, Tetrahymena tropicalis lahorensis from industrial effluents. The TMCd1 gene encodes 471 nucleotides, with TGA as the stop codon and TAA coding for glutamine. This new gene is quite different from the previously reported MT genes in Tetrahymena pyriformis and Tetrahymena pigmentosa. However, it shows 78% homology with four different Cd-MT genes reported from Tetrahymena thermophila. A TATA box is located in the 5' flanking region at nucleotide 34-38 upstream region of ATG. The TMCd1 gene is intronless like many other genes isolated from Tetrahymena species. The amino acids sequence of TMCd1 has a special feature of three CCCX(6)CCX(6)CCCX(6)CC and two CCX(6)CXCX(2)CXCC intragenic tandem repeats with a conserved structural pattern of cysteine. The translated protein of TMCd1 contains 30.12% cysteine residues, which is a characteristic of a typical Tetrahymena Cd inducible MT genes. On the basis of 78% homology of nucleotide sequence of genomic DNA and its cDNA, TMCd1 has been considered as a new gene being reported from Tetrahymena tropicalis from this part of the world.

Differential regulation of early growth response gene-1 expression by insulin and glucose in vascular endothelial cells.

OBJECTIVE: Early growth response gene (Egr)-1 is a key transcription factor involved in vascular pathophysiology. Its role in diabetic vascular complications, however, remains unclear. Because hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia are major risk factors leading to diabetic vascular complications, we examined the effect of insulin and glucose on Egr-1 expression in murine glomerular vascular endothelial cells. METHODS AND RESULTS: Insulin or glucose, when added separately, increased egr-1 mRNA levels and promoter activity, as well as Egr-1 protein levels in nuclear extracts. When insulin was added to cells preincubated with glucose, the two had an additive effect on Egr-1 expression. Furthermore, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (flt-1) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, two known Egr-1-responsive genes, were also upregulated in the presence of insulin or glucose. An investigation into the underlying molecular mechanisms demonstrated that insulin, but not glucose, increased Egr-1 expression through extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 activation, which is consistent with our previous reports. In contrast, inhibition of protein kinase C by phorbol ester or by the specific protein kinase C inhibitor chelerythrine chloride downregulated glucose-induced, but not insulin-induced, Egr-1 expression. CONCLUSIONS: Differential regulation of Egr-1 expression by insulin and glucose in vascular cells may be one of the initial key events that plays a crucial role in the development of diabetic vascular complications.