[Analysis of clinical presentation and genetic characteristics of malignant infantile osteopetrosis].

Objective: To investigate the clinical presentation and genetic characteristics of malignant infantile osteopetrosis. Methods: This was a retrospective case study. Thirty-seven children with malignant infantile osteopetrosis admitted into Beijing Children's Hospital from January 2013 to September 2022 were enrolled in this study. According to the gene mutations, the patients were divided into the CLCN7 group and the TCIRG1 group. Clinical characteristics, laboratory tests, and prognosis were compared between two groups. Wilcoxon test or Fisher exact test were used in inter-group comparison. The survival rate was estimated with the Kaplan-Meier method and the Log-Rank test was used to compare the difference in survival between groups. Results: Among the 37 cases, there were 22 males and 15 females. The age of diagnosis was 0.5 (0.2, 1.0) year. There were 13 patients (35%) and 24 patients (65%) with mutations in CLCN7 and TCIRGI gene respectively. Patients in the CLCN7 group had an older age of diagnosis than those in the TCIRGI group (1.2 (0.4, 3.6) vs. 0.4 (0.2, 0.6) years, Z=-2.60, P=0.008). The levels of serum phosphorus (1.7 (1.3, 1.8) vs. 1.1 (0.8, 1.6) mmol/L, Z=-2.59, P=0.010), creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB) (457 (143, 610) vs. 56 (37, 82) U/L, Z=-3.38, P=0.001) and the level of neutrophils (14.0 (9.9, 18.1) vs. 9.2 (6.7, 11.1) ×109/L, Z=-2.07, P=0.039) at diagnosis were higher in the CLCN7 group than that in the TCIRG1 group. However, the level of D-dimer in the CLCN7 group was lower than that in the TCIRGI group (2.7 (1.0, 3.1) vs. 6.3 (2.5, 9.7) µg/L, Z=2.83, P=0.005). After hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, there was no significant difference in 5-year overall survival rate between the two groups (92.3%±7.4% vs. 83.3%±7.6%, χ²=0.56, P=0.456). Conclusions: TCIRGI gene mutations are more common in children with osteopetrosis. Children with TCIRGI gene mutations have younger age, lower levels of phosphorus, CK-MB, and neutrophils and higher level of D-dimer at the onset. After hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, patients with CLCN7 or TCIRGI gene mutations have similar prognosis.

Functional p53 is required for triptolide-induced apoptosis and AP-1 and nuclear factor-kappaB activation in gastric cancer cells.

Triptolide, a major component in the extract of Chinese herbal plant Tripterygium wilfordii Hook f (TWHf), has potential anti-neoplastic effect. In the present study we investigated the potential therapeutic effects and mechanisms of triptolide against human gastric cancer cells. Four gastric cancer cell lines with different p53 status, AGS and MKN-45 (wild type p53); MKN-28 and SGC-7901 (mutant p53) were observed as to cell growth inhibition and induction of apoptosis in response to triptolide treatment. We showed that triptolide inhibited cell growth, induced apoptosis and suppressed NK-kappaB and AP-1 transactivation in AGS cells with wild-type p53. Triptolide induced apoptosis by stimulating the expressions of p53, p21(waf1/cip1), bax protein, and increased the activity of caspases. In addition, it caused cell cycle arrest in the G(0)/G(1) phase. To examine the role of p53 in these functions, we showed that suppression of p53 level with antisense oligonucleotide abrogated triptolide-induced apoptosis and over-expression of dominant negative p53 abolished the inhibitory effect on NF-kappaB activation. Furthermore, we demonstrated that triptolide had differential effects on gastric cancer cells with different p53 status. We showed that triptolide also inhibited cell growth and induced apoptosis in MKN-45 with wild-type p53, whereas it had no significant growth-inhibition and apoptosis induction effects on the MKN-28 and SGC-7901 cells with mutant p53. Our data suggest that triptolide exhibits anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting cell proliferation, inducing apoptosis and inhibiting NF-kappaB and AP-1 transcriptional activity. However, a functional p53 is required for these proapoptotic, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor effects.

Overexpression of protein kinase C-beta1 isoenzyme suppresses indomethacin-induced apoptosis in gastric epithelial cells.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: We have previously reported that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) could induce apoptosis of gastric epithelial cells both in vivo and in vitro. This study investigated the role of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms in the regulation of NSAID-induced apoptosis. METHODS: Protein levels of 12 PKC isoforms in AGS cells, in the presence or absence of indomethacin, were determined by Western blot. The effect of PKC-beta1 overexpression by transfection with its complementary DNA (cDNA) on indomethacin-induced apoptosis and apoptosis-related genes, including p53, p21(waf1/cip1), and c-myc, was further investigated. RESULTS: Treatment with indomethacin decreased the abundance of PKC-beta1 and increased that of PKC-beta2, eta, and epsilon, but did not alter the expression of PKC alpha, gamma, zeta, delta, iota, and micro. Overexpression of PKC-beta1 attenuated the apoptotic response of AGS cells to indomethacin, associated with overexpression of p21(waf1/cip1) in both messenger RNA and protein levels. Inhibition of PKC-beta1-mediated overexpression of p21(waf1/cip1) by its antisense cDNA partially reduced the antiapoptotic effect of PKC-beta1. CONCLUSIONS: Indomethacin-induced apoptosis in gastric cancer cells is partly mediated by differential regulation of PKC isoform expression. Enhanced expression of exogenous PKC-beta1 protects against indomethacin-induced apoptosis through up-regulation of p21(waf1/cip1).