Evidence of measles virus antigens and RNA in endometrial cancer.

OBJECTIVES: To look for an association between the measles virus and endometrial carcinoma, the most frequent cancer of the female genital tract in our area. STUDY DESIGN: Thirty-six of 49 patients with endometrial carcinoma were studied to detect fingerprints of the measles virus. Immunohistochemistry with the avidin-biotin complex method and in situ hybridization were used to demonstrate the association. The clinicopathological correlations were carried out to support a relationship between the virus and the cancer if any was found. RESULTS: Twenty-six of the 36 cases (72%) of endometrial cancer showed the presence of measles virus antigens in the tumor cells. Sixteen of 21 cases were positive for measles virus RNA by in situ hybridization. Although type I endometrial carcinoma was more positive for viral particles than type II, type II cancer, when allied with the measles virus, was more often associated with the depth of myometrial invasion and with death from tumor. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate for the first time a link between endometrial cancer and the presence of viral antigens and RNA of the measles virus, although these findings do not necessarily signify a causal relationship between the cancer and the virus.

Glucose determination using a re-usable enzyme-modified ion track membrane sensor.

A novel concept for a glucose biosensor based on the enzyme glucose oxidase covalently linked to nanopores of etched nuclear track membranes is presented. This device can be used to detect physiologically relevant glucose concentrations between 10 microM and 1 M. The sensitive catalytic sensor can be made re-usable due to the production of diffusible products from the oxidative biomolecular recognition event. We have demonstrated both the simplicity with which this sensor can be produced and the stability of the enzyme embedded in the nanopores. We strongly believe that the approach could be expanded for different enzymes and variable configurations of sensing and catalysis using membranes with nanopores for biocatalysis and enrichment of substrates and products. This is the first time that such devices are being used for biocatalytic transformations.