The Wilms' tumor suppressor gene, WT1, encodes a zinc finger transcription factor that has been demonstrated to negatively regulate several growth factor and cognate receptor genes. However, inconsistent with its tumor suppressor function, WT1 has also been demonstrated to be required to inhibit programmed cell death in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, anaplastic Wilms' tumors, which typically expr...

The Wilms' tumor gene Wt1 is unique among tumor suppressors because of its requirement for the development of certain organs. We recently described de novo expression of Wt1 in myocardial blood vessels of ischemic rat hearts. The purpose of this study was to analyze the mechanism(s) of hypoxic/ischemic induction of Wt1. We show here that Wt1 mRNA and protein is up-regulated in the heart and kid...

The Wilms' tumour suppressor gene (wt1) is mutated in a subset of patients with Wilms' tumour and has a critical role in urogenital development. wt1 encodes a zinc finger transcription factor which regulates expression of several genes involved in cellular proliferation and differentiation. Although a number of studies have characterized the DNA binding properties of the WT1 protein, recent evi...

The tumor suppressor gene wt1 (Wilms' tumor gene) encodes for a zinc finger DNA-binding protein with predominantly transcription repressing properties. Because wt1 has been shown to be expressed in the vast majority of patients with acute myeloid leukemias (AML), we investigated the relevance of wt-1 mRNA expression regarding prognosis and possible prediction of relapse during follow-up. Totall...

BACKGROUND The role of the Wilms tumor 1 gene (WT1) in acute leukemias has been underscored by mutations found in acute myeloid leukemia identifying patients with inferior survival. Furthermore, aberrant expression of WT1 in acute myeloid leukemia was associated with an increased risk of relapse. No larger studies have performed a combined approach including WT1 mutation and expression analyses...

Renal hypoplasia is a common cause of pediatric renal failure and several adult-onset diseases. Recent studies have associated a variant of the OSR1 gene with reduction of newborn kidney size and function in heterozygotes and neonatal lethality with kidney defects in homozygotes. How OSR1 regulates kidney development and nephron endowment is not well understood, however. In this study, by using...

BACKGROUND A novel link between oncogenic KRAS signalling and WT1 was recently identified. We sought to investigate the role of WT1 and KRAS in proliferation and apoptosis. METHODS KRAS mutations and WT1 (cMyc) expression were detected using Sanger sequencing and real-time PCR in 77 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Overexpression and knockdown of WT1 were generated with plasm...

Molecular mechanisms for the developmental stage and tissue-specific regulation of the erythropoietin (EPO) gene are poorly understood. Recent findings indicate a role of the Wilms tumor suppressor, Wt1, in the formation of the hematopoietic system. Herein, we tested the hypothesis that Wt1 is a transcriptional regulator of the EPO gene. Binding of the transcriptionally competent Wt1(-KTS) isof...

The Wt1 gene encodes a nuclear transcription factor that is specifically expressed in ovarian granulosa cells. However, the physiological significance of Wt1 in ovarian follicle development remains elusive. In this study, we found that Wt1(+/R394W) mice were grossly normal, however, the females displayed severe reproductive defects. Only ∼15% of the Wt1(+/R394W) females became pregnant after ma...

The Wilms tumor protein 1 (WT1) transcription factor has been associated in malignant melanoma with cell survival and metastasis, thus emerging as a candidate for targeted therapy. A lysine-arginine rich peptide, WT1-pTj, derived from the ZF domain of WT1 was evaluated as an antitumor agent against A2058 human melanoma cells and B16F10-Nex2 syngeneic murine melanoma. Peptide WT1-pTj quickly pen...