p19(ARF) is a tumor suppressor that leads to cell cycle arrest or apoptosis by stabilizing p53. p19(ARF) is not critical for cell cycle regulation under normal conditions, but loss of p19(ARF) is seen in many human cancers, and a murine p19(Arf) knockout model leads to malignant proliferation and tumor formation; its role in controlling nonmalignant proliferation is less defined. To examine thi...

RNA interference is a conserved gene regulatory mechanism employed by most eukaryotes as a key component of their innate immune response to viruses and retrotransposons. During viral infection, the RNase-III-type endonuclease Dicer cleaves viral double-stranded RNA into small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) 21-24 nucleotides in length and helps load them into the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) ...

conclusions by employment of gene optimization strategies, use of viral-based vectors and suppression of plant-derived gene silencing effect, efficient transient expression of hcvcp in tobacco with proper antigenic properties could be possible. background hepatitis c virus (hcv) is major cause of liver cirrhosis in humans. hcv capsid (core) protein (hcvcp) is a highly demanded antigen for vario...

Cancer gene discovery has relied extensively on analyzing tumors for gains and losses to reveal the location of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, respectively. Deletions of 1p36 are extremely common genetic lesions in human cancer, occurring in malignancies of epithelial, neural, and hematopoietic origin. Although this suggests that 1p36 harbors a gene that drives tumorigenesis when inactiv...

Studies of mammalian RNA interference (RNAi) have focused largely on the actions of microRNAs; however, in other organisms, endogenous short-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are involved in silencing processes. To date, similar molecules have been difficult to characterize in mammalian cells. P19 is a plant suppressor of RNA silencing that binds with high affinity to siRNAs. Here, the short RNAs bound...

Solodushko V, Alvarez DF, Viator R, Messerall T, Fouty B. Heterogeneous activation of p19 in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 300: L642–L647, 2011. First published January 7, 2011; doi:10.1152/ajplung.00117.2010.— p19 is a tumor suppressor that leads to cell cycle arrest or apoptosis by stabilizing p53. p19 is not critical for cell cycle regulation under ...

Joint predisposition to malignant melanoma and nervous system tumors (NSTs) is a puzzle. Several melanoma susceptibility genes have been identified, including p16, a clustered tumor suppressor. However, the molecular bases of inherited proclivity to NSTs in the absence of a recognizable genetic syndrome are unknown. We analyzed two families with joint proneness to melanoma and NSTs in view of g...

OBJECTIVES The goal of this study was to investigate the role in atherosclerosis of the tumor suppressor protein ARF (human p14(ARF), mouse p19(ARF)) encoded by the CDKN2A gene. BACKGROUND Atherosclerosis is characterized by excessive proliferation and apoptosis, 2 cellular processes regulated by CDKN2A. Although recent genome-wide association studies have linked atherosclerotic diseases to a...

Recent reports have shown that upon expression of appropriate oncogenes, both stem cells and more differentiated progenitor populations can serve as leukemia-initiating cells. These studies suggest that oncogenic mutations subvert normal development and induce reacquisition of stem-like features. However, no study has described how specific mutations influence the ability of differentiating cel...