Disruption of the normal pattern of parental origin-specific gene expression is referred to as loss of imprinting (LOI), which is common in various cancers. To investigate a possible role of LOI in the early stage of human cell transformation, we studied LOI in 18 human fibroblast cell lines immortalized spontaneously, by viral oncogenes, by chemical or physical carcinogens, or by infection wit...

BACKGROUND Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive brain tumor, which has a poor prognosis despite the advent of different therapeutic strategies. There are numerous molecular biomarkers to contribute diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction of response to the current therapy in GBM. One of the most important markers that are potentially valuable is immortalization-specific or immortal...

Cervical epithelial cell immortalization with defined genetic factors without viral oncogenes has never been reported. Here we report that HPV-negative cervical epithelial cells failed to be immortalized by telomerase activation or the combination of p53 knockdown and telomerase activation. Under those conditions, p16INK4a expression was always elevated during the late stage of limited cell lif...

Schwann cells (SCs) play an important role in the development, function and regeneration of peripheral nerves. They can enhance both peripheral and central nerve regeneration by providing a supportive environment for neurite outgrowth through the release of neurotrophic factors. However, use of primary SCs for in vitro models is limited because these cells are difficult to prepare and maintain ...

Bmi-1, a polycomb gene family member, plays an important role in cell cycle regulation, cell immortalization, and cell senescence. Recently, numerous studies have demonstrated that Bmi-1 is involved in the regulation of self-renewal and differentiation of stem cells. However, the molecular mechanism underlying this biological process remains largely unclear. In the present review, we summarized...

1 2 3 The Epstein-Barr Virus BamHI C Promoter Is Not Essential For B Cell 4 Immortalization In Vitro But Greatly Enhances B Cell Growth Transformation 5 6 7 Rosemary J. Tierney # , Jasdeep Nagra, Martin Rowe, Andrew I. Bell and Alan B. Rickinson 8 9 School of Cancer Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of 10 Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom. 11 12 Running Title: Ro...

Scaffold attachment factor B1 (SAFB1) is a multifunctional protein, which has previously been implicated in breast cancer. Here, we show that genetic deletion of SAFB1 in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) leads to spontaneous immortalization and altered expression of two proteins involved in immortalization and escape from senescence: low levels of p19(ARF) and high levels of TBX2. Inactivation...

In vitro EBV infection of lymphocytes from different sources indicated that B-cells of adult peripheral or fetal cord blood transform with equal efficiency whether assayed by DNA synthesis induction or immortalization. Unfractionated adult lymphocytes transformed much less efficiently than those from fetal cord blood. This effect was due to the suppression of B-cell proliferation by adult T-lym...