BACKGROUND While combination of gemcitabine with anti-topoisomerase poisons is routinely used in oncology, little is known on the biological interactions between these drugs. DESIGN To understand the cellular basis for this association, we hypothesized an interaction of the two agents at the topoisomerase level. A real-time RT-PCR method was designed to quantify topoisomerase expression after...

A recent large outbreak of fungal infections by Exserohilum rostratum from contaminated compounding solutions has highlighted the need to rapidly screen available pharmaceuticals that could be useful in therapy. The present study utilized two newly-developed high throughput assays to screen approved drugs and pharmaceutically active compounds for identification of potential antifungal agents. S...

The intracellular pathways for basal atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) secretion from the heart and their correlation with ANF processing to the active form were characterized in cultured neonatal rat atrial and ventricular myocytes. Brefeldin A, a fungal antimetabolite that blocks transport of newly synthesized proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum, was used to inhibit nascent protein traffick...

At the end of their life span, differentiated cells die by apoptosis. Subsets of cells also die, in some cell systems, shortly after exposure to differentiating agents. This suggests that early during differentiation the cells may undergo "priming," during which synthesis and/or activation and accumulation of effectors of apoptosis occurs. The objective of the present study was to test the hypo...

Chemotherapeutic agents produce cytotoxicity via induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Rapidly proliferating cells in the bone marrow and intestinal crypts are highly susceptible to chemotherapy, and damage to these cellular compartments may preclude maximally effective chemotherapy administration. Glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-2 is an enteroendocrine-derived regulatory peptide that inhib...

Chemotherapeutic agents produce cytotoxicity via induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Rapidly proliferating cells in the bone marrow and intestinal crypts are highly susceptible to chemotherapy, and damage to these cellular compartments may preclude maximally effective chemotherapy administration. Glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-2 is an enteroendocrine-derived regulatory peptide that inhib...

Gemcitabine is a pyrimidine nucleoside antimetabolite agent which is active in several human malignancies, including nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Because of its acceptable toxicity profile, with myelosuppression being the most common adverse event, gemcitabine can be safely combined with a number of cytotoxic agents, including platinum derivatives and new-generation anticancer compounds. ...

PURPOSE Ocular surface disease following penetrating keratoplasty has been shown to increase patient morbidity and adversely affect graft survival. Five cases of dense central subepithelial opacification were noted in keratoplasty patients who received tissue from donors who had chemotherapy prior to death. Cancer-related deaths account for approximately 20% of the cornea donor pool. The purpos...

Gemcitabine is a broad-spectrum antimetabolite and deoxycytidine analog recognized as standard therapy alone or in combination with other antineoplastic agents the of pancreas cancer. Drug resistance following gemcitabine treatment common phenomenon; therefore, combinational models are usually preferred. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, cancer, fourth leading cause cancer-related deaths worldw...