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“Purpose: Na,K-adenosine triphosphatase, which is composed of a catalytic a-subunit and a regulatory beta-subunit, generates an electrochemical gradient across the plasma membrane. Previous studies demonstrated altered Na,K-adenosine triphosphatase subunit expression in renal clear cell carcinoma and an association of subunit levels with the prediction of recurrent
bladder cancer. We determined the clinical association of protein expression patterns of the Na,K-adenosine triphosphatase alpha(1) and beta(1)-subunits in renal clear cell carcinoma using tissue microarrays with linked clinicopathological data.
Materials and Methods: The UCLA kidney cancer tissue microarray was used to investigate the protein expression of Na,K-adenosine triphosphatase alpha(1) and beta(1)-subunits by immunohistochemistry in 342 patients with renal clear cell carcinoma who were treated with radical nephrectomy. Of these patients clinical outcomes studies were performed in 317. The resultant expression reactivity was correlated with clinicopathological variables.
Results: We found that the alpha(1)-subunit was a significant and independent predictor of disease specific death from renal clear cell carcinoma on multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis
that included established prognostic factors Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, pT status, metastasis status and tumor grade. Significance was found when examining all patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma as well as patient substrata with low or high grade tumors and localized or metastatic disease, suggesting that the Na,K-adenosine triphosphatase alpha(1)-subunit could be used as a new prognosticator for disease specific death from renal clear cell carcinoma.
Conclusions: These results suggest that Na,K-adenosine
triphosphatase alpha(1)-subunit expression patterns may be a useful clinical prognosticator for renal clear cell carcinoma. The Na,K-adenosine triphosphatase beta(1)-subunit was not found to be a useful prognosticator in this setting.”
“Taurine is an endogenous amino acid that can activate glycine and/or 1 gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors in the central nervous system. During natural development, taurine’s receptor target undergoes a shift from glycine receptors to GABAA receptors in cortical neurons. Here, we demonstrate that taurine’s receptor target in cortical neurons remains stable during in vitro development. With whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, we found that taurine always activated glycine receptors, rather than GABAA receptors, in neurons of rat auditory cortex cultured for 5-22 days. Our results suggest that the functional sensitivity of glycine and GABAA receptors to taurine is critically regulated by their developmental environments. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Purpose: CpG island hypermethylation is a frequent event in bladder carcinogenesis and progression.