The long term goal of this research is to understand the regulation of differential gene expression during development and neoplasia; specifically the expression/repression mechanism of the AFP gene in liver cells. We will continue working on the hypothesis that this regulation is mediated by the interaction of humoral factors with transcription factors. Also we will ask whether the normal developmentally established control mechanism is altered during neoplastic transformation. We propose to define the mechanism involved in the induction of AFP expression in normal adult liver cells and in the minimally deviant hepatoma cells, OR-HEPA established in this lab. Adult C,H mice will be inoculated IP with 2.5 million cells to produce the ascites form of this tumor. After two weeks, host mice will be injected with L-ethionine (0.5mug/body weight) found to induce AFP in adult liver. This experimental model developed in our earlier studies allows comparative analysis of the effects on normal and transformed cells under the same experimental condition. The expression of AFP in both the host liver and the ascites cells, after 24-96 hr, will be correlated to expression of other liver genes (Trf and Alb) by radio-immunochemistry and dot/northern blots. Nuclear run-on assays will be used to assess the transcriptional levels of a battery of genes including oncogenes (c-fos, c-Ha-ras, c-jun) and growth factors (IGF-II, TGF-beta, TGF-alpha). Additionally, nuclear proteins from both tissues will be examined by binding to AFP mini-genes followed by gel shift mobility and DNaseI protection assays to detect specific trans-acting factors. For comparison similar experiments with fetal nuclear proteins will be done. The use of animal models to better understand basic cellular mechanisms related to human health problems is a well accepted experimental approach. The knowledge obtained through this investigation will help to clarify the etiology and characteristics of the cancer cell and other cellular/genetic human diseases and thus, has potential implications for therapeutic purposes. Another main goal of this project is to continue offering the students an up-to-date training and guidance in the important areas of cellular and molecular biology of biomedical sciences.
| Ramírez-Camejo, Luis A; Maldonado-Morales, Génesis; Bayman, Paul (2017) Differential Microbial Diversity in Drosophila melanogaster: Are Fruit Flies Potential Vectors of Opportunistic Pathogens? Int J Microbiol 2017:8526385 |
| Morales-Rivera, Keyla F; Piñero Cruz, Dalice M; Prieto, Jose A (2017) Crystal structure of (-)-(S)-4-[(2S,3S,4S,Z)-3-hydroxy-4-methyl-hept-5-en-2-yl]-1,3-dioxolan-2-one. Acta Crystallogr E Crystallogr Commun 73:1070-1072 |
| García-Arriaga, Marilyn; Acosta-Santiago, Maxier; Cruz, Antony et al. (2017) Probing the Limits of Supramolecular G-Quadruplexes Using Atomistic Molecular Dynamics Simulations. Inorganica Chim Acta 468:209-222 |
| Huang, Qing; Quiñones, Edwin (2016) A spectroscopic method to determine the activity of the restriction endonuclease EcoRV that involves a single reaction. Anal Biochem 497:103-5 |
| Mège, Pascal; Schizas, Nikolaos V; Reyes, Joselyd García et al. (2015) Genetic seascape of the threatened Caribbean elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, on the Puerto Rico Shelf. Mar Ecol (Berl) 36:195-209 |
| Morales-Rivera, Amarilys; Hernández-Burgos, Mayté M; Martínez-Rivera, Arlene et al. (2014) Anxiolytic effects of oxytocin in cue-induced cocaine seeking behavior in rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 231:4145-55 |
| Ramírez-Camejo, Luis A; Torres-Ocampo, Ana P; Agosto-Rivera, José L et al. (2014) An opportunistic human pathogen on the fly: strains of Aspergillus flavus vary in virulence in Drosophila melanogaster. Med Mycol 52:211-9 |
| Galindo-Cardona, Alberto; Acevedo-Gonzalez, Jenny P; Rivera-Marchand, Bert et al. (2013) Genetic structure of the gentle Africanized honey bee population (gAHB) in Puerto Rico. BMC Genet 14:65 |
| Santiago-Rodriguez, Tasha M; Rivera, Jessica I; Coradin, Mariel et al. (2013) Antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes in Enterococcus isolated from tropical recreational waters. J Water Health 11:387-96 |
| Pantoja-Feliciano, Ida Gisela; Clemente, Jose C; Costello, Elizabeth K et al. (2013) Biphasic assembly of the murine intestinal microbiota during early development. ISME J 7:1112-5 |
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