Prostatic expression of hensin, a protein implicated in epithelial terminal differentiation

Differentiation of intercalated cells in the kidney

The intercalated cell of collecting ducts of the kidney is of two forms, the α form secretes acid, whereas the β form secretes HCO(3). Here, we review recent work that shows that the α form is derived from the β form and that the pathway is mediated by an extracellular matrix protein called hensin/DMBT1.

Global analysis of differentially expressed genes in androgen-independent prostate cancer

Progression to androgen independent (AI) is the main cause of death in prostate cancer, and the mechanism is still unclear. By reviewing the expression profiles of 26 prostate cancer samples in a holistic view, we found a group of genes differentially expressed in AI compared with androgen-dependent groups (P-value<0.01, t-test). Focusing on apoptosis, proliferation, hormone and angiogenesis, we found a group of genes such as thioredoxin domain containing 5 , tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, member 10a , ribosomal protein S19 and Janus kinase 2 upregulated in AI prostate cancer, could play important roles in the transition from AD to AI and could be biomarkers of prognosis.

A novel liver-specific zona pellucida domain containing protein that is expressed rarely in hepatocellular carcinoma

We currently identified a liver-specific gene that encodes a novel zona pellucida (ZP) domain-containing protein named liver-specific ZP domain-containing protein (LZP). The full-length complementary DNA (cDNA) of human LZP has 2,255 bp with a complete open reading frame (ORF) of 1,635 bp. The gene is localized on chromosome 10q21.3 and spans 40 kb with 9 encoding exons and 8 introns. The deduced protein sequence has 545 amino acid residues, with an N-terminal signal peptide followed by 3 epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like domains and a ZP domain in C-terminal section. Interestingly, human LZP is expressed specifically in liver out of 23 tissues examined, and its mouse counterpart was detected at very early stage during embryo development. Moreover, LZP can be secreted into blood, albeit the protein was localized mainly on the nuclear envelop of hepatocytes. Most importantly, LZP is down-regulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and HCC cell lines; meanwhile, the decreased level of hLZP messenger RNA (mRNA) could, at least in some HCC samples, be related to the methylation status of the putative LZP promoter. However, overexpression of hLZP in HCC cell line SMMC-7721 and human liver cell line L02 by stable cell transfection did not inhibit cell growth, implying that the down-regulation of hLZP in HCC might be a consequence of the dedifferentiation involved in hepatocarcinogenesis. In conclusion, these data suggest that LZP is a liver-specific protein involved possibly in hepatocellular function and development, and the protein could be used as potential negative biomarker for HCC pathologic diagnosis.