p73, a first p53 relative, has recently been identified as a new structural and functional homologue of the transcription factor p53. However, it is unclear whether this protein functions as a tumor suppressor. p73L, a second human p53-related gene, which shows strong amino-acid similarity to p73. In this article, we shall discuss the cloning, location, expression and functions of these two new candidate tumor suppressor genes and look forward to the future study.

PTEN is a candidate tumor suppressor which has sequence homology with dual-specificity phosphatase. PTEN is a multifunctional protein endowed with a phosphatase activity capable of dephosphorylating both tyrosine phosphate, serine/threonine phosphate residues on proteins and phospholipids of the phosphatidylinositol pathway. PTEN appears to be mutated at considerable frequency in several types of human tumors, including those from brain, breast, endometrium, and prostate. PTEN play an important role in pathogenesis of tumor, tumor cell invasion and metastasis. In this review, we will discuss the chemical structure of PTEN, its phosphatase activity, the ability of affecting signal transduction, and its mutational status in cancer.

Phage peptide libraries are collections of the specific length of short peptides,and they are based on phages as their carriers.They include mimotope libraries and peptide antibody libraries.Phage-displayed peptide libraries have been used to isolate specific ligands for numerous protein targets,and they have been proven useful in defining antigen momitopes,rapid determination of binding energetics at protein-protein interfaces,designing of vaccine and tumor research aspects.This review summarized the research progression of phage peptide library.

AIM:To study if low dose NaNO2 can induce the adaptive response of cultured Chinese hamster lung cells(CHL cells)to DNA damage.METHODS:Single cell gel electrophoresis technique was used to detect the DNA damage in CHL cells exposed to NaNO2 at different concentrations.CHL cells were pretreated with NaNO2 of concentrations of 0.01 mg/L,0.1 mg/L and 1 mg/L respectively.And the adaptive response to the toxicity of 1g/L NaNO2 was observed.The activity of polyADP-ribose polymerase(PARP-1) of CHL cells was inhibited with 3-aminobenzamide(3AB) before or after pretreated with low dose of NaNO2.And the changes of the adaptive response were observed.RESULTS:The rate of tailing cells was 7.87% when the cells were exposed to 1 g/L NaNO2 without pretreatment with low dose NaNO2.An extremely remarkable statistics significance(P0.05).The adaptive response could be blocked when the activity of PARP-1 was inhibited with 3AB before the low dose pretreatment,but could not be blocked when the activity of PARP-1 was inhibited after low dose NaNO2 pretreatment 6 h.CONCLUSION:NaNO2 of concentration that equals to or lowers than 0.1 mg/L can induce the adaptive response of cultured CHL cells to DNA damage caused by high dose NaNO2 through PARP-1 activation.And the dose of NaNO2 that can induce adaptive response might not cause the DNA damage.

The tumor stem cell theory supposed that tumor stem cells are the origin of tumor abnormal proliferation,invasion,metastasis,drug resistance and recurrence.As the theory is put forward,it redefines the functions of classic stem cells in tumorigenesis.It is a great event for recent studies on glioma initiating cells as brain tumor stem cells were identified and isolated successfully.A lot of evidence from experiments in vivo and in vitro demonstrates that brain tumor stem cells might play an important role in glioma tumorigenesis.In this review,we discuss the relationship between tumor stem cells and tumorigenesis,and the research on the correlation between brain tumor stem cells and glioma genesis.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are critical regulators of gene expression. These small, non-coding RNAs are believed to regulate more than one third of protein-coding genes, and have been implicated in the control of many biological processes, including the biology of glioma. The functional significance in some of the miRNAs begins to emerge. This paper reviews the biogenesis of miRNAs, their roles in neuronal development and tumorigenesis of gliomas, and their contribution as tumor biomarkers. Research in this area is quickly gathering pace and is illuminating important aspects of the diseases that may ultimately lead to novel therapeutic interventions, as well as diagnostic and prognostic tools for brain tumors.

AIM:To investigate effect of recombinant human thrombopoietin on exsanguine thrombocytopenia mice. METHODS:Normal peripheral platelet counts were performed on sample obtained from the tail vein of purebred Babl/c mice including experimental and control groups before experimentation. rhTPO was injected into the mice by intraperitoneal injection once a day for 7 days. On the seventh and the fourteenth day, the mice were phlebotomized from the supra-obitalis vein in order to make exsanguine thrombocytopenia animal model. At the same time, we observed the biological activity of recombinant human thrombopoietin in vivo and the mice's death rate. RESULTS: On the seventh day and the fourteenth day, platelet counts of mice treated by rhTPO were higher than those by PBS (P＜0.05). Moreover the platelet counts of mice in experimental group of rhTPO showed increasing tendency following experimental days. In addition, death happened in two groups after those mice were phlebotomized from the supra-obitalis vein, but the death rate in negative control group was evidently higher than that in experimental group (P＜0.05). CONCLUSION:rhTPO had obvious biological activity in increasing platelet production, which resulted in the drop in thrombocytopenia mice's death rate.

Currently, platelet transfusion is the primary treatment for thrombocytopnia which results from intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy of cancer. While repeated platelet transfusions are associated with several problems. The clinical availability of safe and effective platelet growth factors is eagerly awaited. Currently, a mumber of hematopoietic growth factors with thrombopoietic activity have been identified. This review discusses the biological characteristics and the clinical trial investigation development of platelet growth factors.

AIM: Three different antisense oligonucleotides complementary to basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) mRNA were compared in inhibitory effect on gene targeted expression. METHODS: After transfecting bFGF antisense oligonucleotides (asODN) into SWO-38 cells by lipofectin,the proliferation of cells was identified by MTT method, apoptosis was examined by flow cytometric cell cycle analysis and the expression levers of bFGF were detected by Western-blotting. RESULTS: There were 49%,33%,51% inhibition of cell growth and 35%, 27%, 18% cell apoptosis after asODN1, asODN2 and asODN3 treatment.In addition,the decrease in bFGF protein was 63%, 42%, 11%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The data suggeste that asODN1 is a potent target to bFGF mRNA, which inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis in SWO-38 cells.

AIM:To study the thershold of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) apoptosis induced by adriamycin (ADM) and cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(CDDP). METHODS: Using primary human hepatocellular carcinoma culture, immunofluorescence staining of Hoechst 33 258 in HCC cells ,and flow cytometric assay. RESULTS:24 h after HCC cells were cultured with ADM or CDDP, it were found there were dispersive fluorescences in normal cells nuclei, and compact particulate fluorescences in apoptosis cells nuclei by immunofluorescence staiming of Hoechst 33 258. The rate of HCC cells apoptosis was dependent on doses of ADM and CDDP. HCC cells apoptotic threshold were determined, i.e.ADM was 1.0 ?g/mL and CDDP was 1.5?g/mL (The clinical apoptotic sensitive dosages were ADM 20 mg/m2 and CDDP 30 mg/m2. CONCLUSION: HCC cells apototic threshold of ADM and CDDP were efficient in clinical chemotherapy.