| 1. |
- Dunberger, Gail, et al.
(författare)
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Cancer survivors' perception of participation in a long-term follow-up study.
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of medical ethics. - : BMJ. - 1473-4257 .- 0306-6800. ; 39:1, s. 41-5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Every year medical researchers make contact with a large number of cancer survivors with the aim of evaluating cancer treatment. For this reason we decided to investigate how Swedish cancer survivors perceived their participation in research studies focusing on the long-term consequences of being a survivor of gynaecological or urinary bladder cancer. Data were collected by means of two study-specific postal questionnaires, both consisting of questions covering physical symptoms, well-being and the experience of being a cancer survivor. Both questionnaires also included questions evaluating the participants' experience of being research subjects. The questionnaires were developed in close co-operation with cancer survivors. The study population consisted of 1068 cancer survivors. Of these, 95% (n=1003) reported that they thought the study was valuable and 54% (n=559) that they had been positively affected by participating. Four per cent (n=39) expressed that they had been negatively affected by their participation in the study. The vast majority of the cancer survivors thought that participating in their particular study was valuable.
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| 2. |
- Falkenö, Ulrika, et al.
(författare)
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Theileria annae in a young Swedish dog
- 2013
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Ingår i: Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0044-605X .- 1751-0147. ; 55
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A severe regenerative anemia was detected in a 12-week-old mixed breed puppy in Sweden. A small protozoan parasite was observed in erythrocytes on a blood smear. It was initially suspected to be Babesia gibsoni based on its size and because B. gibsoni was previously recorded in Sweden. Surprisingly, specific polymerase chain reaction analysis identified the protozoan as Theileria annae. T. annae is endemic in Northwest Spain, is very uncommonly reported elsewhere and has never been recorded in Scandinavia. T. annae has been identified in dogs used for dog fighting, and it is thought to be transmitted by dog bites. This puppy was a mixed pit bull terrier. Pit bull terriers are sometimes used for dog fighting. T. annae has been reported to be transmitted vertically, and in light of the puppy's age, this transmission was suspected in the present case.
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| 3. |
- Hemdan, Tammer, et al.
(författare)
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The prognostic value and therapeutic target role of stathmin-1 in urinary bladder cancer
- 2014
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Ingår i: British Journal of Cancer. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0007-0920 .- 1532-1827. ; 111:6, s. 1180-1187
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background:The oncoprotein-18/stathmin 1 (STMN1), involved in cell progression and migration, is associated with clinical outcome in breast cancer. Here we aim to investigate its clinical significance in urinary bladder cancer and its possibilities as a therapeutic target.Methods:Immunohistochemical analyses of STMN1 protein expression were performed in three patient cohorts: cohort I (n=115 Ta, n=115 T1, n=112 T2-4 stages), cohort II, based on randomised controlled trials (n=239 T1-T4), and cohort III of primary tumour/matched metastasis (n=90 T1-T4). The effects of STMN1 on cell proliferation and migration were evaluated in the urinary bladder cancer cell line, T24, by inhibiting STMN1-cellular expression using siRNA.Results:In cohort I, high STMN1 expression correlated to shorter disease-specific survival hazard ratio (HR)=2.04 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13-3.68; P=0.02), elevated p53- (P<0.001) and Ki67-protein levels (P<0.001). The survival result was validated in cohort II: HR=1.76 (95% CI 1.04-2.99; P=0.03). In the metastatic bladder cancer material, 70% of the patients were STMN1-positive in both the primary tumour and matched metastases. In vitro, the growth and migration of the T24 cells were significantly reduced (P<0.01, P<0.0001, respectively), when transfecting the cells with STMN1-siRNA.Conclusions:STMN1 protein expression has prognostic significance but is primarily a potential treatment target in urinary bladder cancer.
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| 4. |
- Knöppel, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Minor Fitness Costs in an Experimental Model of Horizontal Gene Transfer in Bacteria
- 2014
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Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 31:5, s. 1220-1227
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genes introduced by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) from other species constitute a significant portion of many bacterial genomes, and the evolutionary dynamics of HGTs are important for understanding the spread of antibiotic resistance and the emergence of new pathogenic strains of bacteria. The fitness effects of the transferred genes largely determine the fixation rates and the amount of neutral diversity of newly acquired genes in bacterial populations. Comparative analysis of bacterial genomes provides insight into what genes are commonly transferred, but direct experimental tests of the fitness constraints on HGT are scarce. Here, we address this paucity of experimental studies by introducing 98 random DNA fragments varying in size from 0.45 to 5 kb from Bacteroides, Proteus, and human intestinal phage into a defined position in the Salmonella chromosome and measuring the effects on fitness. Using highly sensitive competition assays, we found that eight inserts were deleterious with selection coefficients (s) ranging from a parts per thousand -0.007 to -0.02 and 90 did not have significant fitness effects. When inducing transcription from a P-BAD promoter located at one end of the insert, 16 transfers were deleterious and 82 were not significantly different from the control. In conclusion, a major fraction of the inserts had minor effects on fitness implying that extra DNA transferred by HGT, even though it does not confer an immediate selective advantage, could be maintained at selection-transfer balance and serve as raw material for the evolution of novel beneficial functions.
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| 5. |
- Lind, Ulrika, et al.
(författare)
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Molecular Characterization of the alpha-Subunit of Na+/K+ ATPase from the Euryhaline Barnacle Balanus improvisus Reveals Multiple Genes and Differential Expression of Alternative Splice Variants
- 2013
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Ingår i: Plos One. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 8:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The euryhaline bay barnacle Balanus improvisus has one of the broadest salinity tolerances of any barnacle species. It is able to complete its life cycle in salinities close to freshwater (3 PSU) up to fully marine conditions (35 PSU) and is regarded as one of few truly brackish-water species. Na+/K+ ATPase (NAK) has been shown to be important for osmoregulation when marine organisms are challenged by changing salinities, and we therefore cloned and examined the expression of different NAKs from B. improvisus. We found two main gene variants, NAK1 and NAK2, which were approximately 70% identical at the protein level. The NAK1 mRNA existed in a long and short variant with the encoded proteins differing only by 27 N-terminal amino acids. This N-terminal stretch was coded for by a separate exon, and the two variants of NAK1 mRNAs appeared to be created by alternative splicing. We furthermore showed that the two NAK1 isoforms were differentially expressed in different life stages and in various tissues of adult barnacle, i.e the long isoform was predominant in cyprids and in adult cirri. In barnacle cyprid larvae that were exposed to a combination of different salinities and pCO(2) levels, the expression of the long NAK1 mRNA increased relative to the short in low salinities. We suggest that the alternatively spliced long variant of the Nak1 protein might be of importance for osmoregulation in B. improvisus in low salinity conditions.
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| 6. |
- Lind, Ulrika, et al.
(författare)
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Octopamine receptors from the barnacle balanus improvisus are activated by the alpha2-adrenoceptor agonist medetomidine.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Molecular pharmacology. - : American Society for Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). - 1521-0111 .- 0026-895X. ; 78:2, s. 237-48
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- G protein-coupled octopamine receptors of insects and other invertebrates represent counterparts of adrenoceptors in vertebrate animals. The alpha(2)-adrenoceptor agonist medetomidine, which is in clinical use as a veterinary sedative agent, was discovered to inhibit the settling process of barnacles, an important step in the ontogeny of this crustacean species. Settling of barnacles onto ship hulls leads to biofouling that has many harmful practical consequences, and medetomidine is currently under development as a novel type of antifouling agent. We now report that medetomidine induces hyperactivity in the barnacle larvae to disrupt the settling process. To identify the molecular targets of medetomidine, we cloned five octopamine receptors from the barnacle Balanus improvisus. We show by phylogenetic analyses that one receptor (BiOctalpha) belongs to the alpha-adrenoceptor-like subfamily, and the other four (BiOctbeta-R1, BiOctbeta-R2, BiOctbeta-R3, and BiOctbeta-R4) belong to the beta-adrenoceptor-like octopamine receptor subfamily. Phylogenetic analyses also indicated that B. improvisus has a different repertoire of beta-adrenoceptor-like octopamine receptors than insects. When expressed in CHO cells, the cloned receptors were activated by both octopamine and medetomidine, resulting in increased intracellular cAMP or calcium levels. Tyramine activated the receptors but with much lesser potency than octopamine. A hypothesis for receptor discrimination between tyramine and octopamine was generated from a homology three-dimensional model. The characterization of B. improvisus octopamine receptors is important for a better functional understanding of these receptors in crustaceans as well as for practical applications in development of environmentally sustainable antifouling agents.
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| 7. |
- Lindén, Mårten, et al.
(författare)
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Galectin-1, a potential therapeutic target, in primary tumors and metastases of urinary bladder carcinomas
- 2013
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Urinary bladder cancer would gain from new protein biomarkers due to the heterogeneity of disease. The beta-galactoside-binding protein (GAL1) is one such candidate and in present study its prognostic value and expression at protein level in metastatic bladder cancer-disease, have been evaluated. The protein expression of GAL1 was investigated by immunohistochemistry in two tumor cohorts, one with primary tumors of different stage and grade (n=344) and another with primary tumors matched with metastases (n=90). The expression in the actual cancer cells as well as in stroma and blood vessels were considered since the presence of GAL1 in different tissue compartments has shown cancer relevance. The cellular expression increased with increased tumor stage and grade (p<0.001). For the majority of the patients, cells from both primary tumor and metastasis showed a positive immunoreactivity for GAL1 (91% (n=64) for primary tumors with single metastasis (n=70) and 100% (n=20) for primary tumors with multiple metastasis (n=20). Further, strong immunoreactivity in T1 tumor cells correlated with lower risk of recurrence (p<0.05). Both tumors and metastasis exhibited strong stromal-GAL1 staining that could not be correlated with clinical parameters. The expression in vessels showed that T1 tumors surrounded by GAL1 negative blood vessels had a higher risk of progression (p<0.0001) into muscle invasive T2-4 stages. The results show that GAL1 is an important bladder cancer-protein from several aspects. Further, GAL1 is a promising therapeutic target in bladder cancer due to the general expression in advanced disease.
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| 8. |
- Lindén, Mårten, et al.
(författare)
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Proteomic analysis of urinary biomarker candidates for nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer
- 2012
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Ingår i: Proteomics. - : Wiley. - 1615-9853 .- 1615-9861. ; 12:1, s. 135-144
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nonmuscle invasive tumors of the bladder often recur and thereby bladder cancer patients need regular re-examinations which are invasive, unpleasant, and expensive. A noninvasive and less expensive method, e.g. a urine dipstick test, for monitoring recurrence would thus be advantageous. In this study, the complementary techniques mass spectrometry (MS) and Western blotting (WB)/dot blot (DB) were used to screen the urine samples from bladder cancer patients. High resolving MS was used to analyze and quantify the urinary proteome and 29 proteins had a significantly higher abundance (p<0.05) in bladder cancer samples compared with control urine samples. The increased abundance found in urine from bladder cancer patients compared with controls was confirmed with Western blot for four selected proteins; fibrinogen β chain precursor, apolipoprotein E, α-1-antitrypsin, and leucine-rich α-2-glycoprotein 1. Dot blot analysis of an independent urine sample set pointed out fibrinogen β chain and α-1-antitrypsin as most interesting biomarkers having sensitivity and specificity values in the range of 66-85%. Exploring the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) also revealed that bladder cancer tumors are the likely source of these proteins. They have the potential of being useful in diagnosis, monitoring of recurrence and thus may improve the treatment of bladder tumors, especially nonmuscle invasive tumors.
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| 9. |
- Lindén, Mårten, 1976-
(författare)
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Proteomic Analysis of Urinary Bladder Cancer : Aiming for Novel Biomarkers
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Urinary bladder cancer is a heterogeneous disease appearing in different forms, e.g. non-muscle invasive and muscle invasive. For all variants, the expression of proteins is interesting to analyze for diagnostic, predictive, prognostic and drug targeting purposes, since it reflects the altered gene expression causing the cancer. Since urothelial cells of the bladder are in direct contact with urine it is likely that this body fluid contains cancer-related proteins. In Paper I, unbiased analysis of proteins in urine from urinary bladder cancer patients and controls, using label-free quantification by mass spectrometry, was applied and four interesting proteins APOE, FGB, LRG and SERPINA1 were selected and further analyzed with western and dot blot. In Paper II, two more proteins, POLR1E and TOP2A, were validated as relevant proteins in bladder cancer urine. In Paper III and IV, the proteins GAL1 and STMN1 were investigated for their prognostic and therapeutic target potential in bladder cancer. In Paper II, III and IV, the expression of seven of the proteins were analyzed on tissue microarrays representing tumour tissue from 360 patients with different tumour stages. For the proteins identified by the urine screening approach, their protein expressions were confirmed in bladder cancer tissue. The expression level in tissue of five of the proteins, APOE, FGB, POLR1E (Paper II), GAL1 (Paper III) and STMN1 (Paper IV), increased with tumour stage, showing diagnostic relevance and three of the proteins, SERPINA1 (Paper II), STMN1 (Paper IV) and GAL1 (Paper III) had prognostic potential in urinary bladder cancer. In addition, GAL1 and STMN1 were demonstrated to be highly expressed in metastatic disease and inhibition of STMN1 reduced cell growth (Paper III and IV), indicating that these proteins are promising drug targets in urinary bladder cancer. In conclusion, the approach of this thesis has generated several candidate protein biomarkers in urine and tissue, validated with independent methods, which have the potential to improve the care for bladder cancer patients.
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| 10. |
- Lindén, Mårten, et al.
(författare)
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Tumour expression of bladder cancer-associated urinary proteins
- 2013
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Ingår i: BJU International. - 1464-4096 .- 1464-410X. ; 112:3, s. 407-415
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- WHAT'S KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT? AND WHAT DOES THE STUDY ADD?:The current basis for diagnosis and prognosis in urinary bladder cancer is based on the pathologists' assessment of a biopsy of the tumour. Urinary biomarkers are preferable as they can be non-invasively sampled. Urinary cytology is the only test with widespread use but is hampered by poor reproducibility and low sensitivity.By studying the protein expression in bladder tumour tissue samples of proteins previously found in elevated levels in the urine of patients with bladder cancer, we have been able to show that these proteins originate from the tumour. The immunoreactivity of three of the investigated proteins increased with higher stage. Also a serine peptidase inhibitor was found to be predictive of progression from non-muscle-invasive to muscle-invasive tumours.OBJECTIVES:To analyse the expression of five bladder cancer-associated urinary proteins and investigate if expression is related to the malignant phenotype of the tumour.To explore the possible prognostic value of these proteins.PATIENTS AND METHODS:Urine samples, 16 from patients with bladder cancer and 26 from controls, were used in Western Blotting experiments.Tissue microarrays with bladder tissue from 344 patients diagnosed with bladder cancer between 1984 and 2005 was used in immunohistochemistry experiments.The proteins apolipoprotein E (APOE), fibrinogen β chain precursor (FGB), leucine-rich α2-glycoprotein (LRG1), polymerase (RNA) I polypeptide E (POLR1E), α1-antitrypsin (SERPINA1) and topoisomerase 2A (TOP2A) were probed with antibodies validated by the Human Protein Atlas.RESULTS:Increased expressions of APOE, FGB and POLR1E were correlated with increased tumour stage (P < 0.001).Expression of SERPINA1 in Ta and T1 tumours was found to increase the risk of tumour progression (hazard ratio 2.57, 95% confidence interval 1.13-5.87; P = 0.025)CONCLUSIONS: All proteins previously detected in urine from patients with bladder cancer were also expressed in bladder cancer tissue.The expression of APOE, FGB and POLR1E increased with stage and they are potential diagnostic markers.SERPINA1 was identified as a prognostic marker candidate.
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