Several of the endothelial cell polypeptide mitogens that have been described probably play a role in blood vessel homeostasis. Two overlapping complementary DNA clones encoding human endothelial cell growth factor (ECGF) were isolated from a human brain stem complementary DNA library. Southern blot analysis suggested that there is a single copy of the ECGF gene and that it maps to human chromosome 5 at bands 5q31.3 to 33.2 A 4.8-kilobase messenger RNA was present in human brain stem messenger RNA. The complete amino acid sequence of human ECGF was deduced from the nucleic acid sequence of these clones; it encompasses all the well-characterized acidic endothelial cell polypeptide mitogens described by several laboratories. The ECGF-encoding open reading frame is flanked by translation stop codons and provides no signal peptide or internal hydrophobic domain for the secretion of ECGF. This property is shared by human interleukin-1, which is approximately 30 percent homologous to ECGF.

No abstract

Radioiodide concentrating activity in the thyroid, mediated by human Na + /I − symporter (hNIS), provides a mechanism for effective radioiodide treatment for patients who have invasive, recurrent, and metastatic thyroid cancers after total thyroidectomy. In an attempt to develop hNIS gene transfer for radioiodide therapy for patients with brain tumors, we have constructed recombinant adenoviruses, rAd-CMVhNIS#9 and rAd-CMV-FLhNIS, to express exogenous hNIS in U1240 and U1240Tag human glioma cells. U1240Tag differs from U1240 glioma cells in that it expresses the SV40 large T antigen oncoprotein. In both U1240 and U1240Tag

No abstract