Anti-CALCA polyclonal antibody

Purpose: Promoter hypermethylation has been recognized to play an important role in carcinogenesis. Numerous studies have demonstrated tumor-specific alterations, such as aberrant promoter hypermethylation, in DNA recovered from plasma or serum of patients with various malignancies. The aim of this study was to investigate the methylation status of various genes in cervical cancer patients and their association with clinicopathological characteristics and outcome of the disease. Experimental Design: The methylation status of CALCA, hTERT, MYOD1, PGR (progesterone receptor), and TIMP3 was investigated in serum samples from 93 cervical cancer patients and 19 corresponding tissue samples using the MethyLight technique. Results: Aberrant promoter hypermethylation was detected in any of these genes in 87% (81 of 93) of the serum samples studied. Methylation of MYOD1 was detected more frequently in advanced stage. All of the genes found to be methylated in serum samples were also methylated in the corresponding tissue sample, except in one patient. Patients with unmethylated MYOD1 serum DNA had significantly better disease-free (P = 0.04) and overall survival (P = 0.02) in comparison with patients with methylated MYOD1. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is, thus far, the largest study investigating aberrant promoter hypermethylation in serum samples from cancer patients and the first study investigating methylation patterns in sera of cervical cancer patients. Our results suggest that serological detection of MYOD1 promoter hypermethylation may be of potential use as a prognostic marker for discriminating cervical cancer patients at high risk for lymph node metastasis or relapse. Additional studies, including a panel of additional genes, are necessary to elucidate the role of aberrant methylation in serum as a tool for surveillance of cervical cancer.

Ms. B2470 of the Hispanic Society of America transmits a poetry contest held in Barcelona at the end of 1584, whose 34 compositions are all focused on a single theme: the difference between love and desire. The choice of a profane subject is a singular element, because most of the contests of the late sixteenth century are religious. It is a practically unknown contest containing poems mainly written in Spanish, but also some in Catalan, one in Latin and one in Italian. Among the participants, there are outstanding figures as Francesc Calca, Esteve de Corbera, Dionis Jeroni Jorba and four members of the family March of Montcortes, but there are also several poets hitherto unknown. Another remarkable aspect is an elegy on the death of the Valencian poet Gaspar Gil Polo inserted in the text, just before the judgment. This elegy brings new light on the date of death of the Diana enamorada's author, who had to die before December 31, 1584. It also makes us consider the possibility that the author of the sonnet presented to this contest was not him but his son, also called Gaspar Gil Polo.