Salmon Calcitonin ELISA Kit

Background: Aberrant methylation of gene promoter region is responsible for inappropriate gene silencing, and it has been associated to initiation and progression of cancer. Aberrant promoter methylation is frequently observed in adult patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), but in pediatric patients it has been poorly investigated. Methods: We examined the promoter methylation status of 13 genes in bone marrow cells collected at diagnosis of 21 pediatric patients with MDS (subtype RAEB or RAEB-t). For this analysis, we performed sodium bisulfite treatment of genomic DNA, followed by methylation specific PCR (MSP). Results: In pediatric MDS samples, we observed two genes frequently methylated: CALCA was methylated in 85.7% (18/21) of the analyzed samples and CDKN2B in 50% (6/12). Conclusions: Our findings indicate that CALCA and CDKN2B are frequently methylated in pediatric MDS. It suggests that aberrant methylation in pediatric MDS seems to be similar to adult MDS, thus pediatric patients could be also benefited with treatment using demethylating agents. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All fights reserved.

In the Netherlands, Anacamptis pyramidalis (L.) L.C.M. Rich. is a rare species, which occurs in the calca-reous grass-lands in the Province of Zuid-Limburg and in the calcareous coastal dunes. It is striking that flowering in the dunes is later than inland. Also in other aspects the dune type deviates from the type of the calcareous grasslands such as the colour of the flowers and the shape of the spike. When dune type plants were transplanted to an inland location, the characteristics of the dune type were maintained. These features are therefore not an effect of differences in climate. A number of varieties of Anacamptis pyramidalis has been described. None of these varieties correspond with the dune type and nowhere within the species range such a late flowering time is found. Here, the dune type is described as a new variety: Anacamptis pyramidalis var. dunensis (Dune pyramidal orchid). The variety is characterized by a later flowering time, shorter plants with a mostly shorter more spherical spike and by on an average lighter (light purple pink) coloured flowers. Another character is the more or less S-curved stem.