Mouse DBX2 peptide

Here we report the identification of a novel homeobox gene family Dbx in mouse, which consists of Dbx and Dbx2. The two genes share similar structural organization and are encoded by different chromosomes. The predicted Dbx and Dbx2 proteins share 85% identity in their homeodomain amino acid sequences, but otherwise showed no significant similarity. Characterization of the expression of these two genes in the embryos suggested their role in the development of the CNS. In the forebrain, Dbx is expressed in various regions, while Dbx2 showed a more restricted pattern of expression. In the midbrain, the expression domains of Dbx and Dbx2 overlap along the dorso-lateral wall of the ventricle. In the hindbrain and spinal cord, both genes are expressed in the boundary separating the basal and alar plates, which seems to correspond to the sulcus limitans. Expression of the Dbx/Dbx2 genes is restricted to the ventricular region of the embryonic CNS except for that of Dbx in the septum of the telencephalon. Together these observations indicate possible participation of the members of the Dbx family in regionalization of the CNS. While the expression of Dbx was restricted to the CNS, Dbx2 was also expressed in some of the mesenchymal cells, such as limb buds and tooth germs.

As one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is known for its poor prognosis due to diagnosis only in advanced stages. Nearly 50% of the patients with the first diagnosis of HCC die within a year. Currently, the advancements in the integration of omics information have begun to transform the clinical management of cancer patients. Molecular profiling for HCC patients is in general obtained from resected tumor materials or biopsies. However, the resected tumor tissue is limited and can only be obtained through surgery, so that dynamic monitoring of patients cannot be performed. Compared to invasive procedures, circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has been proposed as an alternative source to perform molecular profiling of tumor DNA in cancer patients. The detection of abnormal forms of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) that originate from cancer cells (ctDNA) provides a novel tool for cancer detection and disease monitoring. This may also be an opportunity to optimize the early diagnosis of HCC. In this review, we summarized the updated methods, materials, storage of sampling, detection techniques for ctDNA and the comparison of the applications among different biomarkers in HCC patients. In particular, we analyzed ctDNA studies dealing with copy number variations, gene integrity, mutations (RAS, TERT, CTNNB1, TP53 and so on), DNA methylation alterations (DBX2, THY1, TGR5 and so on) for the potential utility of ctDNA in the diagnosis and management of HCC. The biological functions and correlated signaling pathways of ctDNA associated genes (including MAPK/RAS pathway, p53 signaling pathway and Wnt-beta catenin pathway) are also discussed and highlighted. Thus, exploration of ctDNA/cfDNA as potential biomarkers may provide a great opportunity in future liquid biopsy applications for HCC.