Disease relevance of AFP

• During growth of a transplantable hepatoma, only the hepatoma tissue synthesized AFP; the nontumor tissue of the host contained AFP but did not produce it [1].
• AFP screening and Down syndrome [2].
• Other features include ocular telangiectasia, high serum AFP levels, immunodeficiency, growth retardation and an increased predisposition to some tumours, particularly T cell leukaemia and lymphoma [3].
• Serum AFP levels from 61 FA patients and 27 controls with acquired aplastic anemia or other inherited bone marrow failure syndromes were analyzed using a fluoroimmunoassay based on the TRACE technology [4].
• Fibrosis staging, pathological grading of HCC, and serum AFP levels were significantly linked to intrahepatic recurrence by univariate analysis, and fibrosis staging was strongest in the multivariate analysis for C-viral HCC (P = .004) [5].

Psychiatry related information on AFP

• Serum samples for AFP and HCG should be obtained before orchiectomy in any patient with a testicular tumour, as the pre-orchiectomy titres may represent important information for the subsequent clinical decision making [6].
• Study findings indicate that even in women who receive normal test results, AFP testing is associated with a modest degree of emotional disturbance which declines, but does not completely abate, after testing [7].
• No other statistically significant difference was found for any of the HLA antigens examined either in HCC patients as a whole group or in the subgroups according to sex, course of illness, AFP status, alcohol consumption, liver cirrhosis or blood groups [8].

High impact information on AFP

• CEA, AFP and other potential tumor markers [9].
• Here we report that ATBF1, which encodes a transcription factor that negatively regulates AFP and MYB but transactivates CDKN1A, is a good candidate for the 16q22 tumor-suppressor gene [10].
• Based upon this structural comparison, we establish that DBP is a member of the ALB and AFP gene family [11].
• The tissue sites of alpha1 fetoprotein (AFT) synthesis by the rat during gestation and hepatoma growth were determined by specific incorporation of a radiolabeled amino acid precursor into AFP by tissue cultures in vitro [1].
• During gestation, AFP were produced by the yolk sac, the fetal liver, and in small amounts by the fetal gastrointestinal tract; there was no synthesis by maternal rat tissues [1].

Chemical compound and disease context of AFP

• This adenovirus, designated Ad.HS4.AFP.E1A/TRAIL, expresses E1A to mediate viral replication and TRAIL to enhance HCC-killing efficacy under the control of a modified AFP promoter [12].
• In a study of amniotic fluid from 91 Down's syndrome cases and 240 controls, we have shown that the median values of four biochemical markers (AFP, total hCG, free beta hCG, and unconjugated oestriol) in the amniotic fluid of pregnancies affected by Down's syndrome on the whole reflect those observed in the maternal serum of affected cases [13].
• These results suggest that delta 12-PGJ2 suppresses not only cell growth but also expression of the AFP gene and the albumin gene at the transcriptional level in human hepatoma cells [14].
• (4) Transitory AFP elevations are not correlated to clinical conditions (praecoma, coma, delirium, bleeding, ascites, shunt) or to biochemical parameters (GOT, GPT, bilirubin, prothrombin complex time, gamma-globulin) [15].
• Only HCV genotype was independently associated with a sustained virological response (SVR) to interferon alpha-2b and ribavirin treatment after adjusting for age, alcohol use, steatosis, BMI, stage III-IV fibrosis, serum AFP, and HCV load [16].

Biological context of AFP

• Place of amniotic fluid AFP in prenatal diagnosis of trisomies [17].
• We have used gene targeting to show that AFP is not required for embryonic development [18].
• These results highlight the importance of this HNF I binding site in the developmental regulation of the AFP gene [19].
• Collectively, these results suggest that the enhancement of 1-6 FucT expression increased the fucosylation of several proteins, including AFP, and that the level of 1-6-fucosylated AFP in patients with HCC was in part caused by up-regulation of the 1-6 FucT gene expression [20].
• The function of AFP is unknown, but recent studies suggest the possibility that it may have immunoregulatory properties and/or may influence cell proliferation and growth [21].

Anatomical context of AFP

• Relation between maternal serum and amniotic fluid AFP [22].
• In addition a transient expression of AFP was also observed in the areas of basophilic hepatocytes 9 to 11 days after partial hepatectomy [23].
• When the 1-6 FucT gene was transfected into a human HCC cell line, Hep3B, which originally showed low levels of 1-6 FucT expression, 1-6-fucosylated AFP was dramatically increased in the condition media [20].
• It is speculated that the local production of AFP in these situations may result from blastogenesis of lymphoid cells directed against foreign tumor or viral antigens [21].
• Elevated levels of AFP are seen in a variety of clinical situations, including pregnancy; hepatic disorders, especially chronic hepatitis; and various malignancies, particularly hepatomas, teratomas, and those of primitive gut origin [21].

Associations of AFP with other chemical compounds

• However, when used together, DCP and AFP assays increase the sensitivity to HCC in more than 85% of patients [24].
• Another female protein (FP), a homologue from Armenian hamsters (AFP), also reassociated into a pentamer after dissociation with 5 M guanidine hydrochloride [25].
• Thermal hysteresis activity of DAFPs is dependent not only on AFP concentration but also on the presence of enhancers that may be either proteins (including other hemolymph DAFPs) or low-molecular mass enhancers such as glycerol [26].
• Cyclosporine therapy and excretory allograft function did not affect marker concentration; impaired liver function was associated with significantly elevated AFP, CA19-9, CA125, and CA15-3 levels [27].
• The immunological properties of des(3-11)-PRL were reduced 10-fold compared to those of wildtype human PRL in a RIA using NIH antihuman PRL-3, AFP C11580; the others were similar to those of wild-type PRL [28].

Gene context of AFP

• Previously described diagnostic and prognostic markers were found to be expressed by the appropriate GCT subtype (AFP, POU5F1, POV1, CCND2, and KIT) [29].
• In this study, we analyzed the effect of anti-MDR1 ribozymes, especially AFP promoter-driven anti-MDR1 ribozymes, to specifically chemosensitize HCC cells [30].
• The butyrate and metal ion responses were selective in that no accumulation of c-myc, c-fms, HSP-70, or AFP mRNA was detected [31].
• PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using a prospectively acquired database of 377 patients (pts) with advanced colorectal adenocarcinoma, the prognostic significance of serum CEA (342 pts), beta HCG (203 pts), AFP (208 pts), CA125 (150 pts), CA-19-9 (76 pts) as well as C-erb B-2 (197 pts) [32].
• Of the cases, 30 (55%) were positive for 1 or more proteins: AFP, 19 cases (35%); p53, 12 cases (22%); and beta-catenin, 9 cases (16%) [33].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of AFP

• Early amniocentesis and amniotic fluid AFP levels [34].
• We report two patients in whom substantial increases in the serum content of AFP occurred during chemotherapy for advanced seminoma [35].
• Bone marrow aspirated preoperatively, and peripheral blood samples collected before and after operation were subjected to real-time quantitative RT-PCR analysis using AFP mRNA as a target molecule [36].
• Patient survival (PS), disease-free survival (DFS), and clinicopathologic features were compared between patients with positive and negative AFP mRNA [36].
• We also report the sequence analysis of rat AFP mRNA, which reveals the existence of two potential initiation codons on this molecule [37].

References