Is platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa polymorphism HPA-3 b/b associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke in patients under 60 years of age?
The GpIIb Ile/Ser843 gene polymorphism is associated with ischemic stroke among young and middle-aged adults (<60 years), especially males. The GpIIIa PlA1 phenotype has no relationship to ischemic stroke.
Using murine fibroblasts that express human ErbB2, but no other ErbB family member (NE2), these cells showed resistance to both taxol- and etoposide-induced apoptosis compared with parental cells. In addition, NE2 cells preferentially express the antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family member Mcl-1 compared with parental cells, and treatment with herceptin reduces Mcl-1 expression. Taken together, these results suggest that herceptin sensitizes ErbB2-overexpressing cells to apoptosis by reducing antiapoptotic Mcl-1 protein levels.