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Molecular Bio-Imaging Probe for Non-Invasive Differentiation Between Human Leiomyoma Versus Leiomyosarcoma

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Abstract

Leiomyosarcoma is the most frequent subtype of the deadly uterine sarcoma and shares many common clinical grounds with leiomyoma, which is in turn the most common solid benign uterine neoplasm. With the recent progress in minimally invasive techniques for managing leiomyomas, accurate preoperative diagnosis of uterine masses has become the most important selection criterion for the safest therapeutic option. Therefore, different imaging modalities would be playing a key role in management of uterine masses. Testing for a sarcoma-specific promoter that expresses its downstream reporter gene only in leiomyosarcoma and not in leiomyoma or healthy uterine tissue. Adenoviral vectors were utilized both in vitro and in vivo to test the specificity of the promoters. Quantitative studies of downstream gene expression of these promoters was carried out both in vitro and in vivo. Our data indicated that human leiomyosarcoma cells highly expressed the reporter gene downstream to survivin promoter (Ad-SUR-LUC) when compared with benign leiomyoma or normal cells (p value of 0.05). Our study suggested that survivin is the unique promoter capable of distinguishing between the deadly sarcoma and the benign counterparts.

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Institute of Health (R01 ES 028615–01, R01HD 087417, R01 HD 094378, R01 HD 094380).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tanta Medical School, Tanta University, Tanta, 31527, Egypt

    Shahinaz Shalaby

  2. Department of Pharmacology and toxicology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA

    Mostafa Khater

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA

    Archana Laknaur & Ayman Al-Hendy

  4. Cancer Centre, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA

    Ali Arbab

  5. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UIC, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA

    Ayman Al-Hendy

Authors
  1. Shahinaz Shalaby
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  2. Mostafa Khater
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  3. Archana Laknaur
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  4. Ali Arbab
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  5. Ayman Al-Hendy
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Contributions

Dr. Al-Hendy conceived the idea, developed the theory, designed the study, edited and revised the manuscript; Dr. Shahinaz Shalaby and Dr. Mostafa Khater collected, analyzed the data, wrote the manuscript. Ms. Archana Laknaur prepared for the experiments. Dr. Arbab facilitated the spectral imaging studies, revised the protocols, and edited the manuscript. All authors provided critical feedback and helped shape the research, analysis, and manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ayman Al-Hendy.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Ayman Al-Hendy is consulting Abbvie, Bayer, Allergan, MD Stem Cells for research support. Dr. Ali Arbab declares that he has no conflict of interest. Ms. Archana Laknaur declares that she has no conflict of interest. Dr.Mostafa Khater declares that he has no conflict of interest. Dr. Shahinaz Shalaby declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed, and IACUC approval of Augusta University was taken. This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Shalaby, S., Khater, M., Laknaur, A. et al. Molecular Bio-Imaging Probe for Non-Invasive Differentiation Between Human Leiomyoma Versus Leiomyosarcoma. Reprod. Sci. 27, 644–654 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-019-00067-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-019-00067-8

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