Abstract: The present invention discloses a method for rapid assessment of lung cancer therapy efficacy in a few days instead of weeks by conventional imaging methods. This method can also be used to detect relapse of the cancer and to improve the current TNM cancer staging method for more accurate prognosis. The rapid assessment of therapy efficacy is based on detecting circulating cancer cells in body fluid with high positive detection rate. The high positive detection rate is achieved by using PCR amplification of multiple marker genes identified by in silico search of DNA sequence database. This invention also discloses a scoring method to calculate the cancer cell load based on PCR results to correlate the amount of circulating cancer cells in lung cancer patients with their treatment outcomes.

Abstract: The present invention provides methods using a gene expression profiling analysis (1) to determine whether a human sample is a tumor using a gene set containing nucleic acid sequences of SEQ ID NOS: 1-7, 8-17 or 1-17; (2) to identify whether a tumor tissue is an adenocarcinoma (using a gene set containing nucleic acid sequences of SEQ ID NOS: 15, and 18-21) or a squamous cell carcinoma (using a gene set containing nucleic acid sequences of SEQ ID NOS: 22-27); and (3) to predict the prognosis of survival and metastasis in humans with tumor (using a gene set containing nucleic acid sequences of SEQ ID NOS:19, and 28-42 or SEQ ID NOS: 19, 29, 31, 40, and 42), particularly for those humans who are at the early stage of lung cancer. The gene expression profiling is preferably performed by cDNA microarray-based techniques and/or Real-Time Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (Real-Time RT-PCR), and analyzed by statistical means.

Abstract: The human HLJ1 tumor suppressor gene is herein defined as regulated by promoter, enhancer, and silencer regions. HLJ1 promoter activity and gene expression are inversely correlated with metastatic ability. HLJ1 is highly expressed, and inducible, in cells with low metastatic ability and expressed to a lesser extent in highly metastatic cells. HLJ1 gene expression suppressed the growth of human lung adenocarcinoma cells in vitro, and inhibited tumor growth in vivo. It also impeded the motility of human adenocarcinoma cells and reduced the anchorage-independent growth capacity and invasiveness of metastatic lung adenocarcinoma cells. The degree to which human lung adenocarcinoma patients express HLJ1 predicts their survival prognosis and their probability of relapse.

Abstract: This invention provides a transcription unit which is isolated from the upstream nucleic acid sequence of the collapsing response mediator protein-1 (CRMP-1) gene, an invasion-suppressor gene. The transcription unit contains a nucleic acid regulatory sequence which demonstrates promoter and/or regulatory activities (such as providing a transcription factor binding site) to enhance the expression of the CRMP-1 and/or a reporter protein. The invention also provides a DNA construct containing this transcription unit which can be transfected into a host cell. Additionally, the invention provides methods to enhance the expression of CRMP-1 and/or the reporter protein. The over-expression of CRMP-1 in a cancer cell can inhibit the metastasis of the cancer cell.

Abstract: This invention is based on the discovery of an association of Collapsin Response Mediator Protein-1 (CRMP-1) with tumor metastasis. The level of CRMP-1 protein or mRNA can be used as an indicator of cellular invasiveness and of a test compound's ability to alter cellular invasiveness. The level of CRMP-1 protein can also be altered, e.g., to reduce invasiveness.

Abstract: Many genes are identified as being metastasis associated. Identifying and profiling of these genes expression can be used to evaluate a sample, to diagnose tumor invasive potential or metastatic development in a sample, or screen for a test compound useful in the prevention or treatment of tumor metastasis.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of detecting a differentially expressed gene in a first sample of nucleic acids representing a first population of RNA transcripts and a second sample of nucleic acids representing a second population of RNA transcripts. The nucleic acids in the samples are labled with a member of specific binding pair, and the labeled nucleic acids in each sample are then hybridized to an excess of copies of a gene-specific sequence. The hybridized nucleic acids in each sample are further labeled by binding a second member of the specific binding pair to the first member, in which the second member has an activity to convert a chromogenic substrate into a chromogen. As a result of contacting the second member with the chromogenic substrate, the chromogenic substrate is converted into the chromogen. A difference in the amounts of chromogen produced from assaying the two samples indicate that the gene-specific sequence is differentially expressed in the samples.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a method for rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing to screen antibiotics in a few hours instead of days by conventional methods. This method can also be used to identify susceptible antibiotics to treat mycobacterial infection in a few days instead of the usual six to eight weeks. Fast screening of antibiotics is achieved by a short period of specimen incubation in different antibiotics embedded media to create differential bacterial counts. The differences of bacterial counts among antibiotics embedded media are subsequently amplified by DNA amplification methods for detection. Following DNA amplification, rapid quantitation and minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) determinations for a panel of antibiotics are achieved in less than one minute by fluorescence quantitation methods.