Lymphoblastoid cell lines expression studies

Gene expression, a determinant of a cell s characteristics, is another phenotype that can be studied using lymphoblastoid cell lines. Studies have shown that gene expression levels in humans differ not only among cell types within an individual, but also among individuals (16,31). As a result, there have been several recent studies that have identified polymorphic genetic variants that influence gene expression levels (15,25,32). 

Clinical studies on breast cancer patients have disclosed that an increased p53 protein expression or mutant p53 seem to be associated with an improved effect by adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy (12,15). The latter clinical findings are partly supported by radiotherapy studies on lymphoblastoid human cell lines (46). In this study radiation was capable of inducing apoptosis at an equivalent frequency in both mutant and wild-type p53, but with delayed kinetics (46). 

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