BOSTON, Dec. 6, 2007 — A gene related to rapid replication and lethality has been found to be present in, and to contain some identical protein sequences in, tobacco mosaic virus and non-small cell lung cancer. The early detection diagnostic test for cancer, the AMAS(R) test, appears to measure this gene's activity.
This is the first of a series of reports on the use of a new methodology to isolate "in silico" and track specific gene activity in normal and several disease states.
This newly identified gene has been named the Replikin Peak Gene (RPG). "Replikins(TM)" are a class of proteins containing high concentrations of amino acids lysine and histidine that have been previously determined to be related to rapid replication and virulence. Using proprietary computer algorithms constructed to identify, count, and track historically this class of proteins, replikins have now been analyzed in 130,488 protein and genome sequences. These include all the accession numbers for common strains of influenza and other lethal virus isolations published between 1917 and 2007 in the PubMed repository. Replikins have been found to be concentrated in specific genomic areas. The area of each genome with the highest concentration of continuous replikin peptides has been isolated in silico and named a Replikin Peak Gene (RPG).
Specific RPGs have been identified and quantified in infectious organisms including viruses, bacteria and trypanosomes (malaria). "Upregulation" of the Replikin Peak Gene is evidenced by an increase in the replikin count in the RPG, that is, in the number of replikins per 100 amino acids. For example, in the case of influenza B, which has not to date been lethal, a low replikin count (less than 4) always occurred in influenza B RPGs between 1940 and 2006, and in quiescent periods of influenza A. In contrast, the replikin counts in lethal influenza A virus RPGs increased to over 20, from as much as one to three years before and during outbreaks. Strain-specific increases in replikin count have appeared in relation to the major influenza pandemics and epidemics, after years of constant low stable counts. Furthermore, a high replikin count of the RPG of an organism has been shown to be associated consistently with a higher percent lethality in the host. The increase in count was frequently detected one year or more before the outbreak was clinically apparent. The ability to identify, count and track replikins in the genomic structure of an emerging organism has been shown to be accurately predictive in advance warning of H5N1 outbreaks, and may have value in the management of influenza epidemics.
The highest replikin count of the RPG found in any organism studied to date is in lethal non-small cell lung cancer. The highest AMAS test results found to date also are in lung cancer. Tobacco mosaic virus has some sequences in its RPG that are identical to those in the RPG in non-small cell carcinoma of the lung. Two structural studies have suggested mobility and inter-organism transfer of replikins associated with lethality.
Replikins have been chemically synthesized and were found experimentally to be immunostimulants, producing strong antibody responses in animals. Synthetic cancer replikins administered to animals produce antibodies that can be measured by the AMAS cancer test. The AMAS test's results are evidently related to the rate of replication in the cancer. In short, the AMAS test measures the activity of the replikins that are unique to cancers, whose concentration is related to lethality.
High replikin counts are present in a wide range of lethal diseases. The structural and functional relationship found between the replikin peak genes of the tobacco mosaic virus and non-small cell lung cancer is one illustration of the relationship between replikin count, rapid replication and virulence. Possible implications of these findings of the same replikin structures and functions in tobacco mosaic virus and lung cancer are under further study.
Detailed data on these studies are the subject of issued and pending published patents and are being presented today at a seminar in New York by Samuel Bogoch, M.D., Ph.D.
FluForecast(R) and ReplikinForecast(TM) are products of Replikins, LLC. The AMAS test is a product of Oncolab, Inc.
Contact:
Samuel Bogoch
646-320-5910