Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:1.5.1.3 (dihydrofolate reductase)
 5,819 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Chemotherapeutic drug resistance is a major clinical problem and cause for failure in the therapy of human cancer. One of the goals of molecular oncology is to identify the underlying mechanisms, with the hope that more effective therapies can be developed. Several mechanisms have been suggested to contribute to chemoresistance: 1) amplification or overexpression of the P-glycoprotein family of membrane transporters (eg, MDR1, MRP, LRP) which decrease the intracellular accumulation of chemotherapy; 2) changes in cellular proteins involved in detoxification (eg, glutathione S-transferase pi, metallothioneins, human MutT homologue, bleomycin hydrolase, dihydrofolate reductase) or activation of the chemotherapeutic drugs (DT-diaphorase, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate:cytochrome P-450 reductase); 3) changes in molecules involved in DNA repair (eg, O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase, DNA topoisomerase II, hMLH1, p21WAF1/CIP1; 4) activation of oncogenes such as Her-2/neu, bcl-2, bcl-XL, c-myc, ras, c-jun, c-fos, MDM2, p210 BCR-abl, or mutant p53. An overview of these resistance mechanisms is presented, with a particular focus on the role of oncogenes. Some current strategies attempting to reverse their effects are discussed.
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PMID:Role of oncogenes in resistance and killing by cancer therapeutic agents. 909 Apr 98

Cross-resistance between different cytostatic agents which are structurally and functionally dissimilar is a common phenomenon called multidrug resistance (MDR). The best characterized mechanism of MDR involves P-glycoprotein. However, this does not completely explain MDR. Within the last few years, two new genes that can confer MDR have been identified (MRP and LRP). Furthermore, topoisomerase II has been associated with a special form of MDR. During the past several years, considerable interest has been shown in strategies to reverse MDR by using pharmacological compounds, monoclonal antibodies, immunotoxins, bispecific antibodies, antisense oligodeoxynucleotides, ribozymes, and albumin-conjugated drugs in in vitro and in vivo assays. All these experimental assays demonstrated that MDR can be circumvented. Two agents that have received the most attention in the clinic are verapamil and cyclosporin A. Despite some promising results (especially in hematological malignancies), the results obtained in the treatment of solid tumors with modulators have so far been quite disappointing. This may be explained by the fact that the MDR phenotype alone does not completely account for the resistance of human cancer. Several other resistance-related proteins (e.g., glutathione S-transferase, metallothionein, O6-alkylguanine-DNA-alkyltransferase, thymidylate synthase, dihydrofolate reductase, heat shock proteins) can be also expressed in resistant tumors. Additionally, cell proliferation, vascularization and apoptosis are involved in resistance.
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PMID:Multidrug resistance and its reversal. 971 85

Resistance to chemotherapy is a major impediment to the successful treatment of acute leukemia (AL). Expression of genes involved in drug resistance and apoptosis may be responsible for this. This study aimed to investigate the expression of drug resistance (MDR1, MRP1, LRP, BCRP, GSTP1, DHFR) and apoptotic genes (p53, BCL-2, Survivin) in adult acute leukemias and compare them with clinical and hematological findings and response to induction chemotherapy. Eighty-five patients with AL [45 with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and 40 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)] were used as a study group. Real-time PCR results showed that expression level of MDR1 was significantly higher in AML whereas expression of DHFR, BCRP and Survivin was significantly higher in ALL patients. In AML, significant correlation was observed between LRP and MRP1 (r(s)=0.44, p=0.016), LRP and DHFR (r(s)=0.41, p=0.02), MDR1 and BCL-2 (r(s)=0.38, p=0.03). Expression of GSTP1 and LRP correlated with high white blood count (p=0.03 and p=0.03) and BCL-2 with high peripheral blast count (p=0.009). MDR1 expression was significantly associated with the expression of immature stem cell marker CD34 (p=0.002). In ALL, significant association was found between LRP gene and female sex (p<0.0001), LRP and B-ALL patients (p=0.04) and LRP and BCR/ABL positive patients (p=0.004). High expression of MDR1 and BCL-2 in AML and MRP1 gene in ALL was associated with response to induction chemotherapy (p=0.001, p=0.02 and p=0.007 respectively). These results showed the potential clinical relevance of MDR1, MRP1 and BCL-2 in adult patients with acute leukemia in the context of induction chemotherapy.
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PMID:Expression of genes related to multiple drug resistance and apoptosis in acute leukemia: response to induction chemotherapy. 2203 14