Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.1.1.37 (DNA methyltransferase)
 4,983 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Aberrant epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor genes by promoter DNA hypermethylation and histone deacetylation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of cancer. The potential reversibility of epigenetic abnormalities encouraged the development of pharmacologic inhibitors of DNA methylation and histone deacetylation as anti-cancer therapeutics. (Pre)clinical studies of DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors have yielded encouraging results, especially against hematologic malignancies. Recently, several studies demonstrated that DNMT and HDAC inhibitors are also potent angiostatic agents, inhibiting (tumor) endothelial cells and angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. By reactivation of epigenetically silenced tumor suppressor genes with angiogenesis inhibiting properties, DNMT and HDAC inhibitors might indirectly - via their effects on tumor cells - decrease tumor angiogenesis in vivo. However, this does not explain the direct angiostatic effects of these agents, which can be unraveled by gene expression studies and examination of epigenetic promoter modifications in endothelial cells treated with DNMT and HDAC inhibitors. Clearly, the dual targeting of epigenetic therapy on both tumor cells and tumor vasculature makes them attractive combinatorial anti-tumor therapeutics. Here we review the therapeutic potential of DNMT and HDAC inhibitors as anti-cancer drugs, as evaluated in clinical trials, and their angiostatic activities, apart from their inhibitory effects on tumor cells.
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PMID:Dual targeting of epigenetic therapy in cancer. 1693 Aug 46

Although cancer remains a devastating diagnosis, several decades of preclinical progress in cancer biology and biotechnology have recently led to successful development of several biological agents that substantially improve survival and quality of life for some patients. There is now a rich pipeline of novel anticancer agents in early phase clinical trials. The specific tumor and stromal aberrancies targeted can be conceptualized as membrane-bound receptor kinases (HGF/c-Met, human epidermal growth factor receptor and insulin growth factor receptor pathways), intracellular signaling kinases (Src, PI3k/Akt/mTOR, and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways), epigenetic abnormalities (DNA methyltransferase and histyone deacetylase), protein dynamics (heat shock protein 90, ubiquitin-proteasome system), and tumor vasculature and microenvironment (angiogenesis, HIF, endothelium, integrins). Several technologies are available to target these abnormalities. Of these, monoclonal antibodies and small-molecule inhibitors have been the more successful, and often complementary, approaches so far in clinical settings. The success of this target-based cancer drug development approach is discussed with examples of recently approved agents, such as bevacizumab, erlotinib, trastuzumab, sorafenib, and bortezomib. This review also highlights the pipeline of rationally designed drugs in clinical development that have the potential to impact clinical care in the near future.
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PMID:Novel agents on the horizon for cancer therapy. 1927 61

Although multiple myeloma (MM) remains an incurable bone marrow cancer, survival rates have dramatically improved over the past decade, most notably in the younger patient population. An understanding of MM biology and improvement in stem-cell transplantation, better supportive care, and novel therapies with higher efficacy and lower toxicity are all responsible for this improvement. Despite these trends, improvements among older patients remain modest, underscoring the need for innovative approaches. The availability of a rich pipeline of novel agents undergoing early-phase clinical trials in MM is an exciting and active area of research. Current novel agents targeting tumor and stromal compartments can be conceptualized as those that target membrane-bound receptors (insulin-like growth factor-1, vascular endothelial growth factor, CD40, etc.), intracellular signaling kinases (Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin, mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways), cell cycle molecular machinery (cyclin-dependent kinases inhibitors), epigenetic abnormalities (DNA methyltransferase and histyone deacetylase), protein dynamics (heat-shock protein 90, ubiquitin-proteasome system), and tumor vasculature and microenvironment (angiogenesis, integrins). This review highlights some of these novel agents tested either alone or in combination for the treatment of MM.
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PMID:Future novel single agent and combination therapies. 2001 Jan 71

The past decade has witnessed a dramatic improvement in the therapeutic options in multiple myeloma (MM). Several novel biologically targeted agents are in clinical use and have resulted in improved outcomes. However, the disease remains incurable, underscoring the need for continued efforts towards understanding MM biology, better risk stratification and exploitation of novel therapeutic approaches. Novel agents that target tumor and stromal compartments can be categorized as those that target protein dynamics (e.g., heat shock protein 90 and the ubiquitin-proteasome system), intracellular signaling kinases (e.g., JAK/STAT, PI3k/Akt/mTOR and MAPK pathways), cell cycle molecular machinery (e.g., cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor and Aurora kinase inhibitors), membrane-bound receptors (e.g., IGF-1, VEGF and CD40), epigenetic modulators (e.g., DNA methyltransferase and histone deacetylase), tumor vasculature and microenvironment (e.g., angiogenesis and integrins) and agents modulating anti-MM immune responses. This article focuses on a series of new therapeutic targets that have shown promising preclinical results and early evidence of anti-MM activity in clinical studies, either alone or in combination with other conventional or novel anti-MM treatments.
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PMID:Novel therapeutic targets for multiple myeloma. 2022 97

Disorganized vessels in the tumor vasculature lead to impaired perfusion, resulting in reduced accessibility to immune cells and chemotherapeutic drugs. In the breast tumor-stroma interplay, paracrine factors such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) often facilitate disordered angiogenesis. We show here that epigenetic mechanisms regulate the crosstalk between IL-6 and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) signaling pathways in myoepithelial (CD10+) and endothelial (CD31+, CD105+, CD146+, and CD133-) cells isolated from malignant and nonmalignant tissues of clinically characterized human breast tumors. Tumor endothelial (Endo-T) cells in 3D cultures exhibited higher VEGFR2 expression levels, accelerated migration, invasion, and disorganized sprout formation in response to elevated IL-6 levels secreted by tumor myoepithelial (Epi-T) cells. Constitutively, compared with normal endothelial (Endo-N) cells, Endo-T cells differentially expressed DNA methyltransferase isoforms and had increased levels of IL-6 signaling intermediates such as IL-6R and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3). Upon IL-6 treatment, Endo-N and Endo-T cells displayed altered expression of the DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) isoform. Mechanistic studies revealed that IL-6 induced proteasomal degradation of DNMT1, but not of DNMT3A and DNMT3B and subsequently led to promoter hypomethylation and expression/activation of VEGFR2. IL-6-induced VEGFR2 up-regulation was inhibited by overexpression of DNMT1. Transfection of a dominant-negative STAT3 mutant, but not of STAT1, abrogated VEGFR2 expression. Our results indicate that in the breast tumor microenvironment, IL-6 secreted from myoepithelial cells influences DNMT1 stability, induces the expression of VEGFR2 in endothelial cells via a promoter methylation-dependent mechanism, and leads to disordered angiogenesis.
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PMID:Interleukin-6-mediated epigenetic control of the VEGFR2 gene induces disorganized angiogenesis in human breast tumors. 3263 3