Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.5.1.47 (cysteine synthase)
 625 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Elevation of glutathione (GSH) is commonly observed in cellular resistance to a number of anticancer agents. Most frequently reported change in GSH metabolism that is associated with the elevated GSH levels is increased mRNA expression and activity of gamma-glutamyl cysteine synthetase (gamma GCS), the first enzyme of the GSH biosynthetic pathway. We have isolated sublines of the A2780 ovarian carcinoma cell line (C10 and C25) that are 8- and 12-fold resistant to oxaliplatin by repeatedly exposing the cells to increasing concentrations of the platinum agent. The GSH levels in C10 and C25 cell sublines are 3.1- and 3.8-fold higher than the parent A2780 cell line. The mRNA levels and activities for gamma GCS and that for gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma GT), the GSH salvage pathway enzyme, were measured in these cells. The mRNA for gamma GT and gamma GCS were measured by RT-PCR, with quantitation of the PCR product by HPLC; mRNA levels are expressed as ratios to beta-actin mRNA, used as an endogenous standard. GSH and gamma GCS activity were measured by HPLC assays and gamma GT activity by a colorimetric assay. The increase in GSH in C10 and C25 was associated with an elevation in gamma GT mRNA (2.5- and 8-fold) and gamma GT activity (2.7- and 2.8-fold). No changes were observed in gamma GCS mRNA levels or activity. The data indicate that alterations in GSH metabolism leading to elevations in cellular GSH in A2780 ovarian carcinoma cells selected for low levels of resistance to oxaliplatin are mediated by gamma GT, the "salvage' pathway, rather than an increase in GSH biosynthesis.
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PMID:Altered glutathione metabolism in oxaliplatin resistant ovarian carcinoma cells. 868 32

The steady state expression of glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) at both the protein and mRNA level is reported for the 60 tumor cell lines that are used for the National Cancer Institute Drug Screening Program. Individual GST isozymes were separated, identified, and quantified (with reverse-phase calibration curves) through a novel high performance liquid chromatographic procedure. GSTP1 was the predominant isozyme and was found at quantifiable levels in all but two of the cell lines. This isozyme ranged from 0.03% to 2.7% of the total cytosolic protein. For the mu family, 90% of the lines had GSTM2, 68% had GSTM3, but only 28% were positive for the M1 phenotype. The M1 proportion is lower than would be expected from the standard M1 null phenotype for human populations. Isozymes of the alpha family were detected only at very low levels in 35% of the lines. Significant quantitative correlations among enzyme activity, total enzyme protein, and mRNA were shown for GSTP1. However, such relationships were not apparent for the mu or alpha families. Levels of glutathione (GSH), and the transcript levels of other enzymes involved in GSH homeostasis were determined. gamma-Glutamyl cysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS) was present in all cell lines, but did not correlate with levels of intracellular GSH. Glyoxalase-I and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, both involved in GSH salvage, were found in 100% and 70% of the cell lines, respectively. Using a pattern-matching computer program, COMPARE, we compared and correlated the arrays of mRNA and protein levels with the pattern of chemosensitivity or chemoresistance of the 60 cell lines with 175 agents constituting a standard agent database. This database is composed of compounds to which a putative mechanism of action has been assigned. Although Pearson correlation coefficients relating the target and drug patterns were generally modest, when the patterns for the enzyme protein and mRNA levels for GST pi were correlated to drug sensitivity patterns, the list of 30 agents most closely matching (for which P < 0.05) was enriched with alkylating agents. gamma-GCS also showed an enrichment of alkylating agents in the COMPARE correlations, indicating that high levels of gamma-GCS may be an important determinant of resistance. In contrast, none of the other enzymes or GSH had patterns of expression that resulted in an obvious correlation to the sensitivity or resistance of alkylating agents.
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PMID:Glutathione-associated enzymes in the human cell lines of the National Cancer Institute Drug Screening Program. 870 Jan 7

It has previously been found that chronic O2 deficiency decreases activity of the enzymes of the glutathione (GSH) redox system in the liver. To study the effects of O2 deficiency on intestinal detoxication capacity, pair-fed (16 g food/day) Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to air (20.9% O2; n = 4) or 10% O2 (n = 4) for 10 days. Animals were killed, and intestinal mucosal homogenate (20% wt/vol) was obtained and assayed for activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), GSH peroxidase (GSHPx), GSH disulfide reductase (GSSGRd), and gamma-glutamyl cysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS). Hypoxia decreases activities of GSHPx, GSSGRd, and gamma-GCS by approximately 50%, which suggests compromised detoxication. A proximal-to-distal reduction in enzymatic capacity indicates impairment of detoxication may be more pronounced in the distal intestine. G6PD, a key enzyme in NADPH production, remains unchanged. Urinary malondialdehyde was also monitored. Hypoxic rats exhibited a threefold increase in thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance, consistent with a generalized oxidative stress in these animals. Taken together, the results indicate that chronic hypoxia promotes tissue oxidative stress and impairs the ability of the enterocyte to metabolize ingested oxidants.
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PMID:Chronic hypoxia and glutathione-dependent detoxication in rat small intestine. 892 4

Maintenance of cellular homeostasis is a critical survival trait in tumors when exposed to anticancer drugs. Because conjugation and elimination of drugs and their metabolites is dependent upon sequential and coordinated pathways, acquired drug resistance through a gradual adaptive response would rarely be expected to be the consequence of changes in the expression of one gene product. We have used a number of drug-resistant human cell lines to characterize those genes that are implicated in maintaining a resistant phenotype. Human HT29 colon cancer cells chronically exposed to ethacrynic acid (EA) [a glutathione (GSH) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) modulator] have acquired resistance to the drug. Commensurate with resistance, EA is more effectively conjugated to GSH and effluxed from the resistant cells. Using directed and random (differential display) approaches, a number of detoxification and/or protective gene products have been shown to be expressed at elevated levels. These include: gamma-glutamyl cysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS, the rate-limiting enzyme in GSH biosynthesis); GST pi (the enzyme catalyzing the conjugation reaction); multidrug resistance associated protein (MRP) (the membrane pump responsible for effluxing the conjugate from the cell interior). In addition, other gene products not directly linked with EA metabolism were induced, including dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (an alpha-ketoreductase) (30-fold), DT-diaphorase (threefold), and a transcriptional regulator SSP 3521 (threefold). HL60 cells resistant to a GSH paralog Ter199 also show increased expression of some of these gene products. Furthermore, an adriamycin-resistant human HL60 cell line also shows overexpression of GST pi, gamma-GCS, and MRP, but in addition has approximately 20-fold more DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs). This enzyme is an early stress response gene that can phosphorylate and activate downstream transcription factors. Such overexpression could impact on the transcriptional control of the other detoxification gene products. Both adriamycin and a typical drug-GSH conjugate (APA-SG) are inhibitors of DNA-PK. Because cellular levels of these conjugates would presumably be a good indicator of stress, it would seem reasonable to speculate that DNA-PK may act as a receiver and transmitter of signals that are crucial to the drug-resistant phenotype. Additionally, this enzyme may prove to be a potentially important target for drug design based upon the inhibitory activity of GSH conjugates.
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PMID:Importance of glutathione and associated enzymes in drug response. 940 35

Cellular detoxification, such as that mediated by the glutathione (GSH) system, is involved in the metabolism of various cytotoxic agents. Little is known, however, about the clinical relevance of cellular detoxification in chemoresistance. To elucidate the relevance of the GSH system to the resistance to chemotherapy observed in patients with ovarian cancer, we assayed the expression of mRNA encoded by the multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) and gamma-glutamyl cysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS) genes, as well as the level of GSH protein in 32 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer after chemotherapy. Tumors of 14 of the 32 patients responded to chemotherapy, whereas 18 did not. The levels of MRP and gamma-GCS transcripts in tumors from nonresponders were each about 2-fold higher than in responders. In contrast, the level of GSH did not differ between the two groups. We observed coordinated expression of gamma-GCS mRNA and GSH protein levels, and between gamma-GCS and MRP in nonresponders, but not in responders. Expression of MRP-encoded mRNA did not correlate to GSH level, however, in either group. These results suggest that gamma-GCS may up-regulate GSH and MRP expression in tumors unresponsive to chemotherapeutic agents, and that the GSH system may be involved in the mechanism of chemoresistance in ovarian cancer.
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PMID:Gamma-glutamyl cysteine synthetase up-regulates glutathione and multidrug resistance-associated protein in patients with chemoresistant epithelial ovarian cancer. 967 49

Intracellular levels of glutathione (GSH), glutathione disulphide (GSSG), glutamic acid and gamma-glutamyl cysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS) were measured in lymphoblast lines from patients with familial and sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) and from age-matched controls. Lymphoblasts carrying presenilins (PS) and amyloid precursor protein (APP) genes mutations showed significantly decreased GSH content with respect to controls. Levels of GSSG and glutamic acid, as well as the activity of gamma-GCS were not significantly different in lymphoblasts carrying genes mutations as compared with control cells. These results indicate that even peripheral cells not involved in the neurodegenerative process of AD show altered GSH content when carrying PS and APP genes mutations. The provided data appear to be in accordance with the known alteration of GSH levels in central nervous system and strengthen the hypothesis of oxidative stress as an important, possibly crucial mechanism in the pathogenesis of AD.
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PMID:Gluthatione level is altered in lymphoblasts from patients with familial Alzheimer's disease. 1056 22

Beta-N-Oxalyl amino-L-alanine (L-BOAA), a naturally occurring excitatory amino acid inhibits mitochondrial complex I activity in motor cortex and lumbar spinal cord of mice through oxidation of critical thiol groups. Glutaredoxin, a protein disulfide oxido-reductase mediates recovery of complex I by regenerating protein thiols utilizing reducing equivalents of glutathione. We have examined the status of gamma-glutamyl cysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS), the rate limiting enzyme in glutathione synthesis during recovery of complex I function following L-BOAA toxicity. Sustained and maximal up-regulation of gamma-GCS was seen in motor cortex which was associated with regeneration of complex I activity. In lumbosacral cord, however, the up-regulation was transient and complex I function did not recover. These studies demonstrate the important role of gamma-GCS in mediating the recovery of mitochondrial function following excitotoxic insult and its differential regulation in central nervous system regions.
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PMID:Gamma-glutamyl cysteine synthetase is up-regulated during recovery of brain mitochondrial complex I following neurotoxic insult in mice. 1296 15

Drug resistance, intrinsic or acquired, is a problem for all chemotherapeutic agents. In this review, we examine numerous strategies that have been tested or proposed to reverse drug resistance. Included among these strategies are approaches targeting the apoptosis pathway. Although the process of apoptosis is complex, it provides several potential sites for therapeutic intervention. A variety of targets and approaches are being pursued, including the suppression of proteins inhibiting apoptosis using antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), and small molecules targeted at proteins that modulate apoptosis. An alternate strategy is based on numerous studies that have documented methylation of critical regions in the genome in human cancers. Consequently, efforts have been directed at re-expressing genes, including genes that affect drug sensitivity, using 5-azacytidine and 2'-deoxy-5-azacytidine (DAC, decitabine) as demethylating agents. While this strategy may be effective as a single modality, success will most likely be achieved if it is used to modulate gene expression in combination with other modalities such as chemotherapy. At a more basic level, attempts have been made to modulate glutathione (GSH) levels. Owing to its reactivity and high intracellular concentrations, GSH has been implicated in resistance to several chemotherapeutic agents. Several approaches designed to deplete intracellular GSH levels have been pursued including the use of buthionine-(S,R)-sulfoxime (BSO), a potent and specific inhibitor of gamma-glutamyl cysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS), the rate-limiting step in the synthesis of GSH, a hammerhead ribozyme against gamma-GCS mRNA to downregulate specifically its levels and targeting cJun expression to reduce GSH levels. Alternate strategies have targeted p53. The frequent occurrence of p53 mutations in human cancer has led to the development of numerous approaches to restore wild-type (wt) p53. The goals of these interventions are to either revert the malignant phenotype or enhance drug sensitivity. The approach most extensively investigated has utilized one of several viral vectors. An alternate approach, the use of small molecules to restore wt function to mutant p53, remains an option. Finally, the conceptually simplest mechanism of resistance is one that reduces intracellular drug accumulation. Such reduction can be effected by a variety of drug efflux pumps, of which the most widely studied is P-glycoprotein (Pgp). The first strategy utilized to inhibit Pgp function relied on the identification of non-chemotherapeutic agents as competitors. Other approaches have included the use of hammerhead ribozymes against the MDR-1 gene and MDR-1-targeted ASOs. Although modulation of drug resistance has not yet been proven to be an effective clinical tool, we have learned an enormous amount about drug resistance. Should we succeed, these pioneering basic and clinical studies will have paved the road for future developments.
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PMID:Strategies for reversing drug resistance. 1457 55

We examined the role of GSH in survival and cell death using GCS-2 cells that are deficient in glutamate cysteine ligase (gamma-glutamyl cysteine synthetase, gammaGCS), an enzyme essential for GSH synthesis. Cells maintained in 2.5 mM GSH have GSH levels that are approximately 2% of wild type and grow indefinitely; however, they express both pro- and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members and have detectable levels of cytoplasmic cytochrome C. Withdrawal of GSH from the medium results in a fall in intracellular GSH to undetectable levels, decreased mitochondrial dehydrogenase activity, decreased anti-apoptotic factor RNAs, increased pro-apoptotic factor RNAs, additional cytochrome C release, and a fall in ATP levels; however, cells continue to grow for another 24h. At 48 h, these trends continue with the exception that mitochondrial membrane potential and ATP levels rise; DNA fragmentation begins at 48 h. Thus, severe reduction of GSH to 2% of wild type produces a metastable state compatible with survival, but complete absence of GSH triggers apoptosis.
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PMID:Survival and cell death in cells constitutively unable to synthesize glutathione. 1623 16

Aside from the well-established roles of c-Myc in the regulation of cell cycle, differentiation, and apoptosis, a recent picture is beginning to emerge linking c-Myc to the regulation of metabolic pathways. Here, we define a further function for c-Myc in determining cellular redox balance, identifying glutathione (GSH) as the leading molecule mediating this process. The link between c-Myc and GSH is gamma-glutamyl-cysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS), the rate-limiting enzyme catalyzing GSH biosynthesis. Indeed, c-Myc transcriptionally regulates gamma-GCS by binding and activating the promoters of both gamma-GCS heavy and light subunits. Exposure to H2O2 enhances c-Myc recruitment to gamma-GCS regulatory regions through ERK-dependent phosphorylation. Phosphorylation at Ser-62 is required for c-Myc recruitment to gamma-GCS promoters and determines the cellular response to oxidative stress induced by different stimuli. Thus, the c-Myc phosphorylation-dependent activation of the GSH-directed survival pathway can contribute to oxidative stress resistance in tumor cells, which generally exhibit deregulated c-Myc expression.
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PMID:c-Myc phosphorylation is required for cellular response to oxidative stress. 1648 32


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