Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound

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Query: EC:2.7.1.21 (thymidine kinase)
7,561 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The role of alterations of the MTS1 tumor suppressor gene on chromosome 9p21, which encodes p16, the inhibitor of cyclin-dependent-kinase-4 and 6, in tumorigenesis is not yet clear. Phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein by cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 prevents its interaction with the transcription factor E2F, which subsequently promotes the expression of S phase regulated genes, such as thymidine kinase. Although a role of p16 in this regulation has been presumed, there is no proof so far that loss of this tumor suppressor gene really affects E2F-mediated regulations. We investigated the regulation of thymidine kinase in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated normal human lymphocytes and in the p16-negative human acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines, MOLT-4 and CEM. Compared to normal lymphocytes, MOLT-4 and CEM cells exhibited an altered cell cycle regulation of thymidine kinase, a much higher intracellular activity of this enzyme, and higher thymidine kinase mRNA expression. Transient expression of p16 in normal human lymphocytes caused arrest in G1, but was without effect on the cell growth of MOLT-4 and CEM cells, although all of them express functional retinoblastoma protein. Nevertheless, in the two leukemia cell lines transient overexpression of p16 reestablished the normal regulation of thymidine kinase, paralleled by an increase of the underphosphorylated form of retinoblastoma protein and decrease of free E2F bound to its motif in the thymidine kinase promoter. We demonstrate that loss of p16 causes upregulation of this DNA precursor pathway enzyme via activation of E2F by a mechanism involving retinoblastoma protein.
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PMID:The role of p16 in the E2F-dependent thymidine kinase regulation. 862 83

Although a remarkable number of genes has been identified that are either activated or repressed via c-Myc, only few of them obviously contribute to Myc's biological effect--the induction of proliferation. We found that in logarithmically growing cells overexpression of Myc specifically induces thymidine kinase (TK) mRNA expression and enzyme activity, whereas loss of one allele of Myc causes downregulation of this enzyme. We show that activation of Myc triggers high levels of this normally strictly S-phase-regulated DNA metabolism enzyme in serum arrested G0 cells and causes high and constant levels of TK expression throughout the entire ongoing cell cycle. Induction of TK by Myc requires an intact transcriptional activation domain. Myc-induced deregulation of this enzyme is paralleled by alterations of protein binding at the E2F-site of the TK promoter. We further show that cell growth arrest by the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p16 is abrogated by overexpression of Myc and that co-overexpression of p16 cannot inhibit the Myc-induced up-regulation of TK expression. Our data demonstrate TK to be a cellular target of Myc independently of the status of cell proliferation and provide evidence that the transcription factor E2F might be involved in this process.
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PMID:Cellular targets for activation by c-Myc include the DNA metabolism enzyme thymidine kinase. 921 67

Our laboratory has developed two cellular models of human prostate cancer progression. The LNCaP prostate cancer progression model is based upon the well-known cellular interaction between human prostate or bone stromal cells and LNCaP cells in vivo. The marginally tumorigenic LNCaP cells acquired tumorigenic and metastatic potential upon cellular interaction with either prostate or bone fibroblasts. A subline termed C4-2 was observed to grow readily in castrated animals and acquired metastatic potential spreading from the primary tumor site to the lymph node, the seminal vesicles, and the axial skeleton, resulting in an intense osteoblastic reaction. The second model is ARCaP, where prostate cancer cells derived from the ascites fluid of a man with metastatic disease exhibited an Androgen- and estrogen-Repressed Prostate Cancer cell growth and tumor formation in either a hormone-deficient or a castrated environment. However, the growth of either the tumor cells in vitro or the tumors in vivo was suppressed by both estrogen and androgen. While the tumor cells expressed low levels of androgen receptor and prostate-specific antigen (PSA), they were highly metastatic when inoculated orthotopically. Distant metastases to a number of organs were detected, including the liver, lung, kidney, and bone. We have employed a human prostate cancer progression model as a system to study the efficacy of gene therapy. Results of the study show that whereas universal promoters, such as Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) promoter-driven tumor suppressors (e.g. p53, p21, and p16), were effective in inhibiting prostate tumor growth, the advantages of driving the expression of therapeutic toxic genes using a tissue-specific promoter prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and a tumor--but not tissue-specific promoter, osteocalcin (OC), are preferred. In the case of the PSA promoter, we can achieve cell-kill in PSA-producing human prostate cancer cells. To circumvent the supporting role of bone stroma for prostate cancer epithelial growth, we have recently developed a novel concept where the expression of therapeutic toxic genes is driven by a tumor--but not a tissue-specific OC promoter. Osteocalcin-thymidine kinase (OC-TK) was found to efficiently eradicate the growth of osteosarcoma, prostate, and brain tumors both in vitro and in vivo. We observed that androgen-independent human prostate cancer cells lines expressed OC-TK at higher levels than androgen-dependent human prostate cancer cell lines. We have obtained data to suggest that Ad-OC-TK plus a pro-drug acyclovir (ACV) may be used as an effective therapy to treat prostate cancer bone metastasis in models where the growth of androgen-independent PC-3 and C4-2 tumors in the bone has occurred.
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PMID:Human prostate cancer progression models and therapeutic intervention. 943 28

The retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene product (pRb) is involved in controlling cell cycle progression from G1 into S. pRb functions, in part, by regulating the activities of several transcription factors, making pRb involved in the transcriptional control of cellular genes. Transient-transfection assays have implicated pRb in the transcription of several genes, including c-fos, the interleukin-6 gene, c-myc, cdc-2, c-neu, and the transforming growth factor beta2 gene. However, these assays place the promoter in an artificial context and exclude the effects of far 5' upstream regions and chromosomal architecture on gene transcription. In these experiments, we have studied the role of pRb in the control of cell cycle-related genes within a chromosomal context and within the context of the G1 phase of the cell cycle. We have used adenovirus vectors to overexpress pRb in human osteosarcoma cells and breast cells synchronized in early G1. By RNase protection assays, we have assayed the effects of this virus-produced pRb on gene expression in these cells. These results indicate that pRb is involved in the transcriptional downregulation of the E2F-1, E2F-2, dihydrofolate reductase, thymidine kinase, c-myc, proliferating-cell nuclear antigen, p107, and p21/Cip1 genes. However, it has no effect on the transcription of the E2F-3, E2F-4, E2F-5, DP-1, DP-2, or p16/Ink4 genes. The results are consistent with the notion that pRb controls the transcription of genes involved in S-phase promotion. They also suggest that pRb negatively regulates the transcription of two of the transcription factors whose activity it also represses, E2F-1 and E2F-2, and that it plays a role in downregulating the immediate-early gene response to serum stimulation.
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PMID:Regulation of cellular genes in a chromosomal context by the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein. 967 66

Sodium butyrate causes alteration of colon cancer cell morphology and biology towards that of a more differentiated phenotype. The retinoblastoma gene encodes a nuclear phosphoprotein (pRb) present in a wide range of human cancer cell lines including colon cancer cell lines. pRB is synthesized throughout the cell cycle and phosphorylated in a phase specific manner: the predominant proteins in G0/G1 are the unphosphorylated species (110 kD) whereas phosphorylated pRb (112-114 kD) are in S and G2. 110 kD pRb binds transcription factors and prevents transcription of responsive genes such as the gene for thymidine kinase, which are expressed in late G1. The precise mechanisms controlling cell arrest are unknown, but recent data suggest that cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors such as p16 may play a role. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of sodium butyrate on cell cycle staging, thymidine kinase activity, phosphorylation of the pRb protein and expression of p16. We show that sodium butyrate treatment induces differentiation of LS174T colon cancer cells, inhibits thymidine kinase activity concomitantly with induction of pRb dephosphorylation, p16 transcription and cell cycle arrest at G0/G1. Initial dephosphorylation was observed 24 h after treatment of LS174T cells with sodium butyrate, whereas complete shift to the dephosphorylated form was observed 3 days after treatment. Induction of pRb dephosphorylation by sodium butyrate preceded inhibition of growth and the specific cell cycle arrest. RNase protection assay with a p16 specific riboprobe showed undetectable levels in proliferating cells to several fold increase in differentiated colonocytes. In conclusion, the results provide evidence for a specific cellular mechanism of butyrate induced growth arrest and differentiation of a colon cancer cell line.
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PMID:Sodium butyrate induces retinoblastoma protein dephosphorylation, p16 expression and growth arrest of colon cancer cells. 982 7

Transcriptional activation is important for the elevated expression of human thymidine kinase (hTK) in tumor cells. Here, we used TK(-133/+33)-luciferase reporter gene construct and bandshift assay to study the cis-elements involved in transcriptional activation of the hTK promoter. We found that two CCAAT boxes at -71/-67 and -40/-36 and Sp1 binding site located at -118/-113 were critical for maximal expression of the hTK promoter activity. As Sp1-mediated activation of the hTK promoter was not detectable for the promoter construct with double mutations at two CCAAT boxes, we proposed that NF-Y binding to the hTK promoter sequence is a requisite step for the functional interaction with Sp1. Here, we further showed that the hTK promoter activity was reduced in HeLa cells transfected with p16 or p21, both of which are inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). Inhibition of the hTK promoter activity by p16 could be abrogated by overexpression of cyclin A, indicating that the cyclin A activating event is more directly involved in transcriptional activation of the hTK promoter. We thus proposed that NF-Y-mediated activation of the hTK promoter is closely linked to the activation of CDK2/cyclin A pathway.
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PMID:NF-Y-mediated trans-activation of the human thymidine kinase promoter is closely linked to activation of cyclin-dependent kinase. 1050 2

Despite encouraging preclinical studies in many tumor types including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), initial clinical trials with adenovirus-mediated gene therapy have been disappointing. Although the adenovirus is a "highly efficient vector," it is still limited by the extent of effective in vivo transduction. In our studies with multiple human HNSCC cell lines, we have noted a variation in both in vitro and in vivo responses to the same recombinant adenovirus therapeutic construct. We hypothesize that adenovirus receptor density among tumor cell populations, even of the same histology, greatly influences transduction efficiency and therapeutic results of a variety of adenovirus-based gene therapy strategies. To investigate this hypothesis, the numbers of adenovirus receptors on three well-characterized HNSCC cell lines were determined. Marker and cytokine gene transfer efficiencies as well as therapeutic outcomes after adenovirus-mediated tumor suppressor gene and suicide gene therapies were evaluated and correlated with receptor status. A 5-fold variation in adenovirus receptor density was identified among the HNSCC cell lines (P < 0.002, t test). This variation directly correlated with adenovirus type 5 (Ad5)-mediated green fluorescent protein marker gene and Ad5-interleukin 2 cytokine gene transfer efficiency and resulting protein expression in each individual cell line. The receptor density also directly correlated with therapeutic response after Ad5-thymidine kinase or Ad5-p16 gene transfer in each HNSCC line. The role of the adenovirus receptor in gene transfer efficiency was further supported by recombinant Ad5 fiber knob blocking experiments. The marker gene transfer was increasingly blocked by the same concentration of Ad5 recombinant fiber knob in relation to decreasing levels of adenovirus receptor in the HNSCC lines. An Ad5 recombinant construct that carries the shared coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR) was created and used to up-regulate receptors on each cell line. Ad5-CAR infection significantly increased Ad5-beta-Gal gene transfer efficiency and expression (P = 0.0003, Mann-Whitney test). This increased marker gene expression remained consistent with the established pattern of gene transfer efficiency among the HNSCC cell lines. These data confirm the importance of the adenovirus receptor on individual tumor cell lines with respect to investigating novel adenovirus-mediated gene therapy strategies. This work further supports consideration of assaying adenovirus receptor status, even in tumors of the same histology from patients enrolled in gene therapy clinical trials. Adenovirus receptor status may prove valuable for selecting or stratifying patients as well as assessing outcomes among patients within adenovirus-based cancer gene therapy trials.
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PMID:Variability of adenovirus receptor density influences gene transfer efficiency and therapeutic response in head and neck cancer. 1063 57

The WHSC1/MMSET gene, involved in t(4;14)(p16.3;q32) in multiple myeloma, encodes putative isoforms (MMSET I, MMSET II and RE-IIBP) which are thought to be involved in transcription regulation. We investigated their activity in transfected 293T and HeLa cells. Both MMSET I and MMSET II were localised in the nucleus, whereas RE-IIBP showed cytoplasmic and nucleolar staining. MMSET I dose-dependently repressed the transcriptional activity of the promoter region of the thymidine kinase gene, whereas MMSET II and RE-IIBP had no effect. The HDAC inhibitor, trichostatin A, reduced MMSET I repression activity and in vitro co-immunoprecipitation analyses indicated that MMSET I specifically recruits HDAC1 and mSin3b, but not HDAC2 or HDAC4. Our data support the hypothesis that MMSET may act as a transcription regulator; different functions may be associated with distinct isoforms.
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PMID:Transcription repression activity is associated with the type I isoform of the MMSET gene involved in t(4;14) in multiple myeloma. 1619 52

Arming oncolytic adenoviruses with therapeutic transgenes and enhancing transduction of tumor cells are useful strategies for eradication of advanced tumor masses. Herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (TK) together with ganciclovir (GCV) has been promising when coupled with viruses featuring low oncolytic potential, but their utility is unknown in the context of highly effective infectivity-enhanced viruses. We constructed Ad5/3-Delta24-TK-GFP, a serotype 3 receptor-targeted, Rb/p16 pathway-selective oncolytic adenovirus, where a fusion gene encoding TK and green fluorescent protein (GFP) was inserted into 6.7K/gp19K-deleted E3 region. Ad5/3-Delta24-TK-GFP killed ovarian cancer cells effectively, which correlated with GFP expression. Delivery of GCV immediately after infection abrogated viral replication, which might have utility as a safety switch. Due to the bystander effect, killing of some cell lines in vitro was enhanced by GCV regardless of timing. In murine models of metastatic ovarian cancer, Ad5/3-Delta24-TK-GFP improved antitumor efficacy over the respective replication-deficient virus with GCV. However, GCV did not further enhance efficacy of Ad5/3-Delta24-TK-GFP in vivo. Simultaneous detection of tumor load and virus replication with bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging provided insight into the in vivo kinetics of oncolysis. In summary, TK/GCV may not add antitumor activity in the context of highly potent oncolysis.
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PMID:Utility of TK/GCV in the context of highly effective oncolysis mediated by a serotype 3 receptor targeted oncolytic adenovirus. 1761 84

Senescent cells (SnCs) accumulate in many vertebrate tissues with age and contribute to age-related pathologies, presumably through their secretion of factors contributing to the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Removal of SnCs delays several pathologies and increases healthy lifespan. Aging and trauma are risk factors for the development of osteoarthritis (OA), a chronic disease characterized by degeneration of articular cartilage leading to pain and physical disability. Senescent chondrocytes are found in cartilage tissue isolated from patients undergoing joint replacement surgery, yet their role in disease pathogenesis is unknown. To test the idea that SnCs might play a causative role in OA, we used the p16-3MR transgenic mouse, which harbors a p16^INK4a (Cdkn2a) promoter driving the expression of a fusion protein containing synthetic Renilla luciferase and monomeric red fluorescent protein domains, as well as a truncated form of herpes simplex virus 1 thymidine kinase (HSV-TK). This mouse strain allowed us to selectively follow and remove SnCs after anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT). We found that SnCs accumulated in the articular cartilage and synovium after ACLT, and selective elimination of these cells attenuated the development of post-traumatic OA, reduced pain and increased cartilage development. Intra-articular injection of a senolytic molecule that selectively killed SnCs validated these results in transgenic, non-transgenic and aged mice. Selective removal of the SnCs from in vitro cultures of chondrocytes isolated from patients with OA undergoing total knee replacement decreased expression of senescent and inflammatory markers while also increasing expression of cartilage tissue extracellular matrix proteins. Collectively, these findings support the use of SnCs as a therapeutic target for treating degenerative joint disease.
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PMID:Local clearance of senescent cells attenuates the development of post-traumatic osteoarthritis and creates a pro-regenerative environment. 2862 Jan 75


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