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
Query: EC:2.7.10.1 (
ERK
)
95,504
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
The proto-oncogene c-
MET
encodes a transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor for hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF). HGF/SF stimulates the proliferation and motility of various cell types. Because HGF/SF is also a melanocyte mitogen, we investigated the biological role of HGF/SF, including c-Met expression, activation and signal transduction, in normal and malignant human melanocytes. We show that HGF/SF is mitogenic in the presence of synergistic factors, such as basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and mast cell growth factor (MGF) and that, by itself, it stimulates the motility of normal human melanocytes. The ligand also maintained high levels of tyrosinase activity and melanin content in theses cells. Signal transduction by HGF/SF included phosphorylation of tyrosyl residues on c-Met, a cascade of tyrosine phosphorylations on several other proteins and activation of microtubule-associated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase.
Met
expression and activity are normal in human melanomas, and constitutive activity of HGF/SF in retrovirally infected autonomously proliferative mouse melanocytes is insufficient to confer the malignant phenotype. Our findings suggest that activation of
Met
in response to HGF/SF may contribute to malignant progression synergistically with the aberrant expression of bFGF in malignant melanocytes and that, in addition, the peptide may promote dispersion of factor-dependent melanocytes from early stages of primary melanomas to ectopic sites.
...
PMID:Met and hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor signal transduction in normal melanocytes and melanoma cells. 133 34
The receptor for Hepatocyte Growth Factor is a transmembrane tyrosine kinase encoded by the c-
MET
oncogene. We have previously shown that the
Met
protein is expressed in several human epithelial tissues. The receptor is barely detectable, however, in normal thyroids and in specimens from patients affected by non-neoplastic thyroid diseases. Now we report that the expression of the
Met
/HGF receptor is increased a hundred fold in 22 out of 41 human carcinomas derived from the thyroid follicular epithelium. A comprehensive analysis of 15 cases showed that the overexpressing carcinomas belong to histotype variants correlated with negative prognosis and in all but one case there were evidences of locally advanced disease and/or distant metastases. The 11 benign adenomas and the 5 medullary carcinomas tested were negative. Western blot analysis with monoclonal antibodies directed against either the intracellular or the extracellular receptor domains failed to reveal major structural alterations. Southern blot analysis also demonstrated that the c-
MET
gene was not amplified nor rearranged. These data suggest a role for the overexpression of c-
MET
oncogene in the pathogenesis and progression of thyroid tumors derived from the follicular epithelium.
...
PMID:Overexpression of the c-MET/HGF receptor gene in human thyroid carcinomas. 133 53
Neutral endopeptidase 24.11 contains an active site arginine believed to function in substrate binding. This arginine is thought to form an ionic interaction with the COOH-terminal carboxylate of
NEP
substrates. The functionality of arginine 102 has been investigated by using site-directed mutagenesis to produce mutants in which this residue was converted to a lysine, glycine, glutamine, or glutamate. All of the mutants exhibited essentially full activity as determined with a synthetic peptide amide, glutaryl-Ala-Ala-Phe-4-methoxy-2-naphthylamide. In contrast, activity was detected only with the wild-type enzyme and the lysine mutant using a synthetic substrate containing a free COOH-terminal carboxylate, dansyl-Gly-Trp-Gly. Inhibition studies with the physiologically active peptide substrates substance P, endothelin, and angiotensin I, as well as substance P free acid, [D-Ala2,Leu5]enkephalin, and [D-Ala2,Leu5]enkephalinamide indicated a lack of importance of arginine 102 in substrate binding. With [D-Ala2,Met5]enkephalin and the chemotactic peptide, N-formyl-
Met
-Leu-Phe, a significant decrease in affinity is observed with the arginine 102 mutants. These results suggest that the contribution of arginine 102 to substrate binding is dependent upon the strength of other subsite interactions. Examination of dipeptides as inhibitors indicates that the nature and orientation of the P'2 residue is important in determining the strength of the interaction of arginine 102 with its substrates.
...
PMID:Analysis of the importance of arginine 102 in neutral endopeptidase (enkephalinase) catalysis. 137 21
Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is a cyclic peptide which behaves as an antagonist of the pituitary melanotropic hormone alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone in fishes. Cloning of the rat MCH cDNA precursor recently revealed the presence of an additional putative peptide named NEI. The present work examined the susceptibility of these novel peptides to hydrolysis by various purified exo- and endo-peptidases including endopeptidases 24.11 (
NEP
), 24.15, 24.16, angiotensin-converting enzyme, leucine aminopeptidase and carboxypeptidase A.
NEP
attacked MCH at three sites of the molecule with an apparent affinity of about 12 microM and a kcat. of 4 min-1. The first site of cleavage was at Cys-7-
Met
-8, i.e. within the peptide loop formed by the internal disulphide bridge.
NEP
could therefore be considered as an MCH-inactivating peptidase since the degradation products generated are probably devoid of biological activity. In contrast, NEI neither inhibited the degradation of the
NEP
chromogenic substrate glutaryl-Phe-Ala-Phe-p-aminobenzoate nor was susceptible to proteolysis by
NEP
. Unlike
NEP
, angiotensin-converting enzyme, endopeptidase 24.15 and endopeptidase 24.16 appeared totally unable to cleave MCH, whereas the peptide was readily degraded by aminopeptidase M and carboxypeptidase A.
...
PMID:Hydrolysis of rat melanin-concentrating hormone by endopeptidase 24.11 (neutral endopeptidase). 152 Feb 71
We investigated regulation of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF)-stimulated cellular cGMP accumulation (ANF-s-cGMP) in an ANF-responsive human renal cell line, SK-
NEP
-1. Dose-response data indicated that the EC50 for ANF(99-126) was 1.1 x 10(-9) M. Brain natriuretic peptide (10(-6) M) increased cGMP to a level indistinguishable from that of ANF (10(-6) M). [
Met
-(O)]ANF was only half as potent as ANF, and atriopeptin I (10(-6) M) did not increase cGMP over basal levels. Preincubation of SK-
NEP
-1 cells with ANF, but not atriopeptin I (API), for two hours or longer, caused a concentration-dependent down-regulation of ANF-s-cGMP. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), a protein kinase C (PKC) activator, and A23187 and its 4-bromo derivative, calcium ionophores, inhibited ANF-s-cGMP in a dose-dependent manner. A23187 inhibition was calcium dependent and promoted net cGMP degradation. Thirty-six hour preincubation with PMA, a procedure used to down-regulate PKC, abolished acute PMA inhibition of ANF-s-cGMP without having an effect on ANF-s-cGMP or on 4-bromo-A23187 inhibition thereof. These data indicate that PKC activation specifically inhibited ANF-s-cGMP but that PKC was not required for ANF-s-cGMP in SK-
NEP
-1 cells. Thus structurally related ANF peptides, protein kinase C (PKC) activators, calcium ionophores are potential modulators of ANF-s-cGMP in cells from this human renal cell line.
...
PMID:Phorbol and calcium decreased atriopeptin response in a human renal cell line. 164 14
Scatter Factor (SF) is a fibroblast-secreted protein which promotes motility and matrix invasion of epithelial cells. Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) is a powerful mitogen for hepatocytes and other epithelial tissues. SF and HGF, purified according to their respective biological activities, were interchangeable and equally effective in assays for cell growth, motility and invasion. Both bound with identical affinities to the same sites in target cells. The receptor for SF and HGF was identified as the product of the
MET
oncogene by: (i) ligand binding and coprecipitation in immunocomplexes; (ii) chemical crosslinking to the
Met
beta subunit; (iii) transfer of binding activity in insect cells by a baculovirus carrying the
MET
cDNA; (iv) ligand-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the
Met
beta subunit. SF and HGF cDNA clones from human fibroblasts, placenta and liver had virtually identical sequences. We conclude that the same molecule (SF/HGF) acts as a growth or motility factor through a single receptor in different target cells.
...
PMID:Scatter factor and hepatocyte growth factor are indistinguishable ligands for the MET receptor. 165 5
The
MET
proto-oncogene encodes a 190-kDa disulfide-linked heterodimeric receptor (p190 alpha beta) whose tyrosine kinase activity is triggered by the hepatocyte growth factor. The mature receptor is made of two subunits: an alpha chain of 50 kDa and a beta chain of 145 kDa, arising from proteolytic cleavage of a single-chain precursor of 170 kDa (pr170). In a colon carcinoma cell line (LoVo), the precursor is not cleaved and the
Met
protein is exposed at the cell surface as a single-chain polypeptide of 190 kDa (p190NC). The expression of the uncleaved
Met
protein is due to defective posttranslational processing, since in this cell line (i) the proteolytic cleavage site Lys-303-Arg-Lys-Lys-Arg-Ser-308 is present in the precursor, (ii) p190NC is sensitive to mild trypsin digestion of the cell surface, generating alpha and beta chains of the correct size, and (iii) the 205-kDa insulin receptor precursor is not cleaved as well. p190NC is a functional tyrosine kinase in vitro and is activated in vivo, as shown by constitutive autophosphorylation on tyrosine. The
MET
gene is neither amplified nor rearranged in LoVo cells. Overlapping cDNA clones selected from a library derived from LoVo mRNA were sequenced. No mutations were present in the
MET
-coding region. These data indicate that the tyrosine kinase encoded by the
MET
proto-oncogene can be activated as a consequence of a posttranslational defect.
...
PMID:Defective posttranslational processing activates the tyrosine kinase encoded by the MET proto-oncogene (hepatocyte growth factor receptor). 165 24
The antigen CD10 (common acute lymphoblastic leukaemia antigen), which is the zinc metalloprotease, neutral endopeptidase 24.11 (also known as
NEP
or 'enkephalinase'), is expressed by acute lymphoblastic leukaemias, normal lymphoid progenitors, mature polymorphonuclear leukocytes and certain nonhaematopoietic cells. CD10/
NEP
hydrolyses several naturally occurring peptides, including the endogenous opioid pentapeptides
Met
- and Leu-enkephalin. In invertebrate organisms such as the mollusc Mytilus edulis, Met-enkephalin triggers inflammatory responses by inducing morphological changes, directed migration and aggregation of haemocytes. We report here that a structure related to CD10/
NEP
is expressed by M. edulis haemocytes and that abrogation of CD10/
NEP
enzymatic activity reduces the amount of Met-enkephalin required for haemocyte activation by five orders of magnitude. Similar results are obtained with CD10+ human polymorphonuclear leukocytes, indicating that CD10/
NEP
related structures regulate enkephalin-mediated inflammatory responses in organisms whose ancestors diverged approximately 500 million years ago.
...
PMID:Downregulation of enkephalin-mediated inflammatory responses by CD10/neutral endopeptidase 24.11. 169 30
In halothane-anesthetized and -ventilated cynomologus macaque monkeys, the effects of administering vehicle (n = 3) or the neutral endopeptidase inhibitor N-[L-(1-carboxy-2-phenyl)ethyl]-L-phenylalanyl-beta-alanine (16 mg/kg, n = 5; or 100 mg/kg, n = 3, intravenously) was examined. Cisternal CSF aliquots were examined by radioimmunoassay: 1) for
Met
enkephalin; 2) after trypsin and carboxypeptidase B treatment for encrypted enkephalin (X-ENK); 3) for substance P; and 4) for unmetabolized drug. Similar measures were carried out in femoral artery and femoral venous plasma, except that substance P was not assayed. In CSF, prior to drug, low, but measurable levels of enkephalin (61 pg/ml), X-ENK (285 pg/ml) and substance P (16 pg/ml) were observed. Vehicle-injected animals showed no change from baseline levels over a 4-hr sampling period in either plasma or CSF levels. In contrast, following 16 mg/kg, in CSF, there was a significant 9-fold increase in
MET
and 11-fold increase in X-ENK at 30 min. CSF-substance P levels rose also by a factor of 2, with the peak effect observed at 60 min. All levels displayed a significant reduction by 4 hr. There was no statistical difference between the maximum effects observed with either the 16- or 100-mg/kg dose. Plasma peptide levels of enkephalin and X-ENK were not altered by drug. CSF displayed significant drug levels by 30 min, which were between 0.1 and 1% of levels observed concurrently in plasma.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
...
PMID:Effects of [N-(L-(1-carboxy-2-phenyl)ethyl]-L-phenylalanyl-beta-alanine (SCH32615), a neutral endopeptidase (enkephalinase) inhibitor, on levels of enkephalin, encrypted enkephalins and substance P in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma of primates. 170 28
The
MET
oncogene encodes a transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor. Recently, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), a potent growth factor for hepatocytes involved in liver regeneration, has been proposed as a ligand. In this paper, the physiological role of the human
Met
/HGF receptor is investigated by studying its specific distribution in normal and neoplastic tissues. Northern blot analysis has shown that the
MET
gene is selectively expressed in several epithelial tissues. High levels of
MET
mRNA have been found in liver, gastrointestinal tract, thyroid and kidney. Western blot analysis has shown that the levels of the
Met
protein generally correspond to those of the mRNA. However, in the thyroid, where there is a high level of
MET
mRNA, the protein was barely detectable, suggesting translational or post-translational regulation. The protein was also detected in the brain. Normal or increased levels of
MET
mRNA and
Met
protein were consistently found in fresh samples of carcinomas as well as in epithelial tumor cell lines. In thyroid carcinomas of a specific histiotype the amount of
Met
protein, almost undetectable in the normal counterpart, was found to be increased more than 100-fold. The tissue distribution of the
Met
/HGF receptor indicates that this molecule is involved in growth control of epithelial cells other than hepatocytes and suggests that its increased expression may confer a growth advantage to neoplastic cells.
...
PMID:Expression of the Met/HGF receptor in normal and neoplastic human tissues. 171 65
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Next >>