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:2.7.10.1 (ERK)
95,504 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Both intra- and extracellular calcium play multiple roles in the physiology and pathophysiology of cardiomyocytes, especially in stimulus-contraction coupling. The intracellular calcium level is closely controlled through the concerted actions of calcium channels, exchangers, and pumps; however, the expression and function(s) of the so-called calcium-sensing receptor (CaR) in the heart remain less well characterized. The CaR is a seven-transmembrane receptor, which, in response to noncovalent binding of extracellular calcium, activates intracellular effectors, including G proteins and extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK1/2). We have shown that cultured neonatal cardiomyocytes express the CaR messenger RNA and the CaR protein. Furthermore, increasing concentrations of extracellular calcium and a type II CaR activator "calcimimetic" caused inositol phosphate (IP) accumulation, downregulated tritiated thymidine incorporation, and supported ERK1/2 phosphorylation, suggesting that the CaR protein is functionally active. Interestingly, the calcimimetic induced a more rapid ERK1/2 phosphorylation than calcium and left-shifted the IP concentration-response curve for extracellular calcium, supporting the hypothesis that CaR is functionally expressed in cardiac myocytes. This notion was underscored by studies using a virus containing a dominant-negative CaR construct, because this protein blunted the calcium-induced IP response. In conclusion, we have shown that the CaR is functionally expressed in neonatal ventricular cardiomyocytes and that the receptor activates second messenger pathways, including IP and ERK, and decreases DNA synthesis. A specific calcium-sensing receptor on cardiac myocytes could play a role in regulating cardiac development, function, and homeostasis.
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PMID:Calcium receptor is functionally expressed in rat neonatal ventricular cardiomyocytes. 1624 11

Growth factor signals are propagated from the cell surface, through the action of transmembrane receptors, to intracellular effectors that control critical functions in human cancer cells, such as differentiation, growth, angiogenesis, and inhibition of cell death and apoptosis. Several kinases are involved in transduction pathways via sequential signalling activation. These kinases include transmembrane receptor kinases (e.g., epidermal growth factor receptor EGFR); or cytoplasmic kinases (e.g., PI3 kinase). In cancer cells, these signalling pathways are often altered and results in a phenotype characterized by uncontrolled growth and increased capability to invade surrounding tissue. Therefore, these crucial transduction molecules represent attractive targets for cancer therapy. This review will summarize current knowledge of key signal transduction pathways, that are altered in cancer cells, as therapeutic targets for novel selective inhibitors. The most advanced targeted agents currently under development interfere with function and expression of several signalling molecules, including the EGFR family; the vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptors; and cytoplasmic kinases such as Ras, PI3K and mTOR.
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PMID:Key cancer cell signal transduction pathways as therapeutic targets. 1637 41

Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) are most common in the stomach (60-70%), followed by small intestine (20-25%), colon and rectum (5%), and esophagus (<5%). They are characterized by expression of the transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase KIT, which is defined by the CD117 antigen and is the product of the kit proto-oncogene. Metastatic risk is based on tumour size and mitotic count. The treatment options have evolved rapidly with the discovery of imatinib (Gleevec) that selectively inhibits KIT. Complete resection without tumour rupture remains the mainstay of treatment in patients with localized, resectable disease. Imatinib has been shown to be the first successful systemic therapy for patients with metastatic or unresectable disease and is also currently being tested as an adjuvant therapy after the resection of high risk primary GIST. New blockers of the tyrosine-kinase activity are currently in development in cases of resistance.
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PMID:[Diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumours]. 1662 79

Over-expression of ERBB2, a member of the family of transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinases, occurs in 15-30% of primary breast tumors and is associated with poor prognosis and chemoresistance to a variety of anticancer drugs. In this study, aiming to identify differentially-expressed genes involved in erbB2-mediated transformation of the breast, we generated SAGE libraries from two human mammary cell lines, derived from normal luminal cells, expressing different levels of erbB2. The parental cell line HB4a expresses basal levels and the C5.2 expresses high levels of erbB2. A total of 161,632 tags was generated by sequencing, 81,684 from HB4a cells (30,854 unique tags) and 79,948 from C5.2 cells (30,568 unique tags). The comparison between the HB4a and C5.2 libraries revealed 334 distinct transcripts more expressed in HB4a cells and 328 distinct transcripts more expressed in C5.2 cells. The expression pattern of some of these transcripts was further validated by RT-PCR. The C5.2 cell line, which over-express ERBB2, showed in comparison to HB4a cells a higher percentage of genes involved in transport, RNA processing, apoptosis and protein folding. A higher percentage of the genes more expressed in HB4a cells compared to C5.2 were found to be involved in signal transduction and cytoskeleton organization. The use of SAGE analysis allowed us to identify a significant number of genes implicated in different cellular pathways up- or down-regulated in the presence of ERBB2 over-expression, including genes not previously implicated in breast cancer that could be considered as potential candidate markers for prognosis and therapy.
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PMID:Transcriptome characterization of human mammary cell lines expressing different levels of ERBB2 by serial analysis of gene expression. 1668 46

Major advances have been made in the understanding of the genetic mechanisms underlying endocrine tumorigenesis, through the study of several syndromes of genetic predisposition and the identification of the genes involved. The syndrome of type 1 multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN-1) is one of the best known; this autosomal dominant hereditary syndrome predisposes to the development of endocrine tumors of the pituitary, the parathyroids, the foregut and the adrenals. The responsible gene, known as MEN-1, encodes an original protein, menin, involved in several major cellular functions, such as the control of cell proliferation and differentiation. Type 2 multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN-2) is an autosomal dominant hereditary syndrome associated with the development of medullary carcinomas of the thyroid, pheochromocytomas and hyperparathyroidism; the corresponding gene, RET, encodes a transmembrane receptor with tyrosine kinase activity. Endocrine tumors are also associated with non Hippel-Lindau disease and with phacomatoses, such as type 1 neurofibromatosis and tuberous sclerosis. Finally, isolated familial syndromes of endocrine tumors have been described: isolated familial hyperparathyroidism type II (HRPT2), associated with alterations in a gene coding for an original protein, parafibromin, or isolated familial syndromes of pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PRG) associated with mutations in the genes SDHB, SDHC or SDHD, which encode succinate-dehydrogenase subunits. The understanding of the genetic mechanisms underlying these syndromes of predisposition is essential for the diagnosis and management of these patients and their family; it also gives insight on the molecular mechanisms of endocrine tumorigenesis.
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PMID:[Genetics of endocrine tumours]. 1673 73

The her-2 (neu, erbB-2) oncogene encodes a 185-kDa transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase. HER2 overexpression occurs in numerous primary human tumors and contributes to 25-30% of breast and ovarian carcinomas. Synthesis of HER2 is controlled in part by an upstream open reading frame (uORF) present in the transcript. We used synthetic capped and polyadenylated mRNAs containing sequences derived from the 5' region of the her-2 transcript fused to a firefly luciferase (LUC) reporter to examine this uORF's effect on translation in cell-free systems derived from reticulocytes, wheat germ and Neurospora crassa, and in RNA-transfected HeLa cells. The uORF reduced translation of the downstream cistron in all systems. [(35)S]Met labeling of in vitro translation products obtained indicated that the uORF also affected downstream start-site selection. Primer extension inhibition (toeprint) assays of ribosomes loaded at initiation codons in reticulocyte lysates indicated that the uORF affected the interaction of ribosomes with the primary her-2 AUG codon.
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PMID:her-2 upstream open reading frame effects on the use of downstream initiation codons. 1704 69

Multiple endocrine neoplasia Type 2 (MEN 2) is an inherited cancer syndrome characterized by medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). The disease has three subtypes, which are distinguished by the presence of additional phenotypes. In particular, pheochromocytoma occurs in approximately 50% of patients with the MEN 2A or MEN 2B subtypes, but is not found in patients with the milder disease subtype, familial MTC (FMTC). All subtypes of MEN 2 are caused by activating mutations of the RET (REarranged in Transfection) proto-oncogene. RET encodes a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase, required for development of neuroendocrine cell types and the kidneys. All MEN 2 subtypes are associated with single amino acid substitution mutations that are found in either the extracellular domain or in the kinase domain of RET. There are strong genotype-phenotype correlations in MEN 2 between patient phenotype and the specific residue that is mutated. MEN 2A is primarily associated with substitutions at five extracellular cysteine residues, while 95% of MEN 2B is associated with a single methionine to threonine mutation in the kinase domain (M918T). In FMTC, RET mutations are more broadly distributed, with both extracellular cysteines and intracellular sites implicated. In all cases, MEN 2-RET mutations result in constitutive activation of the receptor, although the mechanism and relative functional effects of the mutations vary. Recent advances in functional characterization and development of molecular models of RET and of various MEN 2-RET mutants are helping us understand tissue-specific differences in oncogenic potential conferred by the different RET mutations. Here, we discuss and compare several well-characterized mutations of the extracellular and kinase domains, which have quite varied functional implications.
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PMID:Molecular implications of RET mutations for pheochromocytoma risk in multiple endocrine neoplasia 2. 1710 91

EphA2 is a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase that functions in the regulation of cell growth, survival, angiogenesis, and migration and EphA2 targeting has been proposed as a novel therapeutic strategy for neoplasms that overexpress this protein. EphA2 overexpression has been correlated with increased invasive and metastatic ability in pancreatic cancer cell lines. However, the patterns of EphA2 expression in human pancreatic cancers and associated metastases is unknown, as are the genetics of EphA2 in this tumor type. We collected clinicopathologic data and paraffin-embedded materials from 98 patients with primary and/or metastatic pancreatic cancer and performed immunohistochemical labeling for EphA2 protein. EphA2 protein immunolabeling was found in 207 of 219 samples (95%). The expression was predominantly cytoplasmic, although predominant membranous staining was observed in a minority of cases. When evaluated specifically for labeling intensity, primary and metastatic carcinomas were more strongly positive compared to benign ducts and PanIN lesions (P < 0.00001 and P < 0.01, respectively) and poorly differentiated carcinomas were more strongly positive for EphA2 than well and moderately differentiated tumors (P < 0.005). When primary carcinomas without metastatic disease were specifically compared to carcinomas with associated metastatic disease, the advanced carcinomas showed relatively less strong positive labeling for EphA2 (P < 0.008). Moreover, decreased EphA2 labeling was more commonly found in liver (P < 0.002), lung (P < 0.004) or peritoneal metastases (P < 0.01) as compared to distant lymph node metastases (P < 0.01). Genetic sequencing of the tyrosine kinase domain of EPHA2 in 22 samples of xenograft enriched pancreatic cancer did not reveal any inactivating mutations. However, EPHA2 amplification was found in 1 of 33 pancreatic cancers corresponding to a lymph node metastasis, indicating EPHA2 genomic amplification may underlie EphA2 overexpression in a minority of patients. Our data confirms that EphA2 is overexpressed in pancreatic cancer, but suggests a relative loss of EphA2 in co-existent pancreatic cancer metastases as well as a role for EPHA2 in organ specific metastasis.
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PMID:Patterns of EphA2 protein expression in primary and metastatic pancreatic carcinoma and correlation with genetic status. 1714 15

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) family ligands (GFLs) all signal through the transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase RET. The signalling complex consists of GFLs, GPI-anchored ligand binding GDNF family receptor alphas (GFRalphas) and RET. Signalling via RET is required for the development of the nervous system and the kidney, as well as for spermatogenesis. However, constitutive activation of RET is implicated as a cause in several diseases. Mutations of the RET proto-oncogene cause the inherited cancer syndrome multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN 2). Recently, it has been suggested that mutations in the persephin binding GFRalpha4 receptor may have a potentially modifying role in MEN 2. Several naturally occurring, different splice variants of the mammalian GFRalpha4 have been reported. A 7 bp insertion-mutation in the human GFRalpha4 gene causes a shift of reading frame and thereby changes the balance between the transcripts encoding GPI-anchored and soluble GFRalpha4 receptors. We report here that the mammalian soluble GFRalpha4 can activate RET independently of its preferential ligand, persephin. Our data show that soluble GFRalpha4 can associate with, and induce, phosphorylation of RET. In addition, our data show that this isoform of GFRalpha4 can induce downstream signalling, as well as neuronal survival and differentiation, in the absence of persephin. These results suggest that, in line with the previous report, GFRalpha4 may be a candidate gene for, or modifier of, the MEN 2 diseases.
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PMID:The mouse soluble GFRalpha4 receptor activates RET independently of its ligand persephin. 1721 20

Bitopic membrane proteins offer an opportunity for studying transmembrane domain interactions without the structural complexity inherent to multitopic integral membrane proteins. To date, only homomeric associations have been extensively studied quantitatively. Here we propose to assess the thermodynamics of heteromeric associations, which opens the way to investigating specificity and selectivity. A very interesting system of biological relevance with single transmembrane domains possibly involved in interactions with different partners is the EGFR receptor family. The four members, all tyrosine kinase receptors, are involved in an interaction network that potentially leads to a complete set of homo- and heterodimers, ideally suited to such a study. Furthermore, the transmembrane domains of these receptors have been previously implicated in their function in the past by mutations in the transmembrane domain leading to constitutive activation. We demonstrate, using a fluorescence-based measurement of interaction energies, a hierarchy of transmembrane domain interactions ranging from a noninteractive pair to strong dimerization. We propose a structural model based on the crystal structure of the EGFR dimer, to show how the dimeric structure favors these interactions. The correlation we observe between transmembrane domain and whole receptor interaction hierarchies opens a new perspective, suggesting a role for transmembrane receptor domains in the modulation of receptor signaling.
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PMID:A dimerization hierarchy in the transmembrane domains of the HER receptor family. 1725 68


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