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)

Imatinib mesylate represents the first of a new generation of molecularly targeted therapies engineered to disrupt signal transduction pathways. It is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor with relatively selective activity against the Abelson (ABL) proto-oncogene, platelet-derived growth factor receptor, and c-KIT receptor. Deregulated tyrosine kinase activity has been implicated as a central pathogenic event in a number of human malignancies, most notably chronic myeloid leukemia. In this myeloproliferative disorder the t(9;22) reciprocal translocation results in the generation of a novel fusion oncoprotein, BCR-ABL, with constitutive tyrosine kinase activity. Imatinib inhibits this activity, inducing remarkable rates of hematological and cytogenetic remission in excess of those seen with alternative medical therapies. Following a large phase III study comparing its efficacy with the combination of interferon alpha and low-dose cytarabine, it has emerged as the current gold standard therapy for patients with chronic-phase disease without a potential bone marrow donor and those considered unsuitable for bone marrow transplantation. Its integration into the management of those patients who might be considered for transplantation, which has historically been considered the only potentially curative approach, remains a major challenge. The increasing recognition and subsequent molecular characterization of resistance mechanisms has reinforced the need to exercise caution against deferring a proven curative therapy in favor of a treatment approach that is still investigational, with the spectre of increased numbers of patients progressing to sudden-onset blast crisis remaining the potential dark cloud in the silver lining for imatinib.
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PMID:Imatinib mesylate--gold standards and silver linings. 1559 80

Polymerization of the actin cytoskeleton has been found to be essential for B-cell activation. We show here, however, that stimulation of BCR induces a rapid global actin depolymerization in a BCR signal strength-dependent manner, followed by polarized actin repolymerization. Depolymerization of actin enhances and blocking actin depolymerization inhibits BCR signaling, leading to altered BCR and lipid raft clustering, ERK activation, and transcription factor activation. Furthermore actin depolymerization by itself induces altered lipid raft clustering and ERK activation, suggesting that F-actin may play a role in separating lipid rafts and in setting the threshold for cellular activation.
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PMID:Actin depolymerization transduces the strength of B-cell receptor stimulation. 1572 23

Imatinib mesylate is a potent and specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor against c-ABL, BCR-ABL, and c-KIT, and has been demonstrated to be highly active in chronic myeloid leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. We examined the antifibrotic effects of imatinib using a bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis model in mice because imatinib also inhibits tyrosine kinase of platelet-derived growth factor receptors (PDGFRs). Imatinib inhibited the growth of primary murine lung fibroblasts and the autophosphorylation of PDGFR-beta induced by PDGF. Administration of imatinib significantly prevented bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice, partly by reducing the number of mesenchymal cells incorporating bromodeoxyuridine. Analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage cells demonstrated that imatinib did not suppress early inflammation on Days 7 and 14 caused by bleomycin. These results suggest that imatinib has the potential to prevent pulmonary fibrosis by inhibiting the proliferation of mesenchymal cells, and that imatinib might be useful for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis in humans.
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PMID:Imatinib as a novel antifibrotic agent in bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. 1573 62

Following G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), protein kinases have become the second most important class of targets for drug discovery over the last 20 years. While only four kinase inhibitors have reached the market to date (Fasudil for rho-dependent kinase, Rapamycin for TOR, Gleevec for BCR-Abl, and Iressa for EGFR), many more are already in clinical development. A historical overview of kinase inhibitors was recently published by Cohen. [1] After the previous successes, protein kinases are now regarded as attractive, well-drugable targets, and the analysis of the human genome has yielded 518 protein kinases. [2] We can thus expect screening for protein kinase inhibitors to become even more important in the future. In this review we will focus on the early steps of drug discovery programs producing new lead compounds. We will guide the reader through efficient state-of-the-art assay development and high-throughput screening of large chemical libraries for protein kinase inhibitors.
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PMID:High-throughput screening for kinase inhibitors. 1574 84

Bystander B cells may be initially stimulated through CD40, which enhances susceptibility to Fas-mediated apoptosis, before encountering Ag, which produces Fas resistance. A key issue in this process is to what extent CD40 cross-talk might affect subsequent BCR signaling. It has previously been shown that CD40 engagement bypasses or mitigates the need for Bruton's tyrosine kinase in subsequent BCR signaling for NF-kappaB activation. However, the full extent of the effects of CD40 on BCR signaling has not been delineated. In the present study we evaluated the possibility that CD40-mediated cross-talk also affects another principal outcome of BCR signaling: MAPK activation. We found that prior stimulation of primary murine B cells with CD40L markedly enhanced the level of ERK and JNK (but not p38 MAPK) phosphorylation produced by subsequently added anti-Ig Ab, and much, but not all, of this enhancement was independent of PI3K and phospholipase C. CD40L treatment similarly enhanced BCR-induced MAPK kinase (MEK) phosphorylation, and MEK was required for enhancement of ERK. Although BCR-induced c-Raf phosphorylation was also enhanced by prior CD40L treatment, c-Raf was not required for MEK/ERK phosphorylation. These results identify a novel system of receptor cross-talk between CD40 and BCR and indicate that the effects of CD40 engagement on subsequent BCR stimulation spread beyond NF-kappaB to involve the MAPK pathway.
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PMID:B cell receptor (BCR) cross-talk: CD40 engagement enhances BCR-induced ERK activation. 1574 69

Targeted molecular therapeutics are tailored toward the genetic abnormalities that cause tumor progression. Modulation of certain signaling pathways that are aberrant in cancer cells has the potential to provide an effective, nontoxic approach to therapy in a broad range of cancers. Agents targeting BCR-ABL (imatinib mesylate [formerly known as STI-571], Gleevec; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp, East Hanover, NJ), retinoid receptor fusion proteins (all-trans retinoic acid), ErbB-2 or HER2/neu (trastuzumab, Herceptin; Genentech, Inc, South San Francisco, CA), epidermal growth factor receptor (IMC-C225 and ZD1839), and the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway (CCI-779) have all induced remarkable, nontoxic responses in a subset of patients with cancer and abnormalities in the corresponding signal transduction cascades. To achieve successful individualized therapy, the specific components within the aberrant signaling pathways that are driving the pathophysiology of the tumors must be identified in each patient. Molecular diagnostics can identify patients in whom the target is aberrant; linking molecular diagnostics with effective molecular therapeutics will be necessary to translate these concepts into approaches that will alter the outcome for patients with cancer. In addition, intermediary markers and/or molecular imaging techniques must be used to identify the biologically relevant dose that is sufficient to inhibit the target of interest. This review focuses on the P13K pathway, and novel molecules targeting this pathway, to illustrate the questions and challenges underlying the implementation of molecular therapeutics in breast and ovarian cancer.
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PMID:Mammalian target of rapamycin. 1579 39

IL-4 has pleiotropic effects on B cells. These effects include alteration of subsequent BCR-triggered responses. To identify a molecular basis for this receptor cross-talk, we examined ERK activation and NF-kappaB induction. We found that treatment with IL-4, but not other cytokines, affected subsequent BCR signaling by creating a new pathway in which the need for PI3K in ERK activation was eliminated. In contrast, the need for PI3K in NF-kappaB induction was not altered. The new pathway for ERK required time to develop, depended on STAT6, and was blocked by inhibition of macromolecular synthesis. As in the classical pathway, BCR-induced ERK activation in the new, PI3K-independent pathway required MEK and was reflected in c-Raf. Thus, IL-4 promotes an alternate pathway through which BCR is coupled to Raf/MEK/ERK that may function to heighten the responsiveness of B cells during times of immunological stress.
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PMID:B cell receptor (BCR) cross-talk: IL-4 creates an alternate pathway for BCR-induced ERK activation that is phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase independent. 1584 35

Receptor and non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) are essential enzymes in cellular signaling processes and signal transduction pathways that regulate cell growth, differentiation, migration and metabolism by catalyzing protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. In recent years, different tyrosine kinase receptors were identified as regulators of tumor or tumor vessel growth. Their inhibition by specific tyrosine kinase inhibitors and antibodies targeting growth factors and their receptors were recently shown to constitute a new modality for treating cancers. The pathognomonic role of the inhibited tyrosine kinase defines the way of action, whereas the amount of expression in tumor tissue is thought to define the indication for the tumor entity. Various compounds targeting PTKs are under clinical investigation in phase I-III trials or are already approved. This review describes new drugs targeting BCR-Abl, c-kit, EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor), tumor angiogenesis via VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), HER2/neu and "multitarget" tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
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PMID:Receptor tyrosine kinases and anticancer therapy. 1585 62

The case of a patient presenting with a myeloproliferative disorder (MPD) characterized by a t(8;22) (p12;q11) translocation was investigated. The rearrangement resulted in the production of BCR-FGFR1 and FGFR1-BCR chimeric transcripts after in-frame fusions of BCR exon 4 with FGFR1 exon 9 and FGFR1 exon 8 with BCR exon 5, respectively. The four previously reported patients with such translocation presented with an atypical chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) without Philadelphia chromosome. In addition to a myeloproliferation, the patient had a B cell proliferation. The phenotypic characterization of the lymphoid cells in the bone marrow showed a continuum of maturation from blast B cells to polyclonal lymphocytes. In the blood, B cells showed a complete polyclonal maturation. The BCR-FGFR1 gene fusion was detected by dual-color fluorescence in situ hybridization in both CD19- and CD19+ populations. In contrast to the other FGFR1-MPDs that show myeloid and T cell proliferation, we propose that this t(8;22) MPD is a myeloid and B cell disease, and potentially a novel type of hematological disease. Although the FGFR1-MPD is rare, its study provides interesting clues to the understanding of hematopoietic stem cell biology and oncogene activation.
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PMID:Dual lympho-myeloproliferative disorder in a patient with t(8;22) with BCR-FGFR1 gene fusion. 1587 Aug 60

Two main isoforms of Fcgamma receptor II (CD 32) have been described in humans: activatory FcgammaRIIA and inhibitory FcgammaRIIB. We have previously reported that B cells from a subset of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) patients express not only FcgammaRIIB, as normal B lymphocytes, but also the myeloid FcgammaRIIA. The aim of this study was to evaluate the signaling capacity of both FcgammaRII isoforms in B-CLL cells. We found that FcgammaRIIA expressed by leukemic cells failed to induce Ca(2+) mobilization or protein tyrosine phosphorylation, suggesting that the receptor is not functional. By contrast, FcgammaRIIB effectively diminished BCR-triggered ERK 1 phosphorylation, which indicates that it is able to transduce inhibitory signals in B-CLL cells. Moreover, we found that FcgammaRIIB homoaggregation in either B-CLL or non-malignant tonsillar B cells did not result in apoptosis as was reported for murine B splenocytes. Together, these results show that FcgammaRIIB, but not FcgammaRIIA is biologically active in B-CLL cells and might influence leukemic cell physiology in vivo.
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PMID:Signaling capacity of FcgammaRII isoforms in B-CLL cells. 1590 1


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