Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.10.1 (ERK)
 95,504 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The tumor suppressor protein p53 acts as a transcriptional activator that can mediate cellular responses to DNA damage by inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. p53 is a nuclear phosphoprotein, and phosphorylation has been proposed to be a means by which the activity of p53 is regulated. The cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)-activating kinase (CAK) was originally identified as a cellular kinase required for the activation of a CDK-cyclin complex, and CAK is comprised of three subunits: CDK7, cyclin H, and p36MAT1. CAK is part of the transcription factor IIH multiprotein complex, which is required for RNA polymerase II transcription and nucleotide excision repair. Because of the similarities between p53 and CAK in their involvement in the cell cycle, transcription, and repair, we investigated whether p53 could act as a substrate for phosphorylation by CAK. While CDK7-cyclin H is sufficient for phosphorylation of CDK2, we show that p36MAT1 is required for efficient phosphorylation of p53 by CDK7-cyclin H, suggesting that p36MAT1 can act as a substrate specificity-determining factor for CDK7-cyclin H. We have mapped a major site of phosphorylation by CAK to Ser-33 of p53 and have demonstrated as well that p53 is phosphorylated at this site in vivo. Both wild-type and tumor-derived mutant p53 proteins are efficiently phosphorylated by CAK. Furthermore, we show that p36 and p53 can interact both in vitro and in vivo. These studies reveal a potential mechanism for coupling the regulation of p53 with DNA repair and the basal transcriptional machinery.
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PMID:p53 is phosphorylated by CDK7-cyclin H in a p36MAT1-dependent manner. 937 54

Extensive research has led to accumulation of common hereditary evidence concerning ovarian and breast cancer, suggesting that these two cancers can be considered as one type. Subsequently, women with breast cancer are susceptible to the risk of developing ovarian cancer. Highly expressed oncogenes such as bcl-2, HER2/neu and others or mutated suppressor genes such as p53 or BRCA1 have been characterised as hereditary susceptibility genes leading to syndromes such as breast/ovarian cancer syndrome, Li-Fraumeni and others. Furthermore, these genetic alterations can cause potent chemoresistance by inhibiting induction of apoptosis after DNA damage caused by chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Presently, molecular onco-biology has enabled us not only to detect susceptibility to ovarian and breast cancer but also ways to inhibit their further progression or even circumventing chemoresistance mechanisms after their development by gene therapy using delivery vectors such as liposomes or viruses, by which we can replace wild-type tumour suppressor genes or by using antigene, antisense oligonucleotides and antisense RNA leading to reduced oncogene expression, enabling induction of apoptosis after DNA damage into chemoresistant tumour cells. Furthermore efflux-genes such as MDR-1 or MRP can be circumvented, suicide-genes can be employed which can facilitate sensitivity by encoding enzymes capable of converting inactive forms of a drug into toxic antimetabolites and immunotherapy can be achieved, by transfection of tumour cells with adenoviral vectors encoding immunomodulators such as IL-2 or MHC molecules. Thus, molecular biology appears to be a very strong element for the screening, diagnosis, therapy and prognosis of ovarian and breast cancer. However, consistent future research is greatly needed because many points concerning ovarian and breast cancer genetics are still unknown. Finally, we strongly believe that gene therapy could be extremely useful when is combined with conventional therapy against ovarian and breast tumours.
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PMID:Molecular aspects of breast and ovarian cancer. 937 59

Recent experimental evidence obtained in Scid mice has suggested that the metastatic process is in large part epigenetically regulated and undergoes partial reversion once the metastatic process is completed: the metastatic colonies become more engaged in the process of growing in situ than actively metastasizing. Based on this experimental evidence, examples were sought of metastatic human cancers where similar reversion to an in situ growth state was occurring. Review of 200 cases of metastatic human breast cancer revealed a 21 per cent incidence of reversion to a ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) growth pattern within axillary nodal metastases. The revertant DCIS areas were characterized by an intact and circumferential basement membrane, as demonstrated by extracellular laminin and type IV collagen immunoreactivity. These revertant DCIS areas could be distinguished from primary DCIS, however, by the absence of surrounding myoepithelial cells in the former, identified in the latter by their positive maspin, S-100, and smooth muscle actin immunoreactivity. The pattern of revertant DCIS, poorly differentiated (comedo) (13 per cent), intermediate (non-comedo) (6 per cent), or well-differentiated (non-comedo) (2%), exhibited complete 100 per cent concordance with the primary DCIS pattern. The concordance of histological patterns held true for even the subtypes of DCIS determined by architectural pattern, such as the micropapillary or cribriform subtypes. Nuclear size by digital image analysis and Her-2/neu, p53, and Ki-67 status in the revertant DCIS also exhibited complete concordance with the primary DCIS counterparts. Cases exhibiting a revertant DCIS pattern tended to be ER-negative/EGFR-positive and exhibited significant nodal involvement (mean number, 9; mean area, 90 per cent) compared with cases lacking a revertant pattern (mean number, 4; mean area, 15 per cent) (P < 0.01) These findings suggest that reversion of the metastatic phenotype may also be occurring within autochthonous human metastasis.
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PMID:'Revertant' DCIS in human axillary breast carcinoma metastases. 939 32

Rearrangements or loss of chromosome 17 are frequent events in breast tumors. Chromosome 17 contains at least four genes implicated in breast cancer (TP53, ERBB2 (Her2/neu), BRCA1, and NM23), as well as other putative tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes implicated in loss of heterozygosity or allelic imbalance studies. Allelic imbalance represents the addition or loss of genetic material in tumor samples, providing circumstantial evidence for the location of cancer related genes. We have analyzed a panel of 85 breast tumor/normal tissue pairs with 21 PCR-based short tandem repeat (STR) markers located at 17q12-qter to more precisely define regions of allelic imbalance and to determine their relation to clinical parameters. Our analysis revealed at least four common regions of allelic imbalance: proximal to BRCA1, including D17S800 (17q12); distal to NM23 around D17S787 (17q22); near the growth hormone (GH) locus, at D17S948 (17q23-24); and between markers D17S937 and D17S802 (17q25). These data also reveal that loss (or gain) of 17q genetic material correlates with poorly differentiated (grade III) tumors (P = < 0.001), high S phase fraction (P = 0.034), and positive TP53 immunohistochemical staining (P = 0.011). However steroid receptor status, ERBB2 (Her2/neu) staining, and aneuploidy do not correlate with allelic imbalance at 17q.
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PMID:Four regions of allelic imbalance on 17q12-qter associated with high-grade breast tumors. 940 51

At present, the most efficacious and used immunostimulant agent in the superficial bladder cancer immunotherapy field, is the BCG, even if its mechanism of action is still partly unknown. The therapeutic effects of BCG don't seem to depend exclusively on local immune response, so that according to this assertion, this immunohistochemical study had been conducted on 14 patients affected by superficial bladder cancer (pTa-pT1) which aimed to value both the apoptosis and proliferation indexes and the expression of the genetic product p53 and EGFR before and after the exposition of the vesical mucosa to the BCG. The BCG treatment can reduce the proliferation index of the normal urothelial cells in a statistically significant way whereas it would exclude a cytostatic effect mediate by negative modulation of EGFR from the cytokinins induced by BCG itself. The index of apoptosis of the urothelium does not increase after BCG and decreased expression of p53 associated after the treatment, although statistically not significant, it would seem to bear, the prophylactic efficacy of BCG according to the follow up of the patients included in the study.
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PMID:[Cellular proliferation, expression of p53, EGFR and apoptosis index of healthy mucosa of the bladder with TCC; pre- and post-intravesical BCG immunohistochemical study]. 941 99

The choice of treatment in non-small cell lung cancer depends on the extent of the disease. Stage of disease is not sufficiently accurate to predict outcome in NSCLC. The influence of patient and treatment characteristics on survival are reviewed. Surgery remains the cornerstone of treatment for stages I and II, and in some cases for stage IIIa. Investigational new prognostic factors such as K-ras mutations, Her2/Neu, BCL-2 protein, p53-expression/mutation may possibly define patient populations with poorer prognosis, who might benefit from a more intensive treatment. The treatment strategy of the university hospital of Marburg is presented.
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PMID:[Prognostic factors and therapeutic strategy in non-small-cell bronchial carcinoma]. 943 85

Malignant human gliomas are the most common forms of primary tumors in the central nerve system. Due to their location and invasive nature, treatment so far has been mainly palliative. Thus, understanding the molecular detail of tumor transformation and progression is crucial for developing effective therapeutic strategy for this fetal tumor. Among the genetic alternations found in these tumors, p53 inactivation and PDGF/PDGFR activation represent the early events, and the loss of chromosome 10 and gene amplification and rearrangement of EGFR represent the late events. Studies with both glioma cell lines and primary tumor tissues have strongly suggested that TGF-alpha and EGFR function as an important autocrine loop in supporting proliferation of human glioma, especially in high grade glioma, since elevated TGF-alpha expression is also found in these high grade tumors. Furthermore, down regulation of the expression of TGF-alpha by antisense constructs has been shown to inhibit several types of human tumor cell growth including glioma. Other means of therapeutic approaches using this autocrine loop as a target also include the use of monoclonal antibodies and their cytotoxic conjugated. Considerable understanding of the EGFR-mediated signal transduction pathways has become available recently, which including GRB2/mSOS1 mediated MAP kinase activation; JAK/STATs pathway; PLC-gamma pathway. However, much work still needs to be done before a specific component of these pathways can be applied for effective control of tumor growth in the clinic.
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PMID:The autocrine loop of TGF-alpha/EGFR and brain tumors. 944 27

104 surgery cases of non-small cell (NSLC) and small cell lung carcinoma (SLC) are studied. Oncoprotein bcl-2 is found in 49 out of 104 (47%) cases, more frequently in SLC (71%) than in NSLC (44%) and this correlated with carcinoma morphological malignancy. L-myc oncoprotein and EGFR were expressed practically in all cases, oncoprotein of the p53 mutated gene in 57% cases. The highest content of p53 was in SLC, large cell and poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. Percentage of cells with mutated p53 statistically correlated with morphological malignancy of lung carcinoma. Oncoprotein of Rb gene was revealed in 51%, most frequently in squamous cell carcinoma (71%) and particularly in its well differentiated types. IGFII was found in 74% NSLC and in 100% SLC with cytoplasmic location in tumor cells; the level of expression was higher in SLC. IGFII 2 and 5 were more frequently observed in the foci of keratinization of squamous cell carcinoma. For the first time IGFP B3 was found not only in the cytoplasm but in the nuclei of tumor cells as well. There was a significant positive correlation between the content of IGFIBP3 in the nuclei of tumor cells and morphological malignancy (poor tumor cell differentiation, larger size and metastases). The mean number of proliferating Ki-67 positive cells was 24% but this figure was much higher (47%) in SLC. Squamous cell carcinoma is characterized by a more frequent and stronger expression of CD44 types 5 and 6 in the cytolemma and this may be considered as a marker of squamous cell differentiation of lung carcinoma.
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PMID:[Immunohistochemistry of biomolecular markers of lung cancer]. 948 14

Genotoxic stress triggers signalling pathways that either mediate cell killing or protection of affected cells. While induction of p53 is observed for most of the genotoxins, activation of MAPK/SAPK cascades is not a general response. The role of MAPK/SAPK activation on cell fate, seems to be dependent, in some systems, on the balanced response among both cascades. We have here examined the effect of cis and trans-DDP on the activation of ERK and JNK activities. While no significant induction of ERK was observed with the compounds, both of them are able to strongly activate JNK. Trans-DDP response is rapid and transient while the cis-DDP one is slow and persistent. In contrast with the observed nuclear translocation of JNK in response to U.V. light, none of the platinum compounds induces translocation, on the contrary, activation of JNK occurs in both the nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments. Inhibition of tyrosine phosphatases by orthovanadate pretreatment prolongs the time of JNK induction in response to both platinum compounds. The positive modulation of JNK activation correlates with an increase in toxicity that, for cis-DDP corresponds to a tenfold decrease in the IC50. A strong increase in MKP-1 levels was observed only in response to trans-DDP suggesting the involvement of this activity in the downregulation of JNK activity in response to this compound. Altogether the results suggest that the prolonged activation of JNK in response to cis-DDP contributes to cell death induction.
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PMID:Cisplatin induces a persistent activation of JNK that is related to cell death. 948 43

The tumor-derived antigen 90K (Mac-2 BP) is a widely expressed, secreted glycoprotein found in the serum of healthy individuals and at elevated levels in the serum of patients with breast cancer and other types of cancer. The precise function of 90K, particularly in the context of tumor-host relationships, has not yet been established. In this study, the clinical significance of 90K mRNA expression was studied in relation to other established prognostic parameters in 86 patients with primary breast carcinoma. The 2.2-kb 90K message was detected in all tumor samples, but there was marked variation in expression levels from tumor to tumor. Patients were classified into 2 groups on the basis of 90K expression: group 1 (n = 62) included patients with low expression, and group 2 (n = 24) consisted of patients with high expression. An inverse significant correlation was found between the levels of 90K mRNA expression and overexpression of c-erbB2/Neu receptor kinase, a marker of poor prognosis for patients with breast cancer. There was no significant difference between the groups with respect to tumor size, number of involved axillary lymph nodes, hormone-receptor status, p53 expression or proliferation activity as estimated by Ki-67 count. Similarly, no association was found between the level of 90K expression and the risk of death from breast cancer. These data are at variance with published findings showing that high serum 90K levels are associated with poor survival. Significantly, investigation of 90K-gene expression in peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) revealed higher levels of 90K message in PBMC of breast-cancer patients than in healthy individuals. This new finding suggests that PBMC activated in response to tumor growth and progression may be an important source of serum 90K in breast cancer.
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PMID:90K (MAC-2 BP) gene expression in breast cancer and evidence for the production of 90K by peripheral-blood mononuclear cells. 949 53


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