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Query: EC:2.7.10.2 (
focal adhesion kinase
)
44,029
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
Breast cancer is associated with increased glucose consumption and can therefore be visualised with the glucose analogue [(18)F]2-deoxy-2-fluoro-
D-glucose
(FDG) and positron emission tomography (PET). FDG uptake in the primary tumour can vary substantially, and specific tumour characteristics have been demonstrated to determine the degree of glucose metabolism. Factors with a major influence on FDG uptake in breast cancer comprise expression of glucose transporter Glut-1 and hexokinase I, number of viable tumour cells per volume, histological subtype, tumour grading, microvessel density and proliferative activity. Recently, an association between high FDG uptake and a worse prognosis was suggested. Several studies have been performed correlating FDG uptake with a variety of prognostic and molecular biomarkers as well as parameters predicting tumour response to therapy. However, a correlation with important clinical prognostic markers such as axillary lymph node status and size of the primary tumour, expression of oestrogen and progesterone receptors, proto-oncogene c-erbB-2 or VEGF could not be demonstrated. The lack of correlation with important markers of prognosis does not suggest that FDG uptake might be used as a prognostic criterion in breast cancer. Innovative radiotracers for specific imaging of tumoural perfusion ([(15)O]H(2)O), hormone receptor expression ([(18)F]
FES
), protein synthesis ([(11)C]methionine), proliferation rate ([(18)F]FLT) or bone mineralisation ([(18)F]fluoride) may provide additional information compared with that provided by FDG PET.
...
PMID:Biological characterisation of breast cancer by means of PET. 1512 40
Transfection of sense cDNA of N-acetylglucosamyltransferase V (GnTV-S) into human H7721 hepatocarcinoma cells resulted in an increase in the N-acetylglucosaminebeta1,6mannosealpha1,3- branch (GnT-V product) on the N-glycans of epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR), and promotion of its EGF binding and tyrosine autophosphorylation, but showed little effect on the expression of EGFR protein. The phosphorylation at T308, S473 and tyrosine residue(s) and the activity of protein kinase B (Akt/
PKB
) as well as the phosphorylation of p42/44 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and MAPK kinase (MEK) before and after EGF stimulation were concomitantly increased. Conversely, in the antisense GnT-V (GnTV-AS)-transfected H7721 cells, all the results were the reverse of those with GnTV-S-transfected cells. After the cells were treated with 1-deoxymannojirimycin, an inhibitor of N-glycan processing at high
mannose
, or antibody against the extracellular glycan domain of EGFR, the differences in
PKB
activity, p42/44 MAPK and MEK phosphorylation among GnTV-S-, GnTV-AS- and mock-transfected cells were significantly attenuated. These findings indicate that the altered expression of GnT-V will change the glycan structure and function of EGFR, which may modify downstream signal transduction.
...
PMID:N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V modifies the signaling pathway of epidermal growth factor receptor. 1524 55
Rat neonatal ventricular myocytes exposed to simulated ischaemia and reperfusion (SI/R) were used as an in vitro model to delineate the role(s) of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), p38 and c-Jun NH(2)-terminal protein kinase (JNK), as well as
PKB
in apoptosis. Exposure of the myocytes to SI (simulated ischaemia - energy depletion induced by KCN and 2-deoxy-
D-glucose
) reduced cell viability, as measured by the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and stimulated apoptosis as evidenced by caspase-3 activation and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage. However, morphological evidence of increased apoptosis, detected by staining with Hoechst 33342, was only seen in response to reperfusion. This suggests that although ischaemic conditions are sufficient to induce cellular markers of apoptosis (PARP cleavage and caspase-3 activation), reperfusion is required to complete the apoptotic pathway in these cells. Furthermore, SI resulted in a rapid, strong, biphasic activation of p38 concomitant with a weak and transient activation of the two ERK isoenzymes, p42/p44-MAPK. Reperfusion for 5 minutes resulted in a strong phosphorylation of p42/p44-MAPK, while no additional p38 activation was seen at this stage. On the other hand, p46/p54-MAPK (JNK) was phosphorylated in response to 5 minutes of reperfusion only and not during SI alone. A peak of
PKB
/Akt (Ser(473)) activity was seen within 5 minutes of exposure to SI, whereas
PKB
/Akt (Thr(308)) phosphorylation remained at the baseline level. Both
PKB
/Akt phosphorylation sites (Ser(473) and Thr(308)) were phosphorylated after 5 minutes of reperfusion. Inhibition of PI-3-kinase activity, using wortmannin, decreased phosphorylation on both sites during SI. However, only SI/R-induced
PKB
/Akt phosphorylation on Thr(308) was reduced by wortmannin. Myocytes pre-treated with SB203580, a p38-inhibitor, displayed a significant increase in cell viability [63.67 +/- 1.85 to 84.33 +/- 4.8% (p < 0.05)] and attenuation of the apoptotic index during SI/R [22.6 +/- 2.94% to 9 +/- 0.43% (p < 0.001)], while SP600125, a specific JNK inhibitor, caused a significant increase in caspase-3 activation [1.66 +/- 0.03 fold to 2.56 +/- 0.27 fold (p < 0.001)] and apoptotic index [22.6 +/- 2.94% to 32.75 +/- 6.13% (p < 0.05)]. However, PD98059, an ERK inhibitor, failed to affect apoptosis during SI/R. Inhibition of PI-3-kinase prevented the increase in mitochondrial viability usually observed during reperfusion. Interestingly, wortmannin caused a significant increase in PARP cleavage during reperfusion, but had no effect on caspase-3 activation or the apoptotic index. Our results suggest that p38 has a pro-apoptotic role while JNK phosphorylation is protective in our cell model and that these kinases act via caspase-3 to prevent or promote cell survival in response to SI/R-induced injury.
...
PMID:p38 and JNK have distinct regulatory functions on the development of apoptosis during simulated ischaemia and reperfusion in neonatal cardiomyocytes. 1530 13
Surfactant protein D is a pattern recognition molecule that plays diverse roles in immune regulation and anti-microbial host defense. Its interactions with known ligands are calcium-dependent and involve binding to the trimeric, C-type carbohydrate recognition domain. Surfactant protein D preferentially binds to glucose and related sugars. However, CL-43, a bovine serum lectin, which evolved through duplication of the surfactant protein D gene in ruminants, prefers
mannose
and
mannose
-rich polysaccharides. Surfactant protein D is characterized by two relatively conserved motifs at the binding face, along the edges of the shallow carbohydrate-binding groove. For CL-43, sequence alignments demonstrate a basic insertion, Arg-Ala-Lys (
RAK
), immediately N-terminal to the first motif. We hypothesized that this insertion contributes to the differences in saccharide selectivity and host defense function and compared the activities of recombinant trimeric neck + carbohydrate recognition domains of human surfactant protein D (NCRD) with CL-43 (RCL-43-NCRD) and selected NCRD mutants. Insertion of the CL-43
RAK
sequence or a control Ala-Ala-Ala sequence (AAA) into the corresponding position in NCRD increased the efficiency of binding to mannan and changed the inhibitory potencies of competing saccharides to more closely resemble those of CL-43. In addition,
RAK
resembled CL-43 in its greater capacity to inhibit the infectivity of influenza A virus and to increase uptake of influenza by neutrophils.
...
PMID:Ligand specificity of human surfactant protein D: expression of a mutant trimeric collectin that shows enhanced interactions with influenza A virus. 1571 Oct 12
The gal3 mutation is an insertion of a DNA sequence in the operator-promoter region of the
galactose
operon of E. coli. It reverts spontaneously to produce three kinds of gal+ revertants, which are: (i) stable and inducible, (ii) stable and constitutive, and (iii) unstable and constitutive. The constitutive revertants also show drastically reduced frequencies of transduction with lambda. The mechanism by which these reversions occur has remained unknown. It is proposed that the stable and inducible revertants arise by accurate excision of the insertion sequence. The unstable and constitutive revertants arise by tandem duplications of the gal operon in such a way that the structural genes of the extra copy of gal operon become connected to a different promoter. The resulting tandem configuration (gal3
ETK
...P'E'T'K') permits constitutive expression and gal3 segregation (by internal recombination) simultaneously. The proposal was tested by comparison of the buoyant densities in CsCl of derivatives of a lambdagal phage carrying gal+, gal3, and the inducible and constitutive revertants. The densities of the inducible revertants were identical to the wild type, and the slight increase in density found to be associated with the gal3 insertion was missing. It was concluded that inducible revertants arise by excision of the inserted sequence. In contrast, lysates of a constitutive revertant exhibited several anomalous properties. The lysates contained a small quantity of phage whose density was identical to lambdagal3, produced few gal+ transductants (10(-3)-10(-4) of a normal HFT lysate), and the transductants were stable and constitutive. In turn, these abnormal transductants produced lysates which showed no lambdagal particles on centrifugation, and no transducing activity whatsoever. These anomalous properties of the constitutive revertant were attributed to the failure of lambda to package the DNA duplication efficiently. Transduction experiments with P1 (which can package more DNA than lambda) show that the unstable, constitutive reversions were located adjacent to prophage lambda. Segregation of the gal and lambda markers among the gal+ transductants was in accordance with the pattern expected for a duplication. Introduction of a recA marker resulted in stabilization of the reversion without affecting its constitutive expression. It was concluded that the unstable, constitutive reversion was a tandem duplication. It is further proposed that the stable, constitutive class of revertants might represent inverted (gal3
ETK
...K'T'E'P') or partial tandem (gal3 ET...E'T'K') duplications of the gal operon.
...
PMID:Mechanism of reversion of the gal3 mutation of Escherichia coli. 1609 75
Several lectin-like molecules have been shown as potent activators of leukocytes.
Galactose
-binding lectins are of special interest since they could interact with several endogenous molecules involved in the innate and specific immune responses. The effects of Frutalin (FTL), an
alpha-D-galactose
(
Gal
)-binding plant lectin, on the modulation of neutrophil (PMN) functions were investigated. FTL induced a dose-dependent PMN migration in mice pleural cavity. Moreover, FTL was also a potent direct chemotactic for human PMN, in vitro, and triggered oxidative burst in these cells. These effects were accompanied by a rearrangement of the actin cytoskeleton dynamic, activation of tyrosine kinase (TK) pathways, increase in
focal adhesion kinase
(
FAK
) phosphorylation, and its subsequent association to phosphoinositide3-kinase (PI3K). All those effects were inhibited in the presence of
Gal
, suggesting specific carbohydrate recognition for FTL effects. The activations of TK and PI3K pathways are essential events for FTL-induced chemotaxis, since inhibitors of these pathways, genistein and LY294002, inhibited neutrophil migration in vitro. The data indicate that sugar-protein interactions between a soluble lectin and galacto-components on neutrophil surface trigger the TK pathway, inducing
FAK
and PI3K activation, interfering with cell motility and oxidative response.
...
PMID:Frutalin, a galactose-binding lectin, induces chemotaxis and rearrangement of actin cytoskeleton in human neutrophils: involvement of tyrosine kinase and phosphoinositide 3-kinase. 1618 88
Fibroblast growth factor receptors 3 (FGFR3) with K644M/E substitutions are associated to the severe skeletal dysplasias: severe achondroplasia with developmental delay and achanthosis nigricans(SADDAN) and thanatophoric dysplasia(TDII). The high levels of kinase activity of the FGFR3-mutants cause uncompleted biosynthesis that results in the accumulation of the immature/
mannose
-rich, phosphorylated receptors in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and STATs activation. Here we report that FGFR3 mutants activate Erk1/2 from the ER through an FRS2-independent pathway: instead, a multimeric complex by directly recruiting PLCgamma, Pyk2 and
JAK1
is formed. The Erk1/2 activation from the ER however, is PLCgamma-independent, since preventing the PLCgamma/FGFR3 interaction by the Y754F substitution does not inhibit Erks. Furthermore, Erk1/2 activation is abrogated upon treatment with the Src inhibitor PP2, suggesting a role played by a Src family member in the pathway from the ER. Finally we show that the intrinsic kinase activity by mutant receptors is required to allow signaling from the ER. Overall these results highlight how activated FGFR3 exhibits signaling activity in the early phase of its biosynthesis and how segregation in a sub-cellular compartment can affect the FGFR3 multi-faceted capacity to recruit specific substrates.
...
PMID:K644E/M FGFR3 mutants activate Erk1/2 from the endoplasmic reticulum through FRS2 alpha and PLC gamma-independent pathways. 1647 47
The biosynthesis of human blood group B antigens is accomplished by a highly specific galactosyltransferase (GTB). On the basis of NMR experiments, we propose a "molecular tweezers mechanism" that accounts for the exquisite stereoselectivity of donor substrate selection. Transferred NOE experiments for the first time reveal the bioactive conformation of the donor substrate UDP-galactose (UDP-Gal) and of its enzymatically inactive analogue, UDP-glucose (UDP-Glc). Both bind to GTB in a folded conformation that is sparsely populated in solution, whereas acceptor ligands bind in a conformation that predominates in solution. The bound conformations of UDP-Gal and UDP-Glc are identical within experimental error. Therefore, GTB must discriminate between the two activated sugars on the basis of a hitherto unknown transition state that can only be formed in the case of UDP-Gal. A full relaxation and exchange matrix analysis of
STD
NMR experiments reveals that acceptor substrates dissociate significantly faster (k(off) > 100 Hz) from the binding pocket than donor substrates (k(off) approximately 10 Hz).
STD
NMR experiments also directly show that proper recognition of the
hexopyranose
rings of the UDP sugars requires bivalent metal cations. At the same time, this analysis furnishes the complete three-dimensional structure of the enzyme with its bound donor substrate UDP-Gal on the basis of a prior crystal structure analysis. We propose that, upon acceptor binding, GTB uses the Asp 302 and Glu 303 side chains as "molecular tweezers" to promote bound UDP-Gal but not UDP-Glc into a transition state that leads to product formation.
...
PMID:Blood group B galactosyltransferase: insights into substrate binding from NMR experiments. 1703 66
Our aim was to study the effects of cucurbitacin glucosides extracted from Citrullus colocynthis leaves on human breast cancer cell growth. Leaves were extracted, resulting in the identification of cucurbitacin B/E glucosides. The cucurbitacin
glucoside
combination (1:1) inhibited growth of ER(+) MCF-7 and ER(-) MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell lines. Cell-cycle analysis showed that treatment with isolated cucurbitacin
glucoside
combination resulted in accumulation of cells at the G(2)/M phase of the cell cycle. Treated cells showed rapid reduction in the level of the key protein complex necessary to the regulation of G(2) exit and initiation of mitosis, namely the p34(CDC2)/cyclin B1 complex. cucurbitacin
glucoside
treatment also caused changes in the overall cell morphology from an elongated form to a round-shaped cell, which indicates that cucurbitacin treatment caused impairment of actin filament organization. This profound morphological change might also influence intracellular signaling by molecules such as
PKB
, resulting in inhibition in the transmission of survival signals. Reduction in
PKB
phosphorylation and inhibition of survivin, an anti-apoptosis family member, was observed. The treatment caused elevation in p-STAT3 and in p21(WAF), proven to be a STAT3 positive target in absence of survival signals. Cucurbitacin
glucoside
treatment also induced apoptosis, as measured by Annexin V/propidium iodide staining and by changes in mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsi) using a fluorescent dye, JC-1. We suggest that cucurbitacin glucosides exhibit pleiotropic effects on cells, causing both cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. These results suggest that cucurbitacin glucosides might have therapeutic value against breast cancer cells.
...
PMID:Growth inhibitory activity of cucurbitacin glucosides isolated from Citrullus colocynthis on human breast cancer cells. 1704 94
A role of GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) in the recovery of the metabolic conditions of morbidly obese patients after bariatric surgery has been proposed. Exendin 4 (Ex-4) and exendin 9 (Ex-9) both have GLP-1-like effects upon glucose metabolism in human myocytes. We investigated in normal human adipocytes the effect of GLP-1, Ex-4 and Ex-9, compared with insulin upon the activity of PI3K,
PKB
, MAPKs and p70s6 kinases, and the participation of these enzymes in their action upon 2-deoxy-
D-glucose
transport by using potential inhibitors. The study was extended to morbidly obese patients. In normal subjects, GLP-1, Ex-4 and insulin, but not Ex-9, increased glucose uptake. In addition, GLP-1 and Ex-4 stimulated PI3K and MAPKs, similar to insulin, but not
PKB
. Ex-9 only enhanced PI3K, while none affected p70s6k. Inhibition of both PI3K and MAPKs blocked the stimulatory action of GLP-1, Ex-4 and insulin upon glucose transport. In obese patients, basal PI3K,
PKB
and MAPK activity was, as a rule, lower than that in normal subjects, while cells maintained their normal incremental response to GLP-1, Ex-4 or insulin; Ex-9 induced a clear stimulation of p42 MAPK. In summary, in normal human adipocytes, GLP-1 and Ex-4 have a protein kinase-dependent increasing effect upon glucose transport, which is impaired in obese patients. The participation of GLP-1 in the normalization of the metabolic conditions of the obese may occur through its effects on lipid metabolism or through effects upon glucose transport and/or metabolism in the liver and muscle, which in human obesity remain to be investigated.
...
PMID:The action of GLP-1 and exendins upon glucose transport in normal human adipocytes, and on kinase activity as compared to morbidly obese patients. 1748 30
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