Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.11.22 (cdc2)
 8,319 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Normal keratinocytes from epidermis and from buccal mucosa underwent dissimilar stages of differentiation in the same culture medium and responded differently to changes in the composition of the medium. Manifestations of these variations were examined in terms of the expression at the mRNA level (as measured by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction) of three regulatory genes (cdc2, c-myc, and p53) and five that encode structural proteins (keratins K5, K10 and K13, involucrin, and filaggrin), in three growth-medium formulations. The culture conditions enhanced or retarded maturation; the observed alterations in gene expression correlated with these changes. Except for the proliferation genes, the non-keratinizing buccal mucosa generally responded more weakly than the orthokeratotic epidermis to culture-medium supplementation favouring differentiation. Gene expression in cultured keratinocytes reflected their ability to differentiate in vivo; genes were expressed even when the corresponding protein was not seen in vitro. Although keratin K10 is not prevalent in the buccal mucosa nor keratin K13 in the epidermis, the genes for both were found to be expressed in both tissues.
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PMID:Gene expression of markers associated with proliferation and differentiation in human keratinocytes cultured from epidermis and from buccal mucosa. 865 90

Normal human cells from epidermis and from buccal mucosa were cultured to confluence in three media with graded differentiation potential (at low Ca2+, high Ca2+, and supplemented with serum) and treated with transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1), as had been done previously with interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma). The response of the cells to TGF-beta 1 was monitored in terms of the expression of regulatory genes associated with proliferation and differentiation (cdc2, c-myc, p53) and of genes for structural proteins expressed at varying stages of maturation (keratins K5 and K10, involucrin, flaggrin). For both tissues, the results obtained with both agents were very similar for those genes expressed in the basal cells (cdc2, c-myc, p53, K5), regardless of their function, but diverged for the other genes, which are expressed in the suprabasal cells. Another related contrast is that, although IFN-gamma induced apoptosis in epidermal keratinocytes cultured in the serum containing medium, TGF-beta 1 did not. Thus, the two agents appear to affect the earlier stages of cell differentiation in the same way but to differ at the later stages, particularly in that IFN-gamma pushes maturation further than does TGF-beta 1).
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PMID:Response of cultured cells from the epidermis and the buccal mucosa to TGF-beta 1 and comparison to interferon-gamma. 883 86

The chemotherapeutic agent and vitamin A metabolite retinoic acid (RA) has been used to treat many tumor types. The effects of RA are mediated by a family of ligand-dependent transcription factors, the RA receptors and the retinoid X receptors (RXR). Alterations in retinoid receptor expression have been implicated in tumorigenesis. Previous studies have shown lack of RXR-gamma expression in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) lines. To begin to elucidate the role of RXR-gamma in the malignant transformation of SCCs, we expressed RXR-gamma in SCC lines by stable transfection. SCC lines expressing RXR-gamma produced large numbers of flat cells with abundant cytoplasm, which died and detached from the culture dish. These cells morphologically resembled the differentiated cells of normal stratified squamous epithelium in culture. These cells did not exhibit the characteristic DNA fragmentation pattern of apoptotic cells, nor did they label in a fluorescent apoptosis assay. RNase protection and Western blot analysis revealed induction of RA-responsive involucrin and keratin 10 expression, early markers of terminal differentiation. RXR-gamma expression produced significant reduction in levels of RA-responsive genes including the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p21Cip1/WAF1 and p27Kip1, resulting in increased cdc2 and cdk2 kinase activity and RB phosphorylation. We concluded that RXR-gamma induced terminal differentiation in SCC lines, suggesting a potential tumor suppressor function for this transcription factor.
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PMID:Increased cdc2 and cdk2 kinase activity by retinoid X receptor gamma-mediated transcriptional down-regulation of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21Cip1/WAF1 correlates with terminal differentiation of squamous cell carcinoma lines. 971 79

Induction of differentiation is today a useful strategy in cancer therapy but the clinical practice is insufficient in squamous cell carcinomas. We examined the effect of vesnarinone, a differentiation-inducing agent, on the cell cycle and cellular differentiation in four cell lines established from oral squamous cell carcinomas possessing a wild-type or mutated p53. Vesnarinone dose-dependently inhibited cell growth and induced G1 phase accumulation regardless of p53 gene mutation. The expression of involucrin and transglutaminase was increased by 4 days treatment with 60 microg/ml vesnarinone in all cell lines. Although p21 promoter activity was suppressed by vesnarinone, p21-mRNA was stabilized by the agent and expression of p21-mRNA was maintained for a long time. Corresponding to the prolonged p21-mRNA expression, p21 protein was induced by cell treatment with 60 microg/ml vesnarinone for 12 h and longer. The induced p21 protein bound cyclin E and suppressed cyclin E/Cdk2 kinase activity suppressing the phosphorylation of retinoblastoma (Rb) protein. These results suggest that vesnarinone possesses activity to induce p21 protein by stabilizing its mRNA with induction of differentiation of squamous cell carcinoma cells in a p53-independent manner.
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PMID:Induction of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 in vesnarinone-induced differentiation of squamous cell carcinoma cells. 992 58

To determine the crucial abnormality in the cell cycle regulatory proteins in human squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, we examined the cell growth ratio (CGR) and basal expression levels of G1 cyclins (cyclin D1, cyclin E), cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk) 2, cdk4, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and p21Waf-1 using 9 cell lines (KE3, KE4, TE8, TE9, TE10, TE11, YES1, YES2, and YES6). Western blotting revealed an inverse linear correlation between the basal levels of p21Waf-1 expression and CGR. The protein levels of G1 cyclins, cdks, and PCNA did not coordinately reflect the CGR. There was no relationship between p21Waf-1 expression levels and mutation of the p53 gene. Next, when the cells were stimulated with serum 48 h after the starvation, stimulated levels of the above G1 cell cycle markers were variously observed among cell lines irrespective of CGR. Serum stimulation markedly induced phosphorylated Rb in TE9 (a high CGR cell line, CGR>2.0), but not in KE4 (a low CGR cell line, CGR<1.5). Furthermore, adenovirus-mediated expression of exogenous p21Waf-1 effectively reduced cell growth in KE3 and TE9 (high CGR cell lines), but not in KE4 and TE11 (low CGR cell lines). p21Waf-1-mediated growth suppression was associated with the induction of involucrin, a marker of squamous cell differentiation. Our data suggested that the basal level, but not the stimulated level, of p21Waf-1 expression play a pivotal role in abnormal growth in human squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.
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PMID:Expression of G1 cell cycle markers and the effect of adenovirus-mediated overexpression of p21Waf-1 in squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. 1111 54

The eta isoform of protein kinase C (PKC eta) is classified into the Ca2+-independent novel PKC subfamily and assigned to human chromosome 14 (14q22-23) and mouse chromosome 12 (12C3-D2). It is highly expressed in epithelial tissues especially in squamous epithelia. PKC eta is unique in that it is specifically activated by cholesterol sulfate and sulfatide, sulfated metabolites of cholesterol and cerebroside, respectively. PKC eta overexpression induces G1 arrest and differentiation in keratinocytes. PKC eta-induced differentiation is accompanied by the transcriptional activation of transglutaminase I, a key enzyme in squamous differentiation, and involucrin, a precursor of cornified envelopes. In keratinocytes, PKC eta associates with the cyclin E/cdk2/p21 complex and inhibits the cdk2-kinase activity, leading to G1 arrest. Cholesterol sulfate inhibits the promotional phase of skin carcinogenesis. Moreover, PKC eta-knockout mice show a much higher sensitivity to carcinogenesis, suggesting that PKC eta is negatively involved in tumor promotion through stimulation of keratinocyte differentiation. In addition to epithelial cells, recent studies revealed that PKC eta acts as a key regulator in early B-cell development. Although the functions of PKC eta in other cell types are not yet fully elucidated, available evidence indicates that this particular isoform plays crucial roles in the signaling of cell differentiation in a cell-type-specific manner.
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PMID:Protein kinase C eta (PKC eta): its involvement in keratinocyte differentiation. 1247 86