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)

Apigenin, a common dietary flavonoid abundantly present in fruits and vegetables, may have the potential for prevention and therapy for prostate cancer. Here, we report for the first time that apigenin inhibits the growth of androgen-responsive human prostate carcinoma LNCaP cells and provide molecular understanding of this effect. The cell growth inhibition achieved by apigenin treatment resulted in a significant decrease in AR protein expression along with a decrease in intracellular and secreted forms of PSA. These effects were also observed in DHT-stimulated cells. Further, apigenin treatment of LNCaP cells resulted in G1 arrest in cell cycle progression which was associated with a marked decrease in the protein expression of cyclin D1, D2 and E and their activating partner cdk2, 4 and 6 with concomitant induction of WAF1/p21 and KIP1/p27. The induction of WAF1/p21 appears to be transcriptionally upregulated and is p53 dependent. In addition, apigenin inhibited the hyperphosphorylation of the pRb protein in these cells. Apigenin treatment also resulted in induction of apoptosis as determined by DNA fragmentation, PARP cleavage, fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. These effects were found to correlate with a shift in Bax/Bcl-2 ratio more towards apoptosis. Apigenin treatment also resulted in down-modulation of the constitutive expression of NF-kappaB/p65. Taken together, these findings suggest that apigenin has strong potential for development as an agent for prevention against prostate cancer.
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PMID:Involvement of nuclear factor-kappa B, Bax and Bcl-2 in induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis by apigenin in human prostate carcinoma cells. 1203 41

Repeat proteins are widespread in nature, with many of them functioning as binding molecules in protein-protein recognition. Their simple structural architecture is used in biotechnology for generating proteins with high affinities to target proteins. Recent folding studies of ankyrin repeat (AR) proteins revealed a new mechanism of protein folding. The formation of an intermediate state is rate limiting in the folding reaction, suggesting a scaffold function of this transient state for intrinsically less stable ARs. To investigate a possible common mechanism of AR folding, we studied the structure and folding of a new thermophilic AR protein (tANK) identified in the archaeon Thermoplasma volcanium. The x-ray structure of the evolutionary much older tANK revealed high homology to the human CDK inhibitor p19(INK4d), whose sequence was used for homology search. As for p19(INK4d), equilibrium and kinetic folding analyses classify tANK to the family of sequential three-state folding proteins, with an unusual fast equilibrium between native and intermediate state. Under equilibrium conditions, the intermediate can be populated to >90%, allowing characterization on a residue-by-residue level using NMR spectroscopy. These data clearly show that the three C-terminal ARs are natively folded in the intermediate state, whereas native cross-peaks for the rest of the molecule are missing. Therefore, the formation of a stable folding unit consisting of three ARs is the necessary rate-limiting step before AR 1 and 2 can assemble to form the native state.
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PMID:Structural insights into an equilibrium folding intermediate of an archaeal ankyrin repeat protein. 1830 66

Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) is a unique member of the cyclin-dependent kinase family. CDK5 is activated by binding with its regulatory proteins, mainly p35, and its activation is essential in the development of the central nervous system (CNS) and neurodegeneration. Recently, it has been reported that CDK5 plays important roles in regulating various biological and pathological processes, including cancer progression. Concerning prostate cancer, the androgen receptor (AR) is majorly involved in tumorigenesis, while CDK5 can phosphorylate AR and promotes the proliferation of prostate cancer cells. Clinical evidence has also shown that the level of CDK5 is associated with the progression of prostate cancer. Interestingly, inhibition of CDK5 prevents prostate cancer cell growth, while drug-triggered CDK5 hyperactivation leads to apoptosis. The blocking of CDK5 activity by its small interfering RNAs (siRNA) or Roscovitine, a pan-CDK inhibitor, reduces the cellular AR protein level and triggers the death of prostate cancer cells. Thus, CDK5 plays a crucial role in the growth of prostate cancer cells, and AR regulation is one of the important pathways. In this review paper, we summarize the significant studies on CDK5-mediated regulation of prostate cancer cells. We propose that the CDK5-p35 complex might be an outstanding candidate as a diagnostic marker and potential target for prostate cancer treatment in the near future.
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PMID:Future Aspects of CDK5 in Prostate Cancer: From Pathogenesis to Therapeutic Implications. 3139 5