Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.11.26 (GSK)
6,788 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

MCF-7 breast cancer cells stably overexpressing protein kinase C-alpha (MCF-7-PKC-alpha cells) exhibit reduced cell-cell adhesion and increased tumorigenicity in nude mice. We investigated the possibility that alterations in E-cadherin and catenins contribute to the unique phenotype of MCF-7-PKC-alpha cells. Northern and Western blotting indicated that MCF-7-PKC-alpha cells express abnormally low amounts of plakoglobin mRNA and protein, and undetectable levels of E-cadherin mRNA and protein. In contrast, even though MCF-7-PKC-alpha cells express low levels of beta-catenin mRNA, they express undetectable levels of beta-catenin protein, suggesting that post-transcriptional events further diminish beta-catenin expression in these cells. Pulse-labeling of the cells with [35S]methionine showed that the half-life of beta-catenin is less than 15 min in MCF-7-PKC-alpha cells, compared to over 2 h in MCF-7-Vector cells [MCF-7 cells transfected with pSV2M(2)6 vector only]. Incubation with LiCl to inactivate glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) significantly prolonged the half-life of beta-catenin in MCF-7-PKC-alpha cells, suggesting that the GSK-3-dependent degradation of beta-catenin contributes to beta-catenin instability in these cells. Northern and Western blotting indicated that Wnt-1, which also inhibits GSK-3 activity, is expressed by MCF-7-Vector cells, but not by MCF-7-PKC-alpha cells. Transfection of (S37A)beta-catenin, which is resistant to GSK-3-dependent degradation, stimulated TCF/LEF-dependent luciferase expression from the pTOPFLASH reporter plasmid by 753-fold in MCF-7-PKC-alpha cells, and by 268-fold in MCF-7-Vector cells. Inactivation of GSK-3 by LiCl stimulated luciferase expression from the pTOPFLASH reporter plasmid by 12.4-fold in MCF-7-PKC-alpha cells, and by 4.8-fold in MCF-7-Vector cells. These results suggest that degradation of beta-catenin by GSK-3 contributes to beta-catenin instability in MCF-7-PKC-alpha cells, diminishing the ability of -catenin to act as a transcriptional co-activator. Reduced Wnt-1 expression by MCF-7-PKC-alpha cells may promote beta-catenin degradation by enhancing GSK-3 activity. Loss of beta-catenin-dependent cell-cell adhesion and transcription may contribute to the aggressive phenotype of MCF-7-PKC-alpha cells.
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PMID:Reduced expression of Wnt-1 and E-cadherin, and diminished beta-catenin stability in MCF-7 breast cancer cells that overexpress protein kinase C-alpha. 1171 93

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) binds to cellular integrins through an RGD motif in its capsid protein, VP1. It is unclear, however, what kind of cellular event(s) are triggered after the binding of VP1 to the cells. In this study, we show that aqueous soluble recombinant DNA-derived VP1 (rVP1) of FMDV induced apoptosis of BHK-21 cells after binding to integrins. In addition, treatment of BHK-21 cells with rVP1 resulted in deactivation of Akt and enhancement of several proapoptotic responses such as dephosphorylation of glycogen synthase kinase-3beta and cleavage of procaspase-3, -7, and -9. Additional studies revealed that the rVP1 treatment caused apoptosis of cancer cells, including MCF-7 (a breast carcinoma cell line with a functional deletion of the caspase-3 gene) and PC-3 (a sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor subtype 3-deficient androgen-independent prostate cancer cell line). These results suggest that rVP1 of FMDV may be used selectively as a potent apoptotic agent for human cancer by modulating the Akt signaling pathway and that its effect is not primarily dependent on either activation of procaspase-3 or deactivation of sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor subtype 3.
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PMID:VP1 of foot-and-mouth disease virus induces apoptosis via the Akt signaling pathway. 1546 59

Akt, a serine/threonine kinase that promotes cell survival, is activated by binding of its pleckstrin homology (PH) domain to membrane phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns)-3-phosphates formed by PtdIns-3-kinase. D-3-Deoxy-phosphatidyl-myo-inositols that cannot be phosphorylated on the 3-position of the myo-inositol group are inhibitors of the Akt PH domain. The most active compound is D-3-deoxy-phosphatidyl-myo-inositol 1-[(R)-2-methoxy-3-octadecyloxypropyl hydrogen phosphate] (PX-316). PX-316 administered intraperitoneally to mice at 150 mg/kg inhibits Akt activation in HT-29 human tumor xenografts up to 78% at 10 h with recovery to 34% at 48 h. Phosphorylation of GSK-3beta, a downstream target of Akt, is also inhibited. There is no decrease in PtdIns(3,4,5)-trisphosphate levels by PX-316, showing it is not an inhibitor of PtdIns-3-K in vivo. Gene expression profiling of HT-29 tumor xenografts shows many similarities between the effects of PX-316 and the PtdIns-3-K inhibitor wortmannin, with downregulation of several ribosomal-related genes, while PX-316 uniquely increases the expression of a group of mitochondrial-related genes. PX-316 has antitumor activity against early human MCF-7 breast cancer and HT-29 colon cancer xenografts in mice. PX-316 formulated in 20% hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin for intravenous administration is well tolerated in mice and rats with no hemolysis and no hematological toxicity. Thus, PX-316 is the lead compound of a new class of potential agents that inhibit Akt survival signaling.
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PMID:In vivo molecular pharmacology and antitumor activity of the targeted Akt inhibitor PX-316. 1555 65

Celecoxib, a cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is a new anticarcinogenic agent. Its antitumor effects depend on the one hand on its COX-2-inhibiting potency, but on the other hand on COX-2-independent mechanisms, which until now have not been fully understood. Here, we investigated whether celecoxib has an impact on the APC/beta-catenin pathway, which has been shown to play a pivotal role in the development of various cancers, especially of the colon. After only 2 h of treatment of human Caco-2 colon carcinoma cells with 100 muM celecoxib, we observed a rapid translocation of beta-catenin from its predominant membrane localization to the cytoplasm. Inhibition of the glycogen-synthase-kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) by LiCl prevented this celecoxib-induced translocation, suggesting that phosphorylation of beta-catenin by the GSK-3beta kinase was essential for this release. Furthermore, the cytosolic accumulation was accompanied by a rapid increase of beta-catenin in the nuclei, starting already 30 min after celecoxib treatment. The DNA binding activity of beta-catenin time dependently decreased 2 h after celecoxib treatment. After this cellular reorganization, we observed a caspase- and proteasome-dependent degradation of beta-catenin after 8 h of drug incubation. Celecoxib-induced beta-catenin degradation was also observed in various other tumor cell lines (HCT-116, MCF-7, and LNCAP) but was not seen after treatment of Caco-2 cells with either the anticarcinogenic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug R-flurbiprofen or the highly COX-2-selective inhibitor rofecoxib. These findings indicate that the anticarcinogenic effects of celecoxib can be explained, at least partly, by an extensive degradation of beta-catenin in human colon carcinoma cells.
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PMID:Targeting the beta-catenin/APC pathway: a novel mechanism to explain the cyclooxygenase-2-independent anticarcinogenic effects of celecoxib in human colon carcinoma cells. 1594 92

Zanthoxyli Fructus belongs to the family of oranges and is used as a seasoning in Asian countries including Japan. This study found that a water extract of Zanthoxyli Fructus possessed anti-tumor activity against a wide variety of cancer cells including those from prostate (LNCaP, DU145, PC-3), breast (MCF-7, T47D, MDA-MB231), lung (NCI-H460, -H520), as well as leukemia (HL-60, NB4, Jurkat) in vitro, as measured by the trypan blue exclusion test. Importantly, Zanthoxyli Fructus slowed the proliferation of LNCaP, DU145, and MDA-MB231 cells present as xenografts in BALB/c nude mice without adverse effects. Further studies explored the molecular mechanism by which Zanthoxyli Fructus inhibited the proliferation of androgen-dependent human prostate cancer LNCaP cells because Zanthoxyli Fructus possessed the strongest anti-tumor activity against these cells. Zanthoxyli Fructus blocked androgen receptor (AR) signaling in conjunction with down-regulation of nuclear levels of AR and induced apoptosis of these cells, as measured by the reporter assay, Western blot analysis, and TUNEL assay, respectively. As expected, Zanthoxyli Fructus also decreased the level of the AR-target molecule, prostate-specific antigen in these cells. Furthermore, Zanthoxyli Fructus inhibited AKT kinase and down-regulated levels of cyclin D1 protein, as measured by the AKT kinase assay with GSK-3alpha/beta as a substrate and Western blot analysis, respectively. Taken together, Zanthoxyli Fructus might be useful as an adjunctive therapeutic agent for the treatment of individuals with a variety of cancer types.
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PMID:Zanthoxyli Fructus induces growth arrest and apoptosis of LNCaP human prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo in association with blockade of the AKT and AR signal pathways. 1668 99

Deregulation of protein kinase-mediated signaling events is one of the major causes to malignant transformation. In this work, we tried to purify protein kinase inhibitory activity and antitumor activity from ethanol extracts of the seeds of Livistona chinensis R. Brown (LC), a traditional herb used for the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Both activities were found to be co-purified in various chromatography steps, and a highly purified fraction, LC-X, was obtained and its biological effects were characterized further. LC-X inhibited the activities of various protein kinases in vitro, including PAK2, PKA, PKC, GSK-3alpha, CK2, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and JNK1, with IC(50) between approximately 1 and 40microg/ml. The proliferation of two NPC (NPC-TW02 and -TW04) and one breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines, but not the epidermoid (A431) and cervical (HeLa) carcinoma cell lines, were significantly blocked by LC-X at the dose of >50microg/ml. Cell cycle arrested at G(2)/M phase and apoptosis were detected in NPC-TW02 cells treated with LC-X for 24h. Further studies revealed that epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced activation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and MAPK could be potently inhibited by LC-X in both NPC-TW02 and A431cells in a dose-dependent manner. More interestingly, the level of EGFR protein detected by Western blot decreased drastically in LC-X-treated A431 and NPC-TW02 cells in a dose- and time-dependent fashion. Further analysis of the plasma membrane and cytosolic fractions from LC-X-treated and untreated A431 cells showed that a 170kDa protein selectively disappeared from the plasma membrane of LC-X-treated cells. The protein was identified as EGFR by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, indicating EGFR as a selective target for LC-X. Moreover, the electrophoretic mobility of purified EGFR in SDS-PAGE was altered dramatically post LC-X treatment, suggesting that LC-X may chemically modify EGFR. In conclusion, the active components with both antitumor and protein kinases inhibitor activities were highly purified from LC, which can inhibit the EGF signaling events mainly through EGFR modification. Blockage of the functions of EGFR may account for the antitumor activity of these active components.
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PMID:Selective downregulation of EGF receptor and downstream MAPK pathway in human cancer cell lines by active components partially purified from the seeds of Livistona chinensis R. Brown. 1691 67

Breast cancer is the most common carcinoma that metastasizes to bone. Tumor-produced parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP), a known stimulator of osteoclastic bone resorption, is a major mediator of the osteolytic process in breast cancer. We have previously shown that PTHrP increases breast cancer cell proliferation, survival, migration, and pro-invasive integrin alpha6beta4 expression. To determine the role of integrin alpha6beta4 in these PTHrP-mediated effects, we utilized two strategies to modulate expression of the alpha6 and beta4 subunits in parental and PTHrP-overexpressing MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells: overexpression of alpha6beta4 by transfection with constructs encoding the alpha6 and beta4 subunits, and suppression of endogenous alpha6beta4 expression by transfection with siRNAs targeting these subunits. We now show that the effects of PTHrP are mediated via upregulation of integrin alpha6beta4 expression. We also show that integrin alpha6beta4 expression is modulated at the mRNA level, indicating a transcriptional and/or post-transcriptional mechanism of action for PTHrP. PTHrP expression also increased the levels of phosphorylated Akt, with a consequent increase in the levels of phosphorylated (inactive) glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3). The role of PTHrP in breast cancer growth and metastasis may thus be mediated via upregulation of integrin alpha6beta4 expression and Akt activation, with consequent inactivation of GSK-3.
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PMID:PTH-related protein upregulates integrin alpha6beta4 expression and activates Akt in breast cancer cells. 1696 70

Prodigiosin (2-methyl-3-pentyl-6-methoxyprodigiosene) is a bacterial metabolite that has anticancer and antimetastatic properties. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for these abilities are not fully understood. Gene expression profiling of the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 treated with prodigiosin was analyzed by cDNA array technology. The majority of the significantly modified genes were related to apoptosis, cell cycle, cellular adhesion, or transcription regulation. The dramatic increase of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug-activated gene 1 (NAG-1) made this gene an interesting candidate regarding the possible mechanism by which prodigiosin induces cytotoxicity in MCF-7 cells. Our results show that prodigiosin triggers accumulation of the DNA-damage response tumor-suppressor protein p53 but that NAG-1 induction was independent of p53 accumulation. Moreover, prodigiosin caused AKT dephosphorylation and glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) activation, which correlated with NAG-1 expression. Prodigiosin-induced apoptosis was recovered by inhibiting GSK-3beta, which might be due, at least in part, to the blockade of the GSK-3beta-dependent up-regulation of death receptors 4 and 5 expression. These findings suggest that prodigiosin-mediated GSK-3beta activation is a key event in regulating the molecular pathways that trigger the apoptosis induced by this anticancer agent.
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PMID:Prodigiosin induces the proapoptotic gene NAG-1 via glycogen synthase kinase-3beta activity in human breast cancer cells. 1723 95

Acquisition of a metastatic phenotype by breast cancer cells includes alternations of multigenic programs that permit tumor cells to metastasize to distant organs. Here, we report that angiopoietin-2 (Ang2), a known growth factor, is capable of promoting breast cancer cell invasion leading to metastasis. Analysis of 185 primary human breast cancer specimens that include 97 tumors showing lymph node and/or distant metastasis reveals a significant correlation between the expression of Ang2 and E-cadherin, Snail, metastatic potential, tumor grade, and lymph-vascular invasion during breast cancer progression. Using a xenograft model, we show that overexpression of Ang2 in poorly metastatic MCF-7 breast cancer cells suppresses expression of E-cadherin and induces Snail expression and phosphorylation of Akt and glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) promoting metastasis to the lymph nodes and lung. In cell culture, Ang2 promotes cell migration and invasion in Tie2-deficient breast cancer cells through the alpha(5)beta(1) integrin/integrin-linked kinase (ILK)/Akt, GSK-3beta/Snail/E-cadherin signaling pathway. Inhibition of ILK and the alpha(5)beta(1) integrin abrogates Ang2 modulation of Akt, GSK-3beta, Snail, and E-cadherin and Ang2-stimulated breast cancer cell migration and invasion. Together, these results underscore the significant contribution of Ang2 in cancer progression, not only by stimulating angiogenesis but also by promoting metastasis, and provide a mechanism by which breast cancer cells acquire an enhanced invasive phenotype contributing to metastasis.
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PMID:Angiopoietin-2 stimulates breast cancer metastasis through the alpha(5)beta(1) integrin-mediated pathway. 1748 37

Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) plays a key role in the regulation of transcription factors including steroid receptors. Having identified estrogen receptor-alpha (ERalpha) as substrate for GSK-3, the impact of GSK-3 on ERalpha function and activity upon 17beta-estradiol (E2)-dependent activation remains to be clarified. Here we show by using small interfering technology in combination with immunoblot, gene expression analysis, and luciferase reporter assays that silencing of GSK-3alpha or GSK-3beta results in the reduction of ERalpha levels and transcriptional activity in ERalpha-positive breast cancer cells. Using MCF-7 cells we demonstrate that reduction of ERalpha levels upon GSK-3 silencing was due to increased proteasomal degradation of ERalpha rather than inhibition of ERalpha protein synthesis. Indeed, under this condition, ERalpha protein was rescued using the proteasome inhibitor MG132 in presence of the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. In addition, strong accumulation of ubiquitinated ERalpha was obtained after GSK-3 silencing in the presence of MG132. We conclude that GSK-3 protects ERalpha from proteasomal degradation and plays a crucial role in ERalpha protein stabilization and turnover. Furthermore, in vitro kinase assay depicted that GSK-3beta phosphorylates ERalpha at Ser-118. GSK-3 silencing resulted in decrease of E2-induced nuclear ERalpha phosphorylation at Ser-118 and E2-induced estrogen response element-dependent luciferase reporter gene expression. Neither Ser-118 phosphorylation nor luciferase activity was restored by use of MG132. Moreover, the expression of estrogen-responsive genes (pS2 and progesterone receptor) was decreased upon GSK-3 silencing. These findings demonstrated that GSK-3 is required for E2-induced ERalpha phosphorylation at Ser-118 and full transcriptional activity of the receptor upon E2 stimulation.
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PMID:Glycogen synthase kinase-3 protects estrogen receptor alpha from proteasomal degradation and is required for full transcriptional activity of the receptor. 1760 34


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