Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.11.8 (FAST)
 758 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Locomotor stimulation in response to ethanol in mice may model human ethanol-induced euphoria. The associated neural substrates, possibly relevant to alcoholism, have not been fully elucidated. Systemic injection of baclofen, a GABA(B) receptor agonist, attenuates ethanol's stimulant effects. GABA(B) receptors on dopamine cell bodies in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) may modulate ethanol-induced dopamine release, a postulated mechanism for ethanol's stimulant effects. However, baclofen's attenuating effects could be associated with peripheral receptor actions. Baclofen was injected i.c.v. or into the VTA of FAST mice, bred for extreme sensitivity to ethanol-induced locomotor stimulation, to test the hypotheses that (1) central GABA(B) receptors influence baclofen's effects on ethanol-stimulated activity, and (2) VTA GABA(B) receptors specifically modulate ethanol's stimulant effects. I.c.v. baclofen dose-dependently attenuated ethanol stimulation, supporting a central locus for baclofen's effects. Anterior VTA baclofen also attenuated ethanol stimulation. However, more posterior VTA infusions unexpectedly potentiated ethanol stimulation. In SLOW mice, bred for resistance to ethanol stimulation, posterior intra-VTA baclofen did not alter EtOH response. However, anterior VTA baclofen alone produced a locomotor depressant effect in SLOW mice, not seen in FAST mice. GABA(B) receptor autoradiography using [(3)H]CGP 54626, a potent GABA(B) receptor antagonist, did not reveal line differences in binding density in the VTA, or in the substantia nigra pars compacta, a nearby brain structure associated with motor control. These results suggest that anterior VTA GABA(B) receptors play a role in baclofen's attenuation of ethanol's stimulant effects, and that posterior VTA GABA(B) receptors serve an opposite role that is normally masked. Selection for differential ethanol stimulant sensitivity has altered VTA GABA(B) systems that influence locomotor behavior. However, differences in GABA(B) receptor densities in the VTA or substantia nigra pars compacta cannot explain the selected line difference.
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PMID:Ventral tegmental area region governs GABA(B) receptor modulation of ethanol-stimulated activity in mice. 1240 33

Anterior Gradient 2 (AGR2) is a potential anti-tumor target and we previously reported a murine antibody 18A4 with specific binding to AGR2. However, humanization is a must to overcome immunogenicity before considering for clinical use and optimized vectors for mammalian expression are also necessary for following industrialized manufacture. Here, we describe an anti-tumor humanized antibody blocking secreted AGR2 activity. We employed the CDR grafting technique and deimmunization analysis to construct humanized antibody variants of 18A4, and 18A4Hu I was selected as the best humanization candidate, characterized by physical and chemical property comparison. Mouse xenograft study showed that 18A4Hu I could effectively inhibit the xenograft tumor growth, antibody blocking epitope analysis using AGR2 mutants indicated that the inhibition activity of 18A4Hu I is exerted probably through blocking the AGR2 functions which rely on the amino acid sites of E60-H76 and A86-E153. What's more, in this report, we also describe a pHAb-FAST vector system which is specifically designed for humanized antibody mammalian expression vector fast construction. With pHAb-FAST system, expression vector of 18A4Hu I could be quickly constructed only through twice overlapping PCR reactions. To our knowledge, AGR2-targeted 18A4Hu I is a promising humanized anti-tumor drug candidate, and pHAb-FAST system is a useful optimized mammalian expression vector construction tool. Our findings are supposed to accelerate the development of antibody-based cancer therapy.
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PMID:A humanized monoclonal antibody targeting secreted anterior gradient 2 effectively inhibits the xenograft tumor growth. 2716 54