Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound

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Query: EC:2.7.12.2 (MEK)
18,161 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Metastasis suppressor genes (MSGs) are defined by their ability to inhibit overt metastasis in a secondary organ without affecting tumor growth at the primary site. Over 20 MSGs have been confirmed in vivo. This class of genes is only unified by their capacity to suppress metastasis, as they encode for proteins with a wide range of biochemical activities that are components of a variety of signaling pathways. In addition, metastasis suppressors impinge upon different stages of the metastatic cascade to manifest their suppressive effects. The MSGs KISS1, KAI1, MKK4/7 and Nm23-H1 promote tumor dormancy at the metastatic site, since tumor cells with induced expression of these MSGs disseminate, but do not form overt metastases in the secondary organ throughout the duration of a metastasis assay. Evidence suggests that KISS1 triggers dormancy in solitary, metastatic tumor cells by causing growth arrest of solitary cells at the secondary site. KAI1 induces growth arrest prior to extravasation by binding a vascular endothelial cell surface marker. MKK4, MKK7 and Nm23-H1 appear to promote dormancy of micrometastatic colonies, after disseminated tumor cells have undergone several rounds of proliferation. Other MSGs may also function in tumor dormancy, but so far their role has not been fully elucidated. Therapeutic approaches that either mimic the effects of MSGs or re-establish MSG expression in metastatic lesions may hold promise for the establishment or maintenance of dormancy.
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PMID:The role of metastasis suppressor genes in metastatic dormancy. 1883 4

Metastasis is the principal cause of death from breast cancer. ErbB2 (HER-2/neu) has been identified as an important regulator of metastatic potential of breast cancer. The present study investigated the molecular mechanism underlying the role of ErbB2 in malignant phenotypic conversion of MCF10A human breast epithelial cells which originally have 'normal' cell character. Here we report that ErbB2 induces invasion and migration of MCF10A cells though up-regulation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9. We also observed a marked reduction of an epithelial cell marker, E-cadherin, and an induction of vimentin in ErbB2-MCF10A cells, suggesting that epithelial-mesenchymal transition may play a role in the ErbB2-induced invasion and migration of MCF10A cells. Overexpression of ErbB2 significantly activated p38 MAPK and Akt, while Raf-1/MEK/ERK pathway was not activated by ErbB2. Using pharmacological inhibitors, we further show that p38 MAPK and Akt signaling pathways are crucial for the ErbB2-induced MMP-9 up-regulation, invasion and migration of MCF10A cells. Given that ErbB2 is one of the most important oncogenes in human breast cancer and thus is an attractive therapeutic target, our findings may provide a molecular basis for the promoting role of ErbB2 in breast cancer progression.
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PMID:Overexpression of ErbB2 induces invasion of MCF10A human breast epithelial cells via MMP-9. 1902 65

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is an often fatal disease primarily affecting young women in which tuberin (TSC2)-null cells metastasize to the lungs. The mechanisms underlying the striking female predominance of LAM are unknown. We report here that 17-beta-estradiol (E(2)) causes a 3- to 5-fold increase in pulmonary metastases in male and female mice, respectively, and a striking increase in circulating tumor cells in mice bearing tuberin-null xenograft tumors. E(2)-induced metastasis is associated with activation of p42/44 MAPK and is completely inhibited by treatment with the MEK1/2 inhibitor, CI-1040. In vitro, E(2) inhibits anoikis of tuberin-null cells. Finally, using a bioluminescence approach, we found that E(2) enhances the survival and lung colonization of intravenously injected tuberin-null cells by 3-fold, which is blocked by treatment with CI-1040. Taken together these results reveal a new model for LAM pathogenesis in which activation of MEK-dependent pathways by E(2) leads to pulmonary metastasis via enhanced survival of detached tuberin-null cells.
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PMID:Estrogen promotes the survival and pulmonary metastasis of tuberin-null cells. 1920 70

Mutational activation of BRAF is the earliest and most common genetic alteration in human melanoma. To build a model of human melanoma, we generated mice with conditional melanocyte-specific expression of BRaf(V600E). Upon induction of BRaf(V600E) expression, mice developed benign melanocytic hyperplasias that failed to progress to melanoma over 15-20 months. By contrast, expression of BRaf(V600E) combined with Pten tumor suppressor gene silencing elicited development of melanoma with 100% penetrance, short latency and with metastases observed in lymph nodes and lungs. Melanoma was prevented by inhibitors of mTorc1 (rapamycin) or MEK1/2 (PD325901) but, upon cessation of drug administration, mice developed melanoma, indicating the presence of long-lived melanoma-initiating cells in this system. Notably, combined treatment with rapamycin and PD325901 led to shrinkage of established melanomas. These mice, engineered with a common genetic profile to human melanoma, provide a system to study melanoma's cardinal feature of metastasis and for preclinical evaluation of agents designed to prevent or treat metastatic disease.
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PMID:Braf(V600E) cooperates with Pten loss to induce metastatic melanoma. 1928 48

The potential role of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in the regulation of angiogenesis factors in hepatoma cells is not widely appreciated. We investigated the role of HGF-induced activation of a transcription factor, Egr-1, in the expression of pro-angiogenic factors. Genes associated with angiogenesis induced by HGF were screened by using cDNA microarray technology in hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines, HepG2 and Hep3B. Expression levels of Egr-1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and interleukin (IL)-8 were further confirmed by real time RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Roles of Egr-1 in the levels of HGF-induced up-regulations of VEGF and IL-8 were measured by knockdown of Egr-1 with Egr-1 shRNA and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. The levels of Egr-1, VEGF and IL-8 were up-regulated in cells treated with HGF. HGF-induced up-regulations of Egr-1, VEGF, and IL-8 were inhibited by the pretreatment with an MEK inhibitor, PD098059. HGF-induced up-regulation of VEGF and IL-8 were repressed by Egr-1 knockdown. HGF enhanced the binding activity of Egr-1 to the VEGF promoter in control cells, but not in the Egr-1-shRNA cells. No constitutive and inducible Egr-1 binding activities to the IL-8 promoter were observed in control and Egr-1-shRNA cells. Egr-1 knockdown reduced the luciferase activities increased by HGF not in the IL-8 promoter, but in the VEGF promoter. Egr-1 might play an important role in the up-regulation of VEGF and IL-8 induced by HGF and contribute to HGF-mediated angiogenesis, which might be promising targets for hepatocellular carcinoma therapy.
Clin Exp Metastasis 2009
PMID:Hepatocyte growth factor induced up-regulations of VEGF through Egr-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. 1952 16

Bone sarcomas cause disproportionate morbidity and mortality and desperately need new therapies as there has been little improvement in outcomes in 20 years. Identification of critical signaling pathways, including type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-1R) for Ewing sarcoma and possibly osteosarcoma, and the ERBB and the Wnt signaling pathways for osteosarcoma, have emerged as receptors mediating vital signals for bone sarcoma. Akt, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), phosphoinositide 3-kinases, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase, extracellular signal-regulated kinases, and Ras pathway play key roles in at least some tumors, and inhibition of mTOR in particular will likely lead to improved survival, although clinical trials are still underway. The Notch pathway and ezrin are essential for osteosarcoma metastasis, and Fas downregulation is necessary for survival of metastases in lungs. As little is known about chondrosarcoma signaling, more preclinical work is needed. By defining vital signaling pathways in bone sarcomas, small molecule inhibitors can be applied rationally, leading to longer survival and reducing morbidity and late effects from intensive chemotherapy.
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PMID:Critical signaling pathways in bone sarcoma: candidates for therapeutic interventions. 1984 May 22

We recently identified the secreted protein IGFBP7 as a factor required for an activated BRAF oncogene to induce senescence or apoptosis in primary human cells. In human melanomas containing an activating BRAF mutation (BRAF-positive melanomas), IGFBP7 is epigenetically silenced, which seems to be a critical step in melanoma genesis. Restoration of IGFBP7 function by the addition of recombinant IGFBP7 (rIGFBP7) induces apoptosis in BRAF-positive human melanoma cell lines, and systemically administered rIGFBP7 markedly suppresses the growth of BRAF-positive primary tumors in xenografted mice. Here we further evaluate the role of IGFBP7 in the treatment of BRAF-positive melanoma and other malignancies. We find that in human metastatic melanoma samples IGFBP7 is epigenetically silenced and at an even higher frequency than that found in primary melanomas. Using a murine experimental metastasis assay, we show that systemic administration of rIGFBP7 markedly suppresses the growth of metastatic disease and prolongs survival. An analysis of the NCI60 panel of human cancer cell lines reveals that in addition to melanoma, IGFBP7 induces apoptosis in several other cancer types, in particular colorectal cancer cell lines. In general, IGFBP7 induces apoptosis in human cancer cell lines that have an activating mutation in BRAF or RAS, and that are sensitive to chemical inhibition of BRAF-MEK-ERK signaling. Significantly, systemically administered rIGFBP7 blocks the growth of colorectal tumors containing an activating RAS or BRAF mutation in mouse xenografts. The results presented here, in conjunction with those from previous studies, justify the further development of IGFBP7 as an anticancer agent.
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PMID:Efficacy of IGFBP7 for treatment of metastatic melanoma and other cancers in mouse models and human cell lines. 1986 8

The activating mutation BRAF(V600E) is a frequent genetic event in papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC) that predicts a poor prognosis, leading to loss of sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) expression and subsequent radioiodide-refractory metastatic disease. The molecular basis of such an aggressive behavior induced by BRAF remains unclear. Here, we show a mechanism through which BRAF induces NIS repression and promotes epithelial to mesenchimal transition and invasion based on the operation of an autocrine transforming growth factor (TGF)beta loop. BRAF induces secretion of functional TGFbeta and blocking TGFbeta/Smad signaling at multiple levels rescues BRAF-induced NIS repression. Although this mechanism is MAP/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) kinase (MEK)-ERK independent, secreted TGFbeta cooperates with MEK-ERK signaling in BRAF-induced cell migration, Matrigel invasion, and EMT. Consistent with this process, TGFbeta and other key components of TGFbeta signaling, such as TbetaRII and pSmad2, are overexpressed in human PTC, suggesting a widespread activation of this pathway by locally released TGFbeta. Moreover, this high TGFbeta/Smad activity is associated with PTC invasion, nodal metastasis, and BRAF status. Interestingly, TGFbeta is overexpressed in the invasive front, whereas NIS is preferentially expressed in the central regions of the tumors, suggesting that this negative correlation between TGFbeta and NIS occurs locally inside the tumor. Our study describes a novel mechanism of NIS repression in thyroid cancer and provides evidence that TGFbeta may play a key role in promoting radioiodide resistance and tumor invasion during PTC progression.
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PMID:The BRAFV600E oncogene induces transforming growth factor beta secretion leading to sodium iodide symporter repression and increased malignancy in thyroid cancer. 1986 38

Research interest in lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) has grown dramatically in the past decade, particularly among cancer biologists. There are at least two reasons for this: first, the discovery in the year 2000 that LAM cells carry TSC2 gene mutations, linking LAM with cellular pathways including the PI3K/Akt/mTOR axis, and allowing the Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC)-regulated pathways that are believed to underlie LAM pathogenesis to be studied in cells, yeast, Drosophila, and mice. A second reason for the rising interest in LAM is the discovery that LAM cells can travel to the lung, including repopulating a donor lung after lung transplantation, despite the fact that LAM cells are histologically benign. This "benign metastasis" underpinning suggests that elucidating LAM pathogenesis will unlock a set of fundamental mechanisms that underlie metastatic potential in the context of a cell that has not yet undergone malignant transformation. Here, we will outline the data supporting the metastatic model of LAM, consider the biochemical and cellular mechanisms that may enable LAM cells to metastasize, including both cell autonomous and non-cell autonomous factors, and highlight a mouse model in which estrogen promotes the metastasis and survival of TSC2-deficient cells in a MEK-dependent manner. We propose a multistep model of LAM cell metastasis that highlights multiple opportunities for therapeutic intervention. Taken together, the metastatic behavior of LAM cells and the involvement of tumor-related signaling pathways lead to optimism that cancer-related paradigms for diagnosis, staging, and therapy will lead to therapeutic breakthroughs for women living with LAM.
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PMID:mTOR activation, lymphangiogenesis, and estrogen-mediated cell survival: the "perfect storm" of pro-metastatic factors in LAM pathogenesis. 2023 86

Ovarian cancer affects approximately 25,000 women in the United States each year and remains one of the most lethal female malignancies. A standard approach to therapy is surgical cytoreduction, after which the remaining microscopic residual disease is treated with chemotherapy. The vast majority of patients have disease recurrence, underscoring the crucial need for approaches to control the regrowth, or colonization, of tissues after local treatment. Improved therapies require mechanistic information about the process of metastatic colonization, the final step in metastasis, in which cancer cells undergo progressive growth at secondary sites. Studies of metastasis suppressors are providing insights into events controlling metastatic colonization. This paper reviews our laboratory's approach to the identification, characterization, and functional testing of the JNKK1/MKK4 metastasis suppressor in ovarian cancer metastatic colonization. Specifically, we demonstrate that interaction of ovarian caner cells with the omental microenvironment activates JNKK1/MKK4 resulting in decreased proliferation without affecting apoptosis. The potential role of the omental microenvironment, specifically milky spot structures, is also described. It is our goal to provide this work as a usable paradigm that will enable others to study metastasis suppressors in clinical and experimental ovarian cancer metastases.
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PMID:Disrupting ovarian cancer metastatic colonization: insights from metastasis suppressor studies. 2030 May 52


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