Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.7.6 (RNA polymerase)
 34,946 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib mesylate (Gleevec, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp, East Hanover, NJ) (formerly STI571) blocks the constitutively activated Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase that is characteristic of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Molecular analysis for the presence of residual Bcr-Abl-positive cells in patients with a cytogenetic response following treatment with imatinib mesylate reveals that some patients have undetectable disease using quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays capable of detecting 1 in 10(5) Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph(+)) cells. To examine whether the leukemia is still Bcr-Abl-dependent in patients who have responded to imatinib mesylate but have relapsed, a quantitative assay that directly measures enzymatic activity of Bcr-Abl toward one of its major signaling substrates has been developed. This assay allows monitoring both of the imatinib mesylate sensitivity of patient cells in vitro, and of the endogenous inhibition of Bcr-Abl kinase activity during imatinib mesylate treatment and relapse. Studies show that imatinib mesylate resistance is associated with restored activation of the Bcr-Abl signal transduction pathway in the majority of cases, indicating that Bcr-Abl remains a valid target for therapeutic intervention. Understanding resistance mechanisms of Ph(+) leukemia to imatinib mesylate will allow design of therapies to overcome such barriers to efficacy.
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PMID:Molecular studies in chronic myeloid leukemia patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. 1152 97

Selective inhibition of the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase by imatinib (Gleevec) (formerly STI571) is a promising new therapeutic strategy in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Despite significant hematologic and cytogenetic responses, resistance occurs in patients with chronic phase (CP) and advanced disease. A cohort of 72 patients with CML in myeloid blast crisis (BC) (n = 34), lymphoid BC (n = 2), accelerated phase (AP) (n = 16), CP (n = 18), and BCR-ABL(+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (n = 2) resistant to imatinib were investigated. Median levels of BCR-ABL transcripts, determined by quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), were not significantly changed at the time of resistance, but seven of 55 patients showed a greater than 10-fold increase in BCR-ABL levels. Genomic amplification of BCR-ABL was found in two of 32 patients evaluated by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Additional chromosomal aberrations were observed in 19 of 36 patients and point mutations of the ABL tyrosine kinase domain resulting in reactivation of the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase were detected in 29 of 72 patients. Resistance may be caused by BCR-ABL-independent or BCR-ABL-dependent mechanisms. A thorough evaluation of resistant cases is required to suggest therapeutic measures in the individual case. Clonal selection of resistant cells harboring a BCR-ABL mutation might be reversed by stopping imatinib therapy and switching to chemotherapy. Combination therapy from the start of treatment to reduce the frequency of resistance is currently being evaluated with several drugs.
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PMID:Cytogenetic and molecular mechanisms of resistance to imatinib. 1278 79

Some tumors are dependent on the continued activity of a single oncogene for maintenance of their malignant phenotype. The best-studied example is the Bcr-Abl fusion protein in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Although the clinical success of the Abl kinase inhibitor imatinib against chronic-phase CML emphasizes the importance of developing therapeutic strategies aimed at this target, resistance to imatinib poses a major problem for the ultimate success of CML therapy by this agent. We hypothesized a sequential blockade strategy that is designed to decrease the expression of the Bcr-Abl protein, with the goal of complementing the action of imatinib on kinase activity. In this study, flavopiridol, an inhibitor of transcription, homoharringtonine (HHT), a protein synthesis inhibitor, and imatinib were used singly and in combination against the Bcr-Abl-positive human CML cell line K562. Flavopiridol alone inhibited phosphorylation of the RNA polymerase II COOH-terminal domain, specifically reduced RNA polymerase II-directed mRNA synthesis, and decreased the Bcr-Abl transcript levels. HHT inhibited protein synthesis and reduced the Bcr-Abl protein level. Imatinib directly inhibited the kinase activity of Bcr-Abl. The combinations of flavopiridol and HHT and flavopiridol and imatinib synergistically decreased clonogenicity as evaluated by the median-effect method. Greater synergy was observed when HHT and imatinib were given sequentially compared with simultaneous administration. Imatinib-resistant Ba/F3 cells that were transfected to express the E255K and T315I mutations of Bcr-Abl were not cross-resistant to flavopiridol and HHT. These results provided a rationale for the combination of inhibitors of transcription and/or translation with specific kinase inhibitors.
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PMID:A sequential blockade strategy for the design of combination therapies to overcome oncogene addiction in chronic myelogenous leukemia. 1710 34

Imatinib is highly effective for the treatment of chronic eosinophilic leukemia (CEL) caused by the FIP1L1-PDGFRA fusion gene. However, its effectiveness for cardiac involvement of CEL has remained unclear. We describe a 46-year-old man with CEL treated with imatinib. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and sequencing analyses revealed a FIP1L1-PDGFRA fusion transcript with FIP1L1 intron 10 fused to PDGFRA exon 12, and fluorescent in situ hybridization analysis confirmed the interstitial deletion in chromosome 4q12. On admission, the patient had left heart failure accompanied by a large thrombus in the left ventricle. After pretreatment with furosemide and prednisolone, we started imatinib treatment at 100 mg/day. Eosinophilia disappeared within 1 week, and the left ventricular thrombus was resolved within 5 months. At 6 months after starting imatinib, the patient showed grade 4 liver dysfunction. A liver biopsy revealed hepatocyte necrosis with lymphocyte infiltration. Fortunately, the FIP1L1-PDGFRA fusion transcript had become undetectable, and imatinib treatment was stopped. The liver dysfunction resolved within a month. Although the CEL relapsed 6 months later, imatinib could be successfully resumed in combination with 25 mg/day of prednisolone. Thus, imatinib may be very effective for treating the early cardiac involvement of FIP1L1-PDGFRA-positive CEL, but it needs to be used cautiously.
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PMID:Successful imatinib treatment of cardiac involvement of FIP1L1-PDGFRA-positive chronic eosinophilic leukemia followed by severe hepatotoxicity. 1798 89

Imatinib (STI571) is the frontline targeted-therapeutic agent for patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). However, resistance to imatinib due to point mutations in Bcr-Abl kinase domain is an emerging problem. We recently reported that triptolide (compound 1) could effectively kill CML cells including those harboring T315I mutant Bcr-Abl. In the present study, we designed a series of C-14 triptolide derivatives with C-14-hydroxyl substituted by different amine esters (3-18): 3-6 and 13 (by aliphatic chain amine esters); 7-9, 11, 12 and 15-18 (by alicyclic amine esters with different size), and 10 and 14 (by aralkylamine esters).The compounds were examined for their antineoplastic activity against CML cells (including KBM5-T315I cells) in terms of proliferation inhibition, apoptosis and signal transduction. Nude mouse xenograft model was also used to evaluate the in vivo activity. Compounds 2-9, 11-14, 17 and 18 exhibited a potent inhibitory activity against KBM5 and KBM5-T315I cells. This series of derivatives down-regulated Bcr-Abl mRNA. Compounds 4, 5, 8 and 9 were further examined for their impact on signaling and apoptosis with immunoblotting. Compound 5 was chosen for evaluation in a nude mouse xenograft model. The stereo-hindrance of C-14 group appeared to be responsible for the antitumor effect. The computational small molecule-protein docking analysis illustrated the possible interaction between compound 9 and RNA polymerase II. Our results suggest that this series of derivatives may be promising agents to overcome imatinib-resistance caused by the Bcr-Abl-T315I mutation.
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PMID:Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel water-soluble triptolide derivatives: Antineoplastic activity against imatinib-resistant CML cells bearing T315I mutant Bcr-Abl. 2014 65

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation is the standard approach to Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We hypothesized that imatinib plus sequential chemotherapy will result in significant leukemia cell cytoreduction in patients with Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia, allowing collection of normal hematopoietic stem cells uncontaminated by residual BCR/ABL1(+) lymphoblasts and thus reduce the likelihood of relapse after autologous stem cell transplantation for patients under 60 years of age without sibling donors. We enrolled 58 patients; 19 underwent autologous and 15 underwent allogeneic stem cell transplantation on study. Imatinib plus sequential chemotherapy resulted in reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction-negative stem cells in 9 patients and remained minimally positive in 4 (6 were not evaluable). Overall survival (median 6.0 years vs. not reached) and disease-free survival (median 3.5 vs. 4.1 years) were similar between those who underwent autologous and those who underwent allogeneic stem cell transplantation. We conclude that autologous stem cell transplantation represents a safe and effective alternative for allogeneic stem cell transplantation in Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients without sibling donors (clinicaltrials.gov identifier:00039377).
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PMID:Autologous transplantation for Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia achieves outcomes similar to allogeneic transplantation: results of CALGB Study 10001 (Alliance). 2407 46