Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.1.27.4 (ribonuclease)
 6,621 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Onconase, an anticancer ribonuclease, damages cellular tRNA and causes caspase-dependent apoptosis in targeted cells (M. S. Iordanov, O. P. Ryabinina, J. Wong, T. H. Dinh, D. L. Newton, S. M. Rybak, and B. E. Magun. Cancer Res. 60, 1983-1994, 2000). The proapoptotic action of onconase depends on its RNase activity, but the molecular mechanisms leading to RNA damage-induced caspase activation are completely unknown. In this study, we have investigated whether onconase activates two signal-transduction pathways commonly stimulated by conventional chemo- and radiotherapy, namely the stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK) cascade and the pathway leading to the activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB). We found that, in all cell types tested, onconase is a potent activator of SAPK1 (JNK1 and JNK2) and SAPK2 (p38 MAP kinase), but that it is incapable of activating NF-kappaB. Inhibition of p38 MAP kinase activity with a pharmacological inhibitor, SB203580, demonstrated that p38 MAP kinase is not required for onconase cytotoxicity. Using explanted fibroblasts from mice that contain targeted disruption of both jnk1 and jnk2 alleles, we found that JNKs are important mediators of onconase-induced cytotoxicity. Surprisingly, following the immortalization of these same cells with human papilloma virus (HPV16) gene products E6 and E7, additional proapoptotic pathways (exclusive of JNK) were provoked by onconase. Our results demonstrate that onconase may activate proapoptotic pathways in tumor cells that are not able to be accessed in normal cells. These results present the possibility that the cytotoxic activity of onconase in normal cells may be reduced by blocking the activity of JNKs.
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PMID:Differential requirement for the stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase in RNAdamage-induced apoptosis in primary and in immortalized fibroblasts. 1117 Aug 43

Genes that are regulated by androgens in the human prostate are believed to play an essential role in prostate physiology and they may also be involved in the proliferative response of prostate cancer cells to androgens. We used a cDNA subtraction approach to identify novel androgen-regulated transcripts in LNCaP cells that were exposed to 0.1 nM R1881 for 24 h. We report here that SPAK, a recently identified STE20/SPS1-related kinase that modulates p38 MAP kinase activity, exhibited increased expression in androgen-treated LNCaP cells. Androgen regulation of SPAK was both dose- and time-dependent. R1881-induced SPAK expression was completely abrogated by the antiandrogen casodex and by actinomycin D indicating that androgen induction of SPAK requires the androgen receptor and transcription. Cycloheximide caused a partial inhibition of R1881-induced SPAK expression which suggests that androgen induction of SPAK expression may require synthesis of additional proteins. Northern blot and ribonuclease protection assays demonstrated that SPAK is expressed at high levels in normal human testes and prostate, as well as in a number of breast and prostate cancer cell lines. These results identify SPAK, a member of a key cell signalling pathway, as an androgen-responsive gene in LNCaP cells. We hypothesize that SPAK may mediate androgen action in the normal and cancerous prostate gland.
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PMID:Androgens induce expression of SPAK, a STE20/SPS1-related kinase, in LNCaP human prostate cancer cells. 1151 53

Tristetraprolin (TTP) is the prototype for a family of RNA binding proteins that bind the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) messenger RNA AU-rich element (ARE), causing deadenylation of the TNF poly(A) tail, RNA decay, and silencing of TNF protein production. Using mass spectrometry sequencing we identified poly(A) binding proteins-1 and -4 (PABP1 and PABP4) in high abundance and good protein coverage from TTP immunoprecipitates. PABP1 significantly enhanced TNF ARE binding by RNA EMSA and prevented TTP-initiated deadenylation in an in vitro macrophage assay of TNF poly(A) stability. Neomycin inhibited TTP-promoted deadenylation at concentrations shown to inhibit the deadenylases poly(A) ribonuclease and CCR4. Stably transfected RAW264.7 macrophages overexpressing PABP1 do not oversecrete TNF; instead they upregulate TTP protein without increasing TNF protein production. The PABP1 inhibition of deadenylation initiated by TTP does not require the poly(A) binding regions in RRM1 and RRM2, suggesting a more complicated interaction than simple masking of the poly(A) tail from a 3'-exonuclease. Like TTP, PABP1 is a substrate for p38 MAP kinase. Finally, PABP1 stabilizes cotransfected TTP in 293T cells and prevents the decrease in TTP levels seen with p38 MAP kinase inhibition. These findings suggest several levels of functional antagonism between TTP and PABP1 that have implications for regulation of unstable mRNAs like TNF.
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PMID:Inhibition of tristetraprolin deadenylation by poly(A) binding protein. 1846 2