Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.1.27.5 (RNase)
 17,967 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Tumor cell resistance to many chemotherapeutic agents, including alkylating agents, cisplatin, and doxorubicin, is frequently associated with increased intracellular levels of the nonprotein sulfhydryl glutathione (GSH). Recent evidence has demonstrated that increased GSH levels can be accompanied by an increase in the activity of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (GCS), which catalyzes the rate-limiting step in de novo synthesis of GSH, and by an increase in the steady state level of mRNA for the catalytic subunit of GCS. Using melphalan-resistant DU 145/M4.5 human prostate carcinoma cells, which express elevated GSH levels, GCS enzyme activity, and GCS mRNA levels, we sought to determine the mechanism(s) responsible for the increased GCS mRNA expression. As determined by Northern analyses and RNase protection assays, the steady state level of GCS message in the resistant cells was increased 10-20-fold, in comparison with the drug-sensitive parent DU 145 cells. No significant difference in gene copy number or evidence of rearrangement was detected in the resistant cell line by Southern analyses. The GCS-specific mRNA isolated from the resistant cells was less stable than that isolated from the drug-sensitive cells (half-lives of 6 hr and 9 hr, respectively), indicating that this difference does not contribute to the increased steady state levels in the resistant cells. Nuclear run-on experiments revealed that the GCS transcription rate in the DU 145/M4.5 cells was increased approximately 12-fold, in comparison with that detected in the DU 145 cells. This difference in transcription rate was comparable in magnitude to the difference in steady state mRNA levels detectable in the two cell populations. Similar correlations between steady state GCS mRNA levels and transcription rates were also observed in other DU 145 lines expressing intermediate degrees of resistance to melphalan and correspondingly intermediate GCS mRNA elevations. These data suggest that GCS expression is transcriptionally regulated in these melphalan-resistant tumor cells.
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PMID:Transcriptional up-regulation of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase gene expression in melphalan-resistant human prostate carcinoma cells. 796 79

We recently reported that GS-X pump activity, as assessed by ATP-dependent transport of the glutathione-platinum complex and leukotriene C4, and intracellular glutathione (GSH) levels were remarkably enhanced in cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (cisplatin)-resistant human leukemia HL-60 cells (Ishikawa, T., Wright, C. D., and Ishizuka, H. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 29085-29093). Now, using Northern hybridization and RNase protection assay, we provide evidence that the multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) gene, which encodes a human GS-X pump, is expressed at higher levels in cisplatin-resistant (HL-60/R-CP) cells than in sensitive cells, whereas amplification of the MRP gene is not detected by Southern hybridization. Culturing HL-60/R-CP cells in cisplatin-free medium resulted in reduced MRP mRNA levels, but these levels could be induced to rise within 30 h by cisplatin and heavy metals such as arsenite, cadmium, and zinc. The increased levels of MRP mRNA were closely related with enhanced activities of ATP-dependent transport of leukotriene C4 (LTC4) in plasma membrane vesicles. The glutathione-platinum (GS-Pt) complex, but not cisplatin, inhibited ATP-dependent LTC4 transport, suggesting that the MRP/GS-X pump transports both LTC4 and the GS-Pt complex. Expression of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase in the cisplatin-resistant cells was also co-induced within 24 h in response to cisplatin exposure, resulting in a significant increase in cellular GSH level. The resistant cells exposed to cisplatin were cross-resistant to melphalan, chlorambucil, arsenite, and cadmium. These observations suggest that elevated expression of the MRP/GS-X pump and increased GSH biosynthesis together may be important factors in the cellular metabolism and disposition of cisplatin, alkylating agents, and heavy metals.
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PMID:Coordinated induction of MRP/GS-X pump and gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase by heavy metals in human leukemia cells. 866 1

We have recently shown that multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) and gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS) heavy subunit genes are coordinately overexpressed in cisplatin-resistant human leukemia cells (T. Ishikawa et al. J. Biol. Chem., 271: 14981-14988, 1996). Using the RNase protection assay, we examined expression levels of these genes in colon tumor and nontumorous biopsy specimens from 32 cancer patients who had not been treated with chemotherapy. Increased mRNA levels (P < 0.001) of MRP and gamma-GCS genes were observed in 16 (50%) and 20 (62%) tumor samples, respectively. More importantly, all of the 16 (100%) MRP-overexpressing tumor specimens also exhibited higher levels of gamma-GCS mRNA than those in the matched nontumorous specimens. The correlation coefficient between MRP and gamma-GCS mRNA levels was r = 0.78 for all of the tumor samples studied. These results strongly suggest that MRP and gamma-GCS genes are coordinately up-regulated during colorectal carcinogenesis.
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PMID:Frequent coordinated overexpression of the MRP/GS-X pump and gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase genes in human colorectal cancers. 870 99

1Recent molecular cloning studies have identified six members in the multidrug-resistance protein (MRP) gene family. However, the regulation of expression of these genes is largely unknown. We previously reported that expression of MRP1, encoding multidrug-resistance associated protein, and gamma-GCSh, which encodes the heavy subunit of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS), could be up-regulated by prooxidants [Yamane et al., J Biol Chem 1998;273:31075-85]. In the present study, we investigated whether different members of the MRP family exhibit different responses to induction by prooxidants, and whether p53 status influences the levels of induction. A panel of colorectal cancer cell lines with different p53 status, i.e. HCT116 containing wild-type p53, and HT29, SW480, and Caco2 containing mutant p53, was treated with tert-butylhydroquinone (t-BHQ) and pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (PDTC). MRP1 and gamma-GCSh mRNA levels were determined by the RNase protection assay, using gene-specific probes. We report here that induction of MRP1 and gamma-GCSh expression by these prooxidants varied among the different cell lines, and p53 mutations were not always associated with elevated levels of induction. These results suggest that the effects of p53 on the induced expression of MRP1 and gamma-GCSh depend on the environment of the cell and/or nature of p53 mutations. In an isogenic HCT116 cell line containing p53(-/-) alleles, we demonstrated that, as for MRP1, expression of MRP2 and MRP3 was induced by the prooxidants, whereas expression of MRP4 and MRP5 was not. MRP6 mRNA was not detectable. Induction of MRP2 expression by prooxidants seemed to be independent of p53 status. Our results demonstrated the differential regulation of the MRP gene family by p53 mutation under oxidative stress.
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PMID:Differential sensitivities of the MRP gene family and gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase to prooxidants in human colorectal carcinoma cell lines with different p53 status. 1123 98

Glutamate-cysteine ligase is a heterodimer comprising a modifier (GCLM) and a catalytic (GCLC) subunit. In mouse Hepa-1c1c7 hepatoma cell cultures, we found that tert-butylhydroquinone (tBHQ; 50 microM) induces the GCLM and GCLC mRNAs approximately 10- and approximately 2-fold, respectively, and that these increases primarily reflect de novo transcription. We determined that the mouse Gclm gene has seven exons, spanning 22.3 kb; all exons, intron-exon junctions, and 4.7 kb of 5'-flanking region were sequenced. By RNase protection analysis, we identified two major and several minor transcription start-site clusters over a 300-bp region. The Gclm 5'-flanking region is GC-rich and lacks a canonical TATA box. Transient and stable transfection studies, using luciferase reporter constructs containing incremental Gclm 5'-flanking deletions (4.7-0.5 kb), showed high basal activity but only modest ( approximately 2-fold) inducibility by tBHQ. The only candidate motif for oxidative stress regulation (in the 4.7-kb region we sequenced) is a putative inverted electrophile response element (EPRE) 9 bp upstream from the 5'-most transcription start-site. Site-directed mutagenesis of this -9 EPRE demonstrated minimal (30-40%) decreases in tBHQ induction and no effect on basal activity-suggesting that this EPRE might be necessary but not sufficient. The nuclear erythroid factor-2 (NEF2)-related factor-2 (NRF2) is known to transactivate via EPRE motifs. In the presence of co-transfected NRF cDNA expression vector, however, no increase in Gclm promoter activity was observed. Thus, the endogenous Gclm gene shows robust transcriptional activation by tBHQ in the intact Hepa-1 cell, but reporter constructs containing up to 4.7 kb of promoter (having only the one EPRE at -9) demonstrate a disappointing response, indicating that the major tBHQ-responsive regulatory element of the mouse Gclm gene must exist either further 5'- or 3'-ward of the 4.7-kb region studied.
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PMID:Glutamate-cysteine ligase modifier subunit: mouse Gclm gene structure and regulation by agents that cause oxidative stress. 1200 77