Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.21.73 (urokinase-type plasminogen activator)
 10,685 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The effect of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) was studied on urokinase receptor (uPAR) expression of cultured human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. Human RPE cells were incubated with 1, 5 or 10 ng/ml of TGF-beta1 or with 10, 100 or 1,000 IU/ml of IFN-gamma to measure total cellular uPAR protein and released uPAR by enzyme immunoassay. uPAR at cell surface was measured by flow cytometric analysis at 8, 12, 24 and 48 h. uPAR mRNA levels were assayed by Northern blotting at 2, 6, 12 and 24 h. The increase in uPAR gene expression in RPE cells exposed to TGF-beta1 paralleled enhanced uPAR level at the cell surface and in conditioned medium. TGF-beta appeared to induce also membrane-bound uPA activity and the release of active plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, indicating that TGF-beta has the potential to regulate plasminogen activation at the RPE cell surface. The increase in uPAR gene expression by IFN-gamma did not seem to translate into the protein level. We conclude that TGF-beta regulates the pericellular proteolysis in RPE cells by increasing uPAR expression.
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PMID:Transforming growth factor beta induces urokinase receptor expression in cultured retinal pigment epithelial cells. 1022 1

We recently identified DPC4/Smad4 as a candidate tumor suppressor gene mutated or lost in one half of pancreatic carcinomas and in a subset of colon and biliary tract carcinomas. DPC4 plays a key role in signal transduction of the TGF-beta superfamily of molecules and inactivation of TGF-beta mediated growth inhibition is supposed to be the driving force for DPC4 inactivation in human tumors. However, DPC4 mediated tumor suppression by reconstitution of defective cells has not yet been reported. Here we show suppression of tumorigenicity in nude mice by stable reexpression of DPC4 in SW480 colon carcinoma cells. In vitro growth of DPC4-transfected cells was not affected and resistance towards TGF-beta mediated growth inhibition was retained. Instead, cells exhibited morphological alterations and adhesion and spreading were accelerated. These phenotypic changes were associated with reduced expression levels of the endogenous urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and plasminogen-activator-inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) genes, the products of which are implicated in the control of cell adhesion and invasion. In patients, high expression levels of uPA and PAI-1 correlate with poor prognosis. Thus, reduced expression of uPA and PAI-1 is consistent with suppression of tumorigenicity in DPC4 reconstituted cells. These results demonstrate DPC4's tumor suppressive function and suggest a potential role for DPC4 as a modulator of cell adhesion and invasion.
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PMID:DPC4/SMAD4 mediated tumor suppression of colon carcinoma cells is associated with reduced urokinase expression. 1034 Mar 87

The urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) interacts with its receptor (uPAR) to promote proteolysis as well as cell proliferation and migration. These functions contribute to the pathogenesis of neoplastic growth and invasiveness. Expression of uPAR in tumor extracts also inversely correlates with prognosis in many forms of cancer. In this study, we sought to determine if differences in uPAR expression were distinguishable between cultured human lung carcinoma and malignant mesothelioma subtypes. We also sought to determine if, as in malignant mesothelioma cells, uPAR expression is regulated at the posttranscriptional level in cultured malignant lung carcinoma cells. Using 125I-uPA binding and ligand blotting techniques, uPAR was expressed by phenotypically diverse lung carcinoma cell lines, including the H460, H157 and H1395 non-small cell lines and the H146 small cell lung carcinoma line. Increased uPAR expression was also detected in spindle-shaped (M33K) and epithelioid (M9K and MS-1) malignant mesothelioma cells. Selected mediators, including TGF-beta, TNF-alpha, LPS and PMA, uniformly enhanced uPAR expression in each of the tumor cell lines. Steady state uPAR mRNA expression was determined by RNase protection assay and correlated directly with the changes in cell surface uPAR expression. By gel mobility shift and UV-cross linking assays, a uPAR mRNA binding protein (uPAR mRNABp) implicated in the posttranscriptional control of message stability, was identified in each of the cell lines. Expression of uPAR and its message in cultured lung carcinoma and malignant mesothelioma cells is similarly influenced by effectors present in the tumor microenvironment. Regulation of the uPAR message occurs at the posttranscriptional level in cultured small and non-small cell lung carcinoma cells as well as spindle-shaped and fibrous malignant mesothelioma cell lines. Posttranscriptional regulation of uPAR in all these cells involves the interaction of the uPAR mRNABp with uPAR mRNA, which promotes uPAR mRNA destabilization.
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PMID:Posttranscriptional regulation of urokinase receptor gene expression in human lung carcinoma and mesothelioma cells in vitro. 1054 67

Thickening of the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) results from excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins following glomerular injury. We studied the temporal relationship between the expression of growth factors, ECM accumulation, ECM degrading proteinases, and their inhibitors in a rat model of anti-GBM antibody (Ab) glomerulonephritis (GN) by the RNase protection assay and immunohistochemistry. There were two- or fourfold increases in the expression of transforming growth factor-beta(1) (TGF-beta(1)) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) A and B chain mRNAs 4 days after anti-GBM Ab administration. These changes were temporally associated with increased accumulation of alpha1(III) and alpha2(IV) collagens, fibronectin, and heparan sulfate proteoglycan along the GBM. The increase in matrix accumulation was associated with little or no increases in the proteinases, urokinase plasminogen activator (u-PA) and transin, respectively. There was a 1.6x increase in the u-PA/28s mRNA ratio on day 4 in rats with anti-GBM Ab GN, but this was not associated with an increase in u-PA biologic activity. By comparison, the mRNAs of the proteinase inhibitors, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP) were 5x greater than that of control rats on day 4. PAI-1 mRNA correlate with increased biologic activity. These data demonstrate a temporal association between TGF-beta(1) and PDGF expression and matrix accumulation within the GBM in anti-GBM Ab GN. In addition, it suggest that this matrix accumulation results from an imbalance between matrix synthesis and degradation.
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PMID:Glomerular extracellular matrix accumulation in experimental anti-GBM Ab glomerulonephritis. 1064 7

BACKGROUND: Antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) have been proposed as a new therapy for patients with cancer, including malignant brain tumors. Antisense ODNs are taken up by tumor cells and selectively block gene expression. Use of ODNs for brain tumors is attractive due to their theoretical specificity, relative ease of production and, to date, paucity of reported adverse effects. This article presents current information regarding antisense ODNs and their possible future use for the treatment of brain tumors. METHODS: The available published experimental and clinical information regarding antisense ODN treatment of glioblastoma cells and administration into the central nervous system (CNS) was reviewed. Other clinically relevant information pertaining to the molecular biology of antisense ODNs was also collected and summarized. RESULTS: Targets for antisense ODN therapy in malignant glioma cells have included c-myc, c-myb, c-sis, c-erb B, CD44, p34cdc2, bFGF, PDGF, TGF-beta, IGF-1, PKC-alpha tumor necrosis factor, urokinase, and S100beta protein. Few in vivo studies of ODN treatment of brain tumors have yet been reported. Systemically administered ODNs enter the brain only in extremely small quantities; therefore, microinfusion into the brain has been recommended. CONCLUSIONS: Antisense ODNs have been used successfully to block glioblastoma gene expression in vitro and expression of multiple genes within the CNS of experimental animals. Upcoming clinical trials will address the safety of antisense ODN use against malignant brain tumors.
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PMID:Antisense Oligodeoxynucleotide Technology: Potential Use for the Treatment of Malignant Brain Tumors. 1076 Oct 27

We have used delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses to probe the mechanisms of drug-induced cardiac allograft acceptance in mice. DBA/2-->C57BL/6 cardiac allograft recipients treated transiently with gallium nitrate accept their grafts for >90 days and fail to display DBA/2-reactive DTH responses. These DTH responses are restored when anti-TGF-beta Abs are included at the challenge site, and cell depletion studies showed that this DTH inhibition is mediated by CD4+ cells. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that allograft acceptor mice produce no more than background levels of TGF-beta mRNA at DTH challenge sites. This suggests that DTH regulation in allograft acceptor mice may involve TGF-beta activation, rather than TGF-beta production. The protease, plasmin, can activate TGF-beta, and activated T cells can express a receptor for the plasmin-producing enzyme urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), and can also produce both uPA and tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA). We observed that Abs to tPA or uPA can replace anti-TGF-beta mAb for the restoration of donor-reactive DTH responses in allograft acceptor mice. Histologic analysis revealed that accepted cardiac allografts express uPA, tPA, and active TGF-beta, whereas accepted cardiac isografts express only tPA, but not uPA or activated TGF-beta. These data demonstrate that local tPA and uPA contribute to DTH regulation in allograft acceptor mice and suggest that these elements of the fibrinolytic pathway are used to control donor-reactive cell-mediated immunity in allograft acceptor mice.
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PMID:Mechanisms of graft acceptance: evidence that plasminogen activator controls donor-reactive delayed-type hypersensitivity responses in cardiac allograft acceptor mice. 1079 71

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF) is a well-known inhibitor of myogenic differentiation as well as an autocrine product of rhabdomyosarcoma cells. We studied the role of the TGF-beta autocrine loop in regulating growth and myogenic differentiation in the human rhabdomyosarcoma cell line, RD. We previously reported that the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) induces growth arrest and myogenic differentiation in these cells, which constitutively express muscle regulatory factors. We show that TPA inhibits the activation of secreted latent TGF-beta, thus decreasing the concentration of active TGF-beta to which the cells are exposed. This event is mediated by the TPA-induced alteration of the uPA/PAI serine-protease system. Complete removal of TGF-beta, mediated by the ectopic expression of a soluble type II TGF-beta receptor dominant negative cDNA, induces growth arrest, but does not trigger differentiation. In contrast, a reduction in the TGF-beta concentration, to a range of 0.14-0.20 x 10(-2) ng/ml (which is similar to that measured in TPA-treated cells), mimics TPA-induced differentiation. Taken together, these data demonstrate that cell growth and suppression of differentiation in rhabdomyosarcoma cells require overproduction of active TGF-beta; furthermore, they show that a 'critical' concentration of TGF-beta is necessary for myogenic differentiation to occur, whereas myogenesis is abolished below and above this concentration. By impairing the TGF-beta autocrine loop, TPA stabilizes the factor concentration within the range compatible for differentiation to occur. In contrast, in human primary muscle cells a much higher concentration of exogenous TGF-beta is required for the differentiation inhibitory effect and TPA inhibits differentiation in these cells probably through a TGF-beta independent mechanism. These data thus clarify the mechanism underlying the multiple roles of TGF-beta in the regulation of both the transformed and differentiated phenotype.
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PMID:TGF-beta autocrine loop regulates cell growth and myogenic differentiation in human rhabdomyosarcoma cells. 1083 37

Transformed PDV keratinocytes respond to TGF-beta(1) by stimulating cell motility and invasiveness concomitantly to enhancement of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) expression/secretion. Depletion of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1, 2) proteins by treatment of PDV cells with antisense oligonucleotides reduced basal uPA production and abolished stimulation of uPA secreted levels and cell motility by TGF-beta(1). PD098059, an inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase (MEK), decreased TGF-beta(1)-induced uPA mRNA expression, secreted activity in a dose-dependent manner, and abrogated TGF-beta(1)-stimulated cell motility and invasiveness. PDV-derived dominant-negative RasN17 cell transfectants secreted similar amounts of uPA and exhibited similar invasive abilities as the parental cells or control clones, but were unable to respond to TGF-beta(1) for stimulation of uPA-secreted levels and invasiveness. These results suggest that a Ras/MAPK transduction pathway is involved in the invasive response of transformed keratinocytes to TGF-beta(1).
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PMID:Involvement of the Ras/MAPK signaling pathway in the modulation of urokinase production and cellular invasiveness by transforming growth factor-beta(1) in transformed keratinocytes. 1087 38

Smad4 functions as a transcription factor in TGF-beta signalling. We have investigated the role of Smad4 in the TGF-beta1 cell responses of transformed PDV keratinocytes, which contain a Ras oncogene, and of non-tumorigenic MCA3D keratinocytes, by transfecting both cell lines with a dominant-negative Smad4 construct. Smad4 mediates TGF-beta1-induced up-regulation of p21Cip1 and growth arrest in MCA3D cells. However, in PDV keratinocytes, Smad4 is only partially involved in TGF-beta1-induced growth inhibition, and does not mediate enhancement of p21Cip1 levels by the growth factor. TGF-beta1 activates Ras/Erk signalling activity in both cell lines. PD098059, a specific inhibitor of MEK, disminishes TGF-beta1-induced p21Cip1 levels in PDV but not in MCA3D cells, suggesting an involvement of Erk in up-regulation of p21Cip1 by TGF-beta1 in PDV cells. PDV dominant-negative Smad4 cell transfectants, but not MCA3D transfectants, showed constitutive hyperactivation of the Ras/Erk signalling pathway, increased secretion of urokinase, higher motility properties, and a change to a fibroblastoid cell morphology associated in vivo with the transition from a well differentiated to a poorly differentiated tumour phenotype. Infection of MCA3D control and dominant negative Smad4 cell transfectants with retroviruses carrying a Ras oncogene led to enhanced p21Cip1 and urokinase secreted levels, independently of TGF-beta1 stimulation, that were reduced by PD098059. These results suggest that Smad4 acts inhibiting Ras-dependent Erk signalling activity in Ras-transformed keratinocytes. Loss of Smad4 function in these cells results in hyperactivation of Erk signalling and progression to undifferentiated carcinomas. Oncogene (2000) 19, 4134 - 4145
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PMID:Blockade of Smad4 in transformed keratinocytes containing a Ras oncogene leads to hyperactivation of the Ras-dependent Erk signalling pathway associated with progression to undifferentiated carcinomas. 1096 74

Transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) stimulates migration/invasion of mouse transformed keratinocytes and increases urokinase (u-PA) expression/secretion. In this report, we analyzed the biological behavior of two naturally occurring inhibitors of protein tyrosine kinases, genistein and curcumin, that could abrogate the enhancement of u-PA levels induced by TGF-beta 1 in transformed keratinocytes. Our results showed that genistein and curcumin blocked this response in a dose-dependent manner and also inhibited the TGF-beta 1-induced synthesis of fibronectin, an early responsive gene to the growth factor. Both compounds also reduced TGF-beta 1-stimulated cell migration and invasiveness. These results suggest that a tyrosine kinase-signaling pathway should be involved in TGF-beta 1-mediated increased malignancy of transformed keratinocytes and that genistein and curcumin could play an important role in inhibiting tumor progression.
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PMID:Genistein and curcumin block TGF-beta 1-induced u-PA expression and migratory and invasive phenotype in mouse epidermal keratinocytes. 1096 19


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