Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.23.5 (cathepsin D)
 4,130 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Differential techniques have revealed several novel genes and peptides involved in trophoblast development including PL74/gdf15/MIC-1, a TGFbeta family cytokine that controls apoptosis and differentiation, PL48, a new serine-threonine protein kinase, serum and glucocorticoid-induced kinase, PBK-1, a tunicamycin-responsive gene, a cathepsin D-like gene (DAP-1) and hypoxia- regulated genes HRF-1,2,6,8 and HIF-1alpha, HIF-1beta, and hEPAS-1. Syncytin, a cell fusion- inducing gene, has been cloned from placenta where it regulates cell fusion. ERV-3 has also been demonstrated to promote cell fusion. These two genes represent the first demonstrated functions of endogenous retroviral sequences in human tissues. Endoglin, PlGF, TGFbeta3, IGF-II, IGFBP-1, and a placental IGFBP protease have found new roles in regulating cytotrophoblast proliferation and invasiveness. A specific placental p105 rasGAP protein has been identified. The homeobox genes DLX4, HB24, MSX2 and MOX2 also likely play a role in development at the epithelial-mesenchymal boundary. Transcription factors such as TEF-5, Hand1, HEB, HASH-2 and two genes represented by ESTs may have regulatory roles in placental development. Evidence suggests that the placenta has an unusual two-cell system for apoptosis regulation in which the cytotrophoblast may direct later apoptotic events in the syncytium, and with syncytialization possibly triggered by the "phosphatidylserine flip". Thus, the placenta is both a rich source of new growth-regulatory substances, and a model system for originating new paradigms of developmental biology.
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PMID:Life and death in the placenta: new peptides and genes regulating human syncytiotrophoblast and extravillous cytotrophoblast lineage formation and renewal. 1236 35

Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha is a crucial transcription factor involved in the adaptive response to hypoxia, whereas cathepsin D, which regulates angiostatin in several cancer cell lines, has been reported to be upregulated by HIF-1alpha. In order to determine the involvement of angiogenesis in pituitary adenomas, we studied the expression of both HIF-1alpha and cathepsin D in tissues from 58 patients (39 women, 19 men, ranging in age from 20 to 78 yr), sorted by histological group, and assayed by double immunohistochemistry. HIF-1alpha immunoreactivity, confined to the nucleoplasm, was present in both tumor and vascular endothelial cells. There was no difference in microvascular density (p = 0.7761) by histotype. ACTH-producing adenomas showed the lowest level of HIF-1alpha, whereas prolactin (PRL)-producing adenomas and HIF-1alpha-positive microvessels showed the highest (p < 0.001). In contrast, the lowest expression of cathepsin D was observed in PRL-producing adenomas, whereas the highest expression was detected in ACTH-producing adenomas (p < 0.0001). Imaging analysis with fluorescence double immunohistochemistry showed that HIF-1alpha-negative tumor cells did not express significantly higher levels of cathepsin D. In these poorly vascularized tumors, the hypoxic marker HIF-1alpha may not downregulate cathepsin D. The mechanisms of tumor angiogenesis and cell invasion in pituitary adenomas may differ from those in other tumor cells.
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PMID:Expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha and cathepsin D in pituitary adenomas. 1619 97

Extensive research within the last decade has revealed that most chronic illnesses such as cancer, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, neurological diseases, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases exhibit dysregulation of multiple cell signaling pathways that have been linked to inflammation. Thus mono-targeted therapies developed for the last two decades for these diseases have proven to be unsafe, ineffective and expensive. Although fruits and vegetables are regarded to have therapeutic potential against chronic illnesses, neither their active component nor the mechanism of action is well understood. Resveratrol (trans-3, 5, 4'-trihydroxystilbene), a component of grapes, berries, peanuts and other traditional medicines, is one such polyphenol that has been shown to mediate its effects through modulation of many different pathways. This stilbene has been shown to bind to numerous cell-signaling molecules such as multi drug resistance protein, topoisomerase II, aromatase, DNA polymerase, estrogen receptors, tubulin and F1-ATPase. Resveratrol has also been shown to activate various transcription factor (e.g; NFkappaB, STAT3, HIF-1alpha, beta-catenin and PPAR-gamma), suppress the expression of antiapoptotic gene products (e.g; Bcl-2, Bcl-X(L), XIAP and survivin), inhibit protein kinases (e.g; src, PI3K, JNK, and AKT), induce antioxidant enzymes (e,g; catalase, superoxide dismutase and hemoxygenase-1), suppress the expression of inflammatory biomarkers (e.g., TNF, COX-2, iNOS, and CRP), inhibit the expression of angiogenic and metastatic gene products (e.g., MMPs, VEGF, cathepsin D, and ICAM-1), and modulate cell cycle regulatory genes (e.g., p53, Rb, PTEN, cyclins and CDKs). Numerous animal studies have demonstrated that this polyphenol holds promise against numerous age-associated diseases including cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. In view of these studies, resveratrol's prospects for use in the clinics are rapidly accelerating. Efforts are also underway to improve its activity in vivo through structural modification and reformulation. Our review describes various targets of resveratrol and their therapeutic potential.
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PMID:Resveratrol: a multitargeted agent for age-associated chronic diseases. 1841 53