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)

We evaluated the intra- and inter-observer reproducibility of quantitative immunohistochemical (IHC) analyses using the Cell Analysis Systems (CAS) 200/486 image analyzer of Estrogen Receptor (ER), Progesterone Receptor (PR), proliferation-associated nuclear protein (Ki67), HER-2/neu (c-erbB-2) protein over-expression and cathepsin D (CD) in 20 randomly-selected invasive breast carcinomas. Qualitative analysis of IHC Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGF-R) was also assessed in this study for comparative purposes. Duplicate blind assessments by the same observer showed excellent correlations for all quantitative IHC features (P < 0.001; P = 0.004 for neu). However, the immuno-quantitative analyses results between the 3 different operators showed lower correlation coefficient values, thus being less reproducible. This resulted in systematic differences and bias between the observers. This was also clear from the overall agreement between the 3 observers which was 70% for ER, 70% for PR, 56% for Ki67, 79% for c-erbB-2 and 75% for CD. The qualitative visual assessments of EGF-R, expressed as either positive or negative, showed a 75% agreement between observers and 85% intra-observer agreement (comparable to quantitative digital image processing results). The same results were obtained with kappa statistics. A further analysis of the factors causing the lack of reproducibility was performed. For quantitative IHC, segmentation of stored and retrieved digitized images was quite reproducible between and within well-trained observers. However, variation between different fields of vision of one and the same section showed large variations for most cases. Therefore, differences in sampling of fields within a section appeared to be the major cause of lack of reproducibility between observers, although segmentation differences still added slightly to the inter-observer variations. Accordingly, a strict sampling protocol of fields of vision is mandatory to obtain reproducible quantitative IHC results. It is clear from the present study that so-called random (but in fact, at convenience) selection of fields of vision for measurement is not a sufficient guarantee of adequacy of the sampling.
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PMID:Quantitative immunohistochemistry using the CAS 200/486 image analysis system in invasive breast carcinoma: a reproducibility study. 754 96

In addition to stimulation of the target gene fatty-acid synthetase, the synthetic progestin R5020 strongly inhibited estradiol-induced pS2 and cathepsin D mRNA levels in MCF7 human breast cancer cells as shown by Northern blot analysis. Inhibition was half-maximal with 30 pM R5020, and the antiprogestin RU486 had only a weak effect. Two human progesterone receptor isoforms have been described; isoform A is a truncated form of isoform B and lacks the 164 N-terminal amino acids. We hypothesized that the two isoforms could have a differential capacity to transrepress estrogen-induced responses. Therefore, in MDA-MB231 cells containing no progesterone and estrogen receptors, we transiently transfected progesterone receptor expression vectors coding for form B (hPR1 or hPR0) or form A (hPR2) along with the estrogen receptor expression vector HEO. We show that R5020 inhibited estradiol-induced transcription of the pS2-CAT reporter plasmid only in cells selectively expressing isoform B. The same results were obtained when progesterone receptor isoforms were overexpressed in MCF7, Ishikawa, HeLa, or NIH-3T3 cells. Transrepression was dependent on the promoter context since the extent of inhibition by isoform B was higher when evaluated with pS2 or cathepsin D nonpalindromic estrogen-responsive element-mediated transcription than with the perfect palindromic form of the vitellogenin gene. Isoform A was inefficient regardless of the reporter construct used. Inhibition varied with the isoform ratio, and isoform B had a dominant effect, with > 70% inhibition measured in cells transfected with the same amount of both progesterone receptor isoforms. Progestin repressed only one of the two transcription activation functions of the estrogen receptor, AF-2, which corresponds to the hormone-binding domain. We conclude that differential expression of progesterone receptor isoforms could be responsible for a tissue-specific inhibition of estrogen target genes by progestins.
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PMID:Differential effect of forms A and B of human progesterone receptor on estradiol-dependent transcription. 808

The mammary gland seems to be the only organ that is not fully developed at birth. Estrogens stimulate breast tissue via estrogen receptors (ERs). In the mammary gland, ER-mediated mechanisms have been shown to regulate: various growth factors, such as TGF-alpha and TGF-beta; enzymes, such as cathepsin D and plasminogen-activator; proto-oncogenes, such as c-fos, c-myc and HER-2/neu; cyclines and other regulatory substances that provide signaling systems for cell division and differentiation; other steroid receptors and epidermal growth factor receptors. Estrogen target genes contain estrogen-responsive elements. In these genes, transcription will be activated through interaction with the estrogen/ER protein complex. Subsequent activation of proto-oncogenes provides an explanation for the stimulating effect of estrogens on the glandular breast. Progesterone may be the key in influencing the risk of breast cancer with the peak of mitotic activity in the breast during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. On the other hand, in human breast cancer cell lines, both proliferation and inhibition have been observed with various progestational agents. Relevant biological and clinical issues are pregnancy and exposure to exogenous hormones. The intense hormonal stimulation of pregnancy (both estrogen and progesterone) has no adverse impact on the course of breast cancer. Pregnancy, with its mammogenetic differentiation, results in the protection of this organ from carcinogenesis. Characterization of specific lobular morphology serves as an indicator of the level of differentiation achieved by the organ, and thus provides means to assess the risk of the gland undergoing neoplastic transformation when exposed to given agents. Sufficient evidence exists to indicate the possibility of a slightly increased risk of breast cancer after approximately one decade of postmenopausal estrogen use. A review of the epidemiologic studies of postmenopausal hormone replacement and the risk of breast cancer fails to provide definitive evidence. Recent information derives from observations of cellular proliferation, plasma and tissue estradiol and progesterone receptor levels, and the percentage of apoptotic epithelial cells in human breast tissue. Several studies suggest that short-term, continuous combined HRT does not increase breast cancer recurrence or mortality. The participation of sexual hormones in the mammogenetic process during pregnancy might serve as an intermediate end point in assessing the effectiveness of hormones as chemopreventive agents. Investigations based on history, and breast morphology, should enable us to select estrogens and progestogens for HRT, and adopt optimal therapeutic regimens.
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PMID:Potential benefits of estrogens and progestogens on breast cancer. 992 May 36

Estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and cathepsin D were determined in 10 patients with giant-cell bone tumor. Progesterone receptors were expressed in 5 of 10 patients tested, whereas low levels of estrogen receptors were found in 1 patient. Cathepsin D levels were elevated in 5 of 5 samples studied. High values of progesterone receptors correlated with low tumor grade. Cathepsin D levels correlated negatively with tumor grade but positively with local tumor expansion. Giant-cell bone tumor expressing progesterone receptors may manifest benign behavior. Cathepsin D may be involved in tumor expansion, possibly through its effect on bone resorption.
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PMID:Giant-cell tumors of bone and progesterone receptors. 1469 Feb 91