Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.24.17 (MMP-3)
 3,419 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The ultimate stage of carcinogenesis in both human and mouse epithelial cells is the ability to invade surrounding tissues and metastasize to distant sites. In mouse skin tumours, the development of the invasive, spindle cell phenotype is associated with an imbalance of alleles on mouse chromosome 7, including the H-ras gene. In previous work, we have described clonally related squamous and spindle cell lines from the same primary tumour which differed substantially in morphology and behaviour, but showed the same series of mutations in H-ras and p53 genes. One of the events which takes place during this transition is disruption of cell-cell contacts, possibly due to the induced expression of metalloproteinases such as stromelysin-1 and disappearance of the cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin. Parallel studies using somatic cell hybrids have shown that the spindle cell phenotype is recessive in hybrids between squamous and spindle cells. We propose that an important epidermal differentiation-controlling gene is lost during the spindle cell transition.
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PMID:Molecular mechanisms of invasion and metastasis during mouse skin tumour progression. 765 34

An excess of the proinflammatory substance IL-18 is present in joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and expression of IL-18 receptor (IL-18R) regulates IL-18 bioactivity in various cell types. We examined the expression of IL-18R alpha-chain and beta-chain and the biologic effects of IL-18 in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) after long-term culture. The presence of both IL-18R chains was a prerequisite for IL-18 signal transduction in FLS. However, all FLS cultures studied were either resistant or barely responsive to IL-18 stimulation as regards cell proliferation, expression of adhesion molecules ICAM-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1, and the release of interstitial collagenase and stromelysin, IL-6 and IL-8, prostaglandin E2, or nitric oxide. We conclude that the presence of macrophages or IL-18R+ T cells that can respond directly to IL-18 is essential for the proinflammatory effects of IL-18 in synovitis in RA.
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PMID:Expression of interleukin-18 receptor in fibroblast-like synoviocytes. 1187 50

Tumor progression is characterized by loss of cell adhesion and increase of invasion and metastasis. The cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin is frequently down-regulated or mutated in tumors. In addition to down-regulation of cell adhesion, degradation of the extracellular matrix by matrix metalloproteinases is necessary for tumor cell spread. To investigate a possible link between E-cadherin and matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP-3), we examined expression of MMP-3 in human MDA-MB-435S cells transfected with wild-type (wt) or three different tumor-associated mutant E-cadherin variants with alterations in exons 8 or 9, originally identified in gastric carcinoma patients. In the presence of wt E-cadherin, the MMP-3 protein level was decreased in cellular lysates and in the supernatant where a secreted form of the protein is detectable. Down-regulation of MMP-3 was not found in MDA-MB-435S transfectants expressing mutant E-cadherin variants which indicates that E-cadherin mutations interfere with the MMP-3 suppressing function of E-cadherin. The mechanism of regulation of MMP-3 by E-cadherin is presently not clear. We have previously found that cell motility is enhanced by expression of the mutant E-cadherin variants used in this study. Here, we found that application of the synthetic inhibitor of MMP-3 NNGH and small interfering RNA (siRNA) directed against MMP-3 reduce mutant E-cadherin-enhanced cell motility. Taken together, our results point to a functional link between MMP-3 and E-cadherin. MMP-3 is differentially regulated by expression of wt or mutant E-cadherin. On the other hand, MMP-3 plays a role in the enhancement of cell motility by mutant E-cadherin. Both observations may be highly relevant for tumor progression since they concern degradation of the extracellular matrix and tumor cell spread.
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PMID:Effect of tumor-associated mutant E-cadherin variants with defects in exons 8 or 9 on matrix metalloproteinase 3. 1538 40