Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0006142 (breast cancer)
160,383 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

When small amounts of trypsin were added to prelabelled estrogen receptors in 24 human breast cancer cytosols there was a substantial increase in the binding capacity [79 +/- 11 (SE)%]. At the same time the affinity of the hormone receptor interaction was maintained at a very high level or even increased. This finding is discussed in relation to previous results where a diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP) inhibitable protease activity was shown to cause a similar augmentation of estrogen binding sites in human myometrial cytosols. Addition of sodiummolybdate at or immediately after homogenization led to a similar increase in estrogen binding sites. Because these two effects were not additive we propose that the limited trypsin treatment reactivates the binding sites previously inactivated through a mechanism which can be inhibited by sodiummolybdate.
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PMID:Increase in the estrogen binding capacity of breast cancer cytosols following limited proteolysis with trypsin. 708 65

A clonogenic assay of long-term breast cancer cell cultures in vitro has been developed to provide a highly reproducible method with which to quantitate tumor cell killing by hormones and/or cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents. Monolayer cultures of estrogen receptor-positive MCF-7 human breast cancer cells and of estrogen receptor-negative Evsa T cells are harvested by treatment with 0.01% trypsin:0.02% EDTA in Hanks' balanced salt solution. Cell suspensions are treated with drug or hormone in serum-free medium for 1 hr at 37 degrees; treated cells are washed, plated, and cultured for approximately 14 days; and colonies consisting of greater than or equal to 30 cells are counted. Compared to estrogen receptor-positive cells, estrogen receptor-negative cells were 2-fold more sensitive to melphalan but were conversely 1.9-fold more resistant to Adriamycin; these differences were statistically significant (p less than 0.001). Thus, response to cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents appeared to be independent of estrogen receptor status. For cells treated with diethylstilbestrol, the dose of drug or hormone reducing the surviving cell fraction to 1/e (DO) for estrogen receptor-positive cells was 2.27 nmol/ml, and that for estrogen receptor-negative cells was 2.80 nmol/ml; this difference was not statistically significant. However, with tamoxifen therapy, the DO for estrogen receptor-positive cells was 0.601 nmol/ml, and that for estrogen receptor-negative cells was 3.64 nmol/ml; this 6-fold greater degree of resistance to tamoxifen of estrogen receptor-negative cells was highly significant (p less than 0.001). Treatment of cells for 24 hr with 17 beta-estradiol stimulated proliferation not only of estrogen receptor-positive cells but also of estrogen receptor-negative cells. However, estradiol at concentrations up to 200 microM had no apparent cytocidal activity, as measured by the clonogenic assay. Furthermore, treatment of MCF-7 cells simultaneously with estradiol and either diethylstilbestrol or tamoxifen failed to reverse the cytocidal activity of those two agents. These findings suggest that, in the clonogenic assay described herein, diethylstilbestrol and tamoxifen may kill human breast cancer cells by an independent mechanism of action and that the cytocidal activity of diethylstilbestrol and the proliferative effect of 17 beta-estradiol appear to be independent of estrogen receptor status.
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PMID:Drug and hormone sensitivity of estrogen receptor-positive and -negative human breast cancer cells in vitro. 713 16

We have compared the prediction of distant recurrence for S-phase fraction (SPF) and DNA-ploidy, as estimated by flow cytometry, on an epithelial cell population and an unselected cell population from 268 node-negative breast-cancer patients diagnosed between 1985 and 1988. The tumor tissue was mechanically disintegrated and divided for flow cytometric analysis using both gated cells containing cytokeratin 8 and 18 and ungated cells treated with a detergent-trypsin solution. The relationship to distant recurrence was investigated for flow cytometric data, tumor size and estrogen and progesterone receptor content in univariate and multivariate Cox's regression analysis. The regression analyses were performed on 209 cases with S-phase fractions estimated by both methods. In 11 cases, DNA-ploidy classification differed, reflecting increased sensitivity to minor aneuploid peaks but a decreased ability to separate peaks in the near-diploid region for the gated populations. When SPF were used in univariate analysis as a continuous parameter or the upper tertile was used as cut-off value, SPF from the cytokeratin-gated cell population were most closely associated with recurrence and contributed additional prognostic information to SPF from the unselected cell population in the multivariate analysis. Out of the following variables:tumor size, ER and PR status, SPF and DNA ploidy, only SPF from immunoselected cells contributed prognostic information in multivariate analysis. These results indicate that SPF from immunoselected cell populations improves the prediction of recurrence in node-negative breast cancer.
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PMID:S-phase fraction after gating on epithelial cells predicts recurrence in node-negative breast cancer. 752 14

Evidence indicates that a component of the multicatalytic proteinase complex (MPC) that preferentially cleaves bonds after branched chain amino acids (BrAAP) is a major factor responsible for the protein-degrading activity of the MPC. We report here the synthesis of substrate-related peptidyl aldehydes that inhibit the activity of this component toward both synthetic peptide substrates and proteins. The most potent of the inhibitors, Cbz-Gly-Pro-Phe-leucinal (Cbz-GPFL-CHO) inhibits competitively with a Ki of 1.5 microM. The peptidyl aldehydes also inhibit the small neutral amino acid preferring and the peptidylglutamyl-peptide hydrolyzing activities of the MPC. The chymotrypsin-like activity is only weakly inhibited, and the trypsin-like activity is moderately activated. The importance of a Pro residue in the P3 position and a leucinal residue in the P1 position for inhibition of the BrAAP component is indicated by the finding that replacement of these residues by a glycine or phenylalaninal, respectively, markedly increases the Ki. Cbz-GPFL-CHO inhibited the BrAAP activity with the same Ki both before and after activation of this component by exposure of the MPC to 3,4-dichloroisocoumarin, suggesting that the peptidyl aldehyde is an effective inhibitor of both the overt and latent proteolytic activities of the MPC. Incubation of a human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) in culture with the inhibitors of the BrAAP component led to an accumulation of ubiquitin-protein conjugates, indicating inhibition of the ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic pathway.
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PMID:Inhibition of the proteolytic activity of the multicatalytic proteinase complex (proteasome) by substrate-related peptidyl aldehydes. 796 80

A human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), when sealed on confluent bovine pulmonary aortic endothelial cell (CPAE) monolayers, induced morphological changes (retraction) in CPAE cells. The area of retraction depended on the incubation time and the number of MCF-7 cells, suggesting that MCF-7 cells had the capacity to retract CPAE cells. This capacity was reduced by 60% by pretreatment of MCF-7 cells with 17 beta-estradiol (E) and progesterone (Pg). The extent of retraction was not affected by the addition of various protease inhibitors. CPAE retraction was induced also by adding conditioned medium (CM) from the culture of MCF-7 cells. Considerably less activity was detected in the CM obtained from MCF-7 cells cultured in the presence of E and Pg. The retraction was reversed in 24 h by culturing the monolayer in fresh medium without CM and was not induced by trypsin treatment of the CM.
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PMID:Retraction of cultured endothelial cell monolayer by human breast cancer cells, MCF-7. 811 49

alpha 1-Antitrypsin (alpha 1-AT) and alpha 1-antichymotrypsin (alpha 1-ACHY) are closely related protease inhibitors, synthesized primarily by the liver, which play major roles in modulation of the inflammatory response. Previously, we had shown that MCF-7 human breast cancer cells were able to synthesize active alpha 1-AT and alpha 1-ACHY and that the synthesis of both inhibitors varied among different MCF-7 sublines. We now show that when MCF-7(ML) cells (a subline synthesizing low levels of alpha 1-AT) are grown in soft agar in medium depleted of its trypsin inhibitory capacity (i.e. alpha 1-AT-free), addition of alpha 1-AT (50 micrograms/ml) significantly reduces colony formation in both the presence and absence of estradiol (34% and 44%, respectively). Under these conditions, incubation with 10(-7) M estradiol alone increased colony formation 2- to 3-fold. Colony formation was also significantly reduced by serum leukocyte protease inhibitor, which, like alpha 1-AT, is a potent inhibitor of elastase-like enzymes. We also found that a variety of inflammatory mediators, cytokines, and steroid hormones are able to stimulate synthesis of alpha 1-AT and alpha 1-ACHY by MCF-7 cells. Stimulation by interleukin-6 (IL-6; 200 U/ml), epidermal growth factor (4 nM), and estradiol (10(-7) M) was 2- to 3-fold, whereas stimulations by tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA; 80 nM) and IL-1 (10 U/ml) were 2- to 5-fold and 5- to 10-fold, respectively. In each instance, protein synthesis, monitored by immunoprecipitation of 35S-labeled proteins followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and steady state mRNA levels, monitored by Northern blot analysis with specific cDNA probes, increased to the same extent. Consistent with their ability to stimulate alpha 1-AT synthesis, TPA and IL-1 reduced colony formation in the absence of estradiol by 65% and 63%, respectively. In addition, the effects of both TPA and IL-1 could be reversed by antibody to alpha 1-AT. These results suggest that local synthesis of alpha 1-AT and possibly other protease inhibitors may be important in regulating the tumorigenic potential of MCF-7 breast cancer cells.
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PMID:alpha 1-Antitrypsin- and anchorage-independent growth of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. 836 78

Tumor-stromal interactions appear to play an important role in the induction of metalloproteinase expression in malignant tumors. We describe a tissue culture system in which expression of MMP-9 (gelatinase B or the 92 kDa type IV collagenase/gelatinase) was induced by co-cultivation of fibroblasts with breast cancer cell lines. While neither the breast cancer cells nor the normal rat embryo fibroblasts made MMP-9 alone in culture, human MMP-9 was made in the co-cultures. The MMP-9 was secreted in a latent form. The induction occurred at least in part through increases in the MMP-9 mRNA levels in the breast cancer cells. These increases did not appear to require protein synthesis. Conditioned medium from the fibroblasts could duplicate the induction of MMP-9 in the breast cancer cell lines. The active factor in the medium was inactivated by heat or by trypsin suggesting that it was a protein. This protein was in the size range of 30-100 kDa. Thus, fibroblasts could secrete a factor which was able to regulate the expression of MMP-9 in breast cancer cells.
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PMID:Induction of matrix metalloproteinase 9 expression in breast carcinoma cells by a soluble factor from fibroblasts. 867 73

In an effort to isolate genes with down-regulated expression at the mRNA level during oncogenic transformation of human mammary epithelial cells (MECs), we performed subtractive hybridization between normal MEC strain 76N and its radiation-transformed tumorigenic derivative 76R-30. Here, we report the isolation of cDNA clones corresponding to a 1.4-kb mRNA species that is abundantly expressed in 76N cells but is drastically reduced in 76R-30 cells. Based on its selective expression in MECs compared with fibroblasts, the corresponding gene is designated NES1 (normal epithelial cell-specific 1). Sequence analysis of the full-length NES1 cDNA clones revealed it to be a novel gene with a predicted polypeptide of 30.14 kilodaltons; in vitro transcription and translation confirmed this prediction. Database searches revealed a 50-63% similarity and 34-42% identity with several families of serine proteases, in particular the trypsin-like proteases, members of the glandular kallikrein family (including prostate-specific antigen, nerve growth factor gamma, and epidermal growth factor-binding protein) and the activators for the kringle family proteins (including the human tissue plasminogen activator and human hepatocyte growth factor activator). Importantly, all of the residues known to be crucial for substrate binding, specificity, and catalysis by the serine proteases are conserved in the predicted NES1 protein, suggesting that it may be a protease. An antipeptide antibody directed against a unique region of the NES1 protein (amino acids 120-137) detected a specific 30-kilodalton polypeptide almost exclusively in the supernatant of the mRNA-positive MECs, suggesting that NES1 is a secreted protein. The 1.4-kb NES1 mRNA was expressed in several organs (thymus, prostate, testis, ovary, small intestine, colon, heart, lung, and pancreas) with highest levels in the ovary; a 1.1-kb transcript was found in the pancreas. Although expression of the NES1 mRNA was observed in all normal and immortalized nontumorigenic MECs, the majority of human breast cancer cell lines showed a drastic reduction or a complete lack of its expression. The structural similarity of NES1 to polypeptides known to regulate growth factor activity and a negative correlation of NES1 expression with breast oncogenesis suggest a direct or indirect role for this novel protease-like gene product in the suppression of tumorigenesis.
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PMID:Identification of a novel serine protease-like gene, the expression of which is down-regulated during breast cancer progression. 876 36

A trypsin-chymotrypsin inhibitor was isolated from the seeds of amaranth--a highly nutritious protein source. The purification of the inhibitor (AmI) was carried out by affinity chromatography on trypsin-Sepharose and by HPLC. AmI is a single-chain protein of 8 kD, as determined by electrophoresis on SDS-polyacrylamide gels and by gel exclusion on Sephadex G-50 column. It is stable at neutral and alkaline pH and is relatively thermostable. AmI inhibits trypsin and chymotrypsin from the digestive system of insects such as Tribolium castaneum and Locusta migratoria, supporting the hypothesis that inhibitors may have evolved as defense mechanisms of seeds against insects. AmI lost its inhibitory activities when submitted to limited proteolysis with trypsin, while limited proteolysis with chymotrypsin had almost no effect. The partial amino acid sequence of 45 amino acids from the amino terminus of AmI differs significantly from the known sequences of legume-seed and cereal-grain protease inhibitor families. Differences in the chemistry at the inhibitory site(s) and in the amino acid sequence of AmI in comparison to that of other cereal and legume inhibitors suggest that AmI is a member of a new family of serine protease inhibitors. AmI was found to inhibit the anchorage-independent growth of MCF-7 breast cancer cells, suggesting that AmI may have anticarcinogenic activity.
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PMID:Isolation, characterization, and properties of a trypsin-chymotrypsin inhibitor from amaranth seeds. 892 6

Human breast cancer cells synthesize and release a variety of growth-modulating substances in response to estrogen stimulation, and it is generally accepted that the growth-promoting effects of estrogens are due at least in part to this autocrine/paracrine mechanism. Several of these growth-modulating substances, including transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF alpha) and its analogs, have been shown to require pericellular proteolysis for activation or release. Recently, we reported that MCF-7 human breast cancer cells are able to synthesize alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1-AT), the major elastase inhibitor in human serum, and that there is a negative correlation between anchorage-independent growth of MCF-7 cells in soft agar and synthesis of alpha 1-AT. The studies we present here were undertaken to gain an understanding of the mechanisms responsible for this observation. We show that release of TGF alpha from its membrane-bound precursor on MCF-7 cells is blocked by alpha 1-AT whether the cells were maintained in the presence or absence of estradiol and that there is a clear dose-response relationship between the alpha 1-AT concentration and both the release of TGF alpha and growth in soft agar. Consistent with this, TGF alpha release was increased in the presence of antibody to alpha 1-AT. In contrast, TGF alpha release and growth in soft agar were not blocked by peptide inhibitors specific for trypsin- or chymotrypsin-like enzymes. The alpha 1-AT concentration required for a half-maximal effect is lower for inhibition of TGF alpha release than it is for inhibition of colony formation (0.4 vs. 1.5 mumol/L). However, both values are in the range of concentrations one might expect at the cell surface in vivo. A new MCF-7 cell subline producing 10-fold higher levels of alpha 1-AT than its parent cell line was constructed by stable transfection of MCF-7 ML cells (a subline producing low levels of alpha 1-AT) with an alpha 1-AT complementary DNA. Growth in soft agar and release of TGF alpha were significantly decreased in cells transfected with the alpha 1-AT complementary DNA compared to those in cells transfected with vector alone, although, TGF alpha expression was the same. The above observations support a model for growth regulation in human breast ductal epithelial cells in which growth factor activation and release are dependent on the coordinate action of proteases and protease inhibitors. This model would predict that alpha 1-AT can act as a tumor suppressor in inhibiting the growth of breast cancer cells.
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PMID:Alpha 1-antitrypsin blocks the release of transforming growth factor-alpha from MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. 906 76


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