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)

The mechanism of chemotherapy resistance in breast cancer is unresolved. MDR1/P-glycoprotein (P-Gp) over-expression confers multidrug resistance in vitro and might play a role in clinical breast cancer. Studies using clinical samples have yielded conflicting results. MDR1/P-Gp mRNA expression was determined relative to the expression in normal human liver using TaqMan real-time RT-PCR (corrected for expression of the housekeeping gene PBGD). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed with monoclonal antibodies against P-Gp (JSB1, C219). The positive control was SW1573/2R160, the intermediate control SW1573 and the negative control GLC4/ADR. We assayed 9 breast-cancer cell lines by RT-PCR and IHC, 52 carcinoma samples by RT-PCR and 168 samples by IHC. SW1573/2R160 contained high levels of MDR1/P-Gp mRNA (1.0, equal to liver) and showed strong membranous staining. Expression of MDR1/P-Gp mRNA in SW1573 (0.05) and GLC4/ADR (3.2 x 10(-5)) was not detectable by IHC. Very low levels of MDR1/P-Gp mRNA were measured in breast-cancer cell lines (mean 3.1 x 10(-4), range 1 to 12 x 10(-4)), but P-Gp was not detected by IHC. In 25 specimens from chemotherapy-naive patients, MDR1/P-Gp mRNA levels varied from 1 to 11 x 10(-2) (mean 3.9 x 10(-2)). In sections of 80 chemotherapy-naive tumors, no membrane-bound staining was observed in the tumor cells. Tumors of 27 anthracycline-treated patients had comparable MDR1/P-Gp mRNA expression levels (mean 5.4 x 10(-2)). P-Gp was undetectable in 88 tumor samples of patients who had received anthracycline-based chemotherapy. In breast cancer, MDR1/P-Gp mRNA is low or absent and P-Gp levels in cancer cells are too low to detect by IHC. Chemotherapy exposure does not result in detectable MDR1/P-Gp over-expression.
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PMID:Determining MDR1/P-glycoprotein expression in breast cancer. 1139 30

HER2 is a ligand-less tyrosine kinase receptor of the ErbB family that is frequently overexpressed in breast cancer. It undergoes proteolytic cleavage that results in the release of the extracellular domain and the production of a truncated membrane-bound fragment, p95. We show that HER2 shedding is activated by 4-aminophenylmercuric acetate (APMA), a well-known matrix metalloprotease activator, in HER2-overexpressing breast cancer cells. The HER2 p95 fragment, which appears after APMA-induced cleavage, is phosphorylated. We analyzed 24 human breast cancer specimens, and a phosphorylated M(r) 95,000 HER2 band could be detected in some of them, which indicated that the truncated receptor is also present in vivo. The activation of HER2 shedding by APMA in cells was blocked with batimastat, a broad-spectrum metalloprotease inhibitor. Trastuzumab (Herceptin; Genentech, San Francisco, CA), a humanized monoclonal antibody directed at the HER2 ectodomain, which has been shown to be active in patients with HER2-overexpressing breast cancer, inhibited basal and induced HER2 cleavage and, as a consequence, the generation of phosphorylated p95. This inhibitory effect of trastuzumab was not shared by 2C4, an antibody against a different epitope of the HER2 ectodomain. The inhibition of basal and APMA-induced cleavage of HER2 by trastuzumab preceded antibody-induced receptor down-modulation, which indicated that the effect of trastuzumab on cleavage was not attributable to a decrease in cell-surface HER2 induced by trastuzumab. We propose that the inhibition of HER2 cleavage and prevention of the production of an active truncated HER2 fragment represent a novel mechanism of action of trastuzumab.
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PMID:Trastuzumab (herceptin), a humanized anti-Her2 receptor monoclonal antibody, inhibits basal and activated Her2 ectodomain cleavage in breast cancer cells. 1140 46

Breast cancer is associated frequently with skeletal metastases, which cause significant morbidity. The main mechanism is an increase in osteoclast-mediated bone resorption. We postulated that osteoblasts could be other essential target cells and previously showed that conditioned medium (CM) of breast cancer cells (BCCs) inhibits the proliferation of osteoblast-like cells. In this study, we investigated the effects of BCC-secreted products on osteoprogenitor cells using a clonal fetal human bone marrow stromal preosteoblastic cell line (FHSO-6) that expresses alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, type I collagen (COLI), and increased osteocalcin (OC) and osteopontin under treatment with dexamethasone (Dex), 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D], or recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP-2). Treatment with MCF-7 CM inhibited FHSO-6 cell survival in a dose-dependent and irreversible manner. Morphological investigation indicated that MCF-7 CM increased both apoptotic and necrotic cell number. MCF-7 CM increased caspases activity and a broad inhibitor of caspase activity (benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp(OMe)-fluoromethyl ketone [z-VAD-fmk]) partly reversed the CM-induced inhibition of FHSO-6 cell survival. Western blot analyses revealed an increased bax/bcl-2 ratio in MCF-7 CM-treated FHSO-6 cells. MCF-7 cells exhibit FasLigand as membrane-bound protein and as a soluble cytokine in the CM. Deprivation of MCF-7 CM from active FasLigand by saturation with a soluble Fas molecule suppressed the induction of FHSO-6 apoptosis, whereas fibroblast CM, which did not contain FasLigand, only weakly modified FHSO-6 cell survival because of increased cell necrosis. These data indicate that FasLigand secreted by BCCs induces apoptosis and necrosis of human preosteoblastic stromal cells through caspase cascade modulated by the bax and bcl-2 protein level. The induction of apoptosis in human bone marrow stromal cells by BCCs may contribute to the inappropriately low osteoblast reaction and bone formation during tumor-induced osteolysis in bone metastases.
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PMID:Breast cancer cells release factors that induced apoptosis in human bone marrow stromal cells. 1154 30

Glypican-3 (GPC3) is a membrane-bound heparan sulfate proteoglycan that is mutated in the Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome. This is an X-linked condition characterized by overgrowth, and various visceral and skeletal dysmorphisms. The phenotype of the Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome patients and GPC3-deficient mice, as well as gene transfection experiments indicate that GPC3 can act as an inhibitor of cell proliferation and survival. It has been previously shown that GPC3 expression is downregulated in mesotheliomas and ovarian cancer. Here we report that GPC3 expression is also silenced in human breast cancer, and that this silencing is due, at least in part, to hypermethylation of the GPC3 promoter. Ectopic expression of GPC3 inhibited growth in eight out of 10 breast cancer cell lines. Collectively, these data suggest that GPC3 can act as a negative regulator of breast cancer growth.
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PMID:Glypican-3 expression is silenced in human breast cancer. 1170 70

The PR-A and PR-B isoforms of progesterone receptors (PR) have different physiological functions, and their ratio varies widely in breast cancers. To determine whether the two PR regulate different genes, we used human breast cancer cell lines engineered to express one or the other isoform. Cells were treated with progesterone in triplicate, time-separated experiments, allowing statistical analyses of microarray gene expression data. Of 94 progesterone-regulated genes, 65 are uniquely regulated by PR-B, 4 uniquely by PR-A, and only 25 by both. Almost half the genes encode proteins that are membrane-bound or involved in membrane-initiated signaling. We also find an important set of progesterone-regulated genes involved in mammary gland development and/or implicated in breast cancer. This first, large scale study of PR gene regulation has important implications for the measurement of PR in breast cancers and for the many clinical uses of synthetic progestins. It suggests that it is important to distinguish between the two isoforms in breast cancers and that isoform-specific genes can be used to screen for ligands that selectively modulate the activity of PR-A or PR-B. Additionally, use of natural target genes, rather than "consensus" response elements, for transcription studies should improve our understanding of steroid hormone action.
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PMID:Differential gene regulation by the two progesterone receptor isoforms in human breast cancer cells. 1171 11

The efficient delivery of macromolecules to living cells presents a formidable challenge to the development of effective macromolecular therapeutics and cellular probes. We describe herein a novel synthetic ligand termed "Streptaphage" that enables efficient cellular uptake of the bacterial protein streptavidin by promoting noncovalent interactions with cholesterol and sphingolipid-rich lipid raft subdomains of cellular plasma membranes. The Streptaphage ligand comprises an N-alkyl derivative of 3 beta-cholesterylamine linked to the carboxylate of biotin through an 11-atom tether. Molecular recognition between streptavidin and this membrane-bound ligand promotes clathrin-mediated endocytosis, which renders streptavidin partially intracellular within 10 min and completely internalized within 4 h of protein addition. Analysis of protein uptake in Jurkat lymphocytes by epifluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry revealed intracellular fluorescence enhancements of over 300-fold (10 microM ligand) with >99% efficiency and low toxicity. Other mammalian cell lines including THP-1 macrophages, MCF-7 breast cancer cells, and CHO cells were similarly affected. Structurally related ligands bearing a shorter linker or substituting the protonated steroidal amine with an isosteric amide were ineffective molecular transporters. Confocal fluorescence microscopy revealed that Streptaphage-induced uptake of streptavidin functionally mimics the initial cellular penetration steps of Cholera toxin, which undergoes clathrin-mediated endocytosis upon binding to the lipid raft-associated natural product ganglioside GM1. The synthetic ligand described herein represents a designed cell surface receptor capable of targeting streptavidin conjugates into diverse mammalian cells by hijacking the molecular machinery used to organize cellular membranes. This technology has potential applications in DNA delivery, tumor therapy, and stimulation of immune responses.
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PMID:Efficient delivery of streptavidin to mammalian cells: clathrin-mediated endocytosis regulated by a synthetic ligand. 1203 53

The pineal hormone, melatonin, has been shown to inhibit the proliferation of the estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha)-positive macrophage chemotactic factor (MCF)-7 human breast cancer cells. Previous studies from other systems indicate that melatonin modulates the calcium (Ca2+)/calmodulin (CaM) signaling pathway either by changing intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) via activation of its G-protein coupled membrane receptors, or through a direct interaction with CaM. In this study, although melatonin alone had no effect on basal [Ca2+]i in MCF-7 cells, it significantly enhanced the elevation of [Ca2+]i induction by extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which increases [Ca2+]i via the G protein-coupled P2y-purinoceptor and the phospholipase C (PLC) pathway. Pretreatment of MCF-7 cells with 10(-7) M melatonin increased the 10(-5) M ATP-induced [Ca2+]i peak change from 79.4 +/- 11.6 nM to 146.2 +/- 22.3 nM. Furthermore, without changing total cellular CaM levels, melatonin markedly increased the amount of membrane-bound CaM to 237 and 162% of control levels after I and 6 hr of treatment, respectively. Cytosolic CaM levels were also elevated to 172% of control after 6 hr of melatonin treatment. Correlative growth studies demonstrated that ATP (10(-5) M) can stimulate MCF-7 cell growth, that melatonin can suppress MCF-7 cell proliferation, but that pretreatment of MCF-7 cells with melatonin followed by ATP(10(-5) M), like 10(-4) M ATP can further suppress MCF-7 cell proliferation; this indicates that melatonin's potentiation of ATP induced [Ca2+]i may be above the threshold for cell growth. Given the important role of [Ca2+]i and CaM in tumor cell homeostasis and proliferation and melatonin's modulation of [Ca2+]i, melatonin's effects on the Ca2+/CaM signaling pathway may play an important role in mediating the growth-inhibitory effect of melatonin on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells.
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PMID:Modulation of intracellular calcium and calmodulin by melatonin in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. 1207 68

Nitric oxide (NO) is reported to have several important effects in the control of neoplasm. We have reported before the presence of an insulin-activated constitutive form of membrane-bound nitric oxide synthase (IANOS) in various cells. Since the insulin-induced NO synthesis by IANOS could have important consequences on the pathophysiology of neoplastic cells, the role of estrogen on the activity of IANOS in malignant and nonmalignant breast tissue as well as in erythrocytes in breast cancer patients was determined. It was found that the IANOS activity of nonmalignant breast tissue was maximally stimulated by 4-fold over the basal activity in the presence of physiologic amounts of estrogen (8-32 nM). The enzymic activity was, however, inhibited by estrogen both below and above this range when compared to appropriate controls. In contrast, both the basal IANOS activity and the stimulatory effect of estrogen was markedly impaired in malignant breast tissue and in erythrocytes in these patients. It was also noted that tamoxifen, a widely used nonsteroidal compound in breast cancer, mimicked estrogen both in the stimulation and in the inhibition of IANOS activity in both of the tissues. These results indicated the probable existence of a novel pathway for estrogen effect independent of nuclear receptor for the stimulation of IANOS activity that might have important consequences in breast cancer and suggested that some of the beneficial effects of tamoxifen could be related to its estrogen-mimicking effect on IANOS independent of hormone-responsive elements sequence in the DNA.
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PMID:Impairment of stimulation by estrogen of insulin-activated nitric oxide synthase in human breast cancer. 1211 39

The mitogenic effects of insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are regulated by a family of insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs). One member of this family, IGFBP-3, mediates the growth-inhibitory and apoptosis-inducing effects of a number of growth factors and hormones such as transforming growth factor-beta, retinoic acid, and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. IGFBP-3 may act in an IGF-dependent manner by attenuating the interaction of pericellular IGFs with the type-I IGF receptor. It may also act in an IGF-independent manner by initiating intracellular signaling from a cell surface receptor, or by direct nuclear action, or both. The possibility of a membrane-bound receptor is strengthened by recent studies which have identified members of the transforming growth factor-beta receptor family as having a role, either directly or indirectly, in signaling from the cell surface by IGFBP-3. A number of growth factors and hormones stimulate the expression and secretion of cellular IGFBP-3, which then signals from the cell surface to bring about some of the effects attributed to the primary agents. Within the cell, the apoptosis-inducing tumor suppressor, p53, can also induce IGFBP-3 expression and secretion. Since IGFBP-3 upregulates the cell cycle inhibitor, p21(Waf1), and increases the ratio of proapoptotic to antiapoptotic members of the Bcl family, it appears to exert the same effects on major downstream targets of cell signaling as p53 does. The nuclear localization of IGFBP-3 has been described in a number of cell types. IGFBP-3 may act to import IGFs or other nuclear localization signal-deficient signaling molecules into the nucleus. It may also act directly in the nucleus by enhancing the activity of retinoid X receptor-alpha and thereby promote apoptosis. All of the above phenomena will be discussed with particular emphasis on the growth of breast cancer cells.
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PMID:Role of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 in breast cancer cell growth. 1224 93

NFBD1/KIAA0170 is a nuclear factor with an N-terminal FHA (forkhead-associated) domain and a tandem repeat of BRCT (breast cancer susceptibility gene-1 C terminus) domains, both of which are present in a number of proteins involved in DNA repair and/or DNA damage signaling pathways. We have investigated the association of NFBD1 with DNA damage responses. We found that the NFBD1 transcript is abundant in the testis relative to other tissues. NFBD1 is a chromatin-associated protein and is modified in G(2)/M phase or after DNA damage. NFBD1 phosphorylation in response to ionizing radiation (IR) was ATM-dependent. NFBD1 exhibited diffuse nuclear staining in the majority of untreated cells analyzed by indirect immunofluorescence and formed discrete nuclear foci after exposure to IR, UV radiation, and hydroxyurea treatment. IR induced NFBD1 foci within 1 min. The foci colocalized with gamma-H2AX foci, which have been previously shown to localize at sites of DNA double-strand breaks. IR-induced NFBD1 foci also colocalized with 53BP1 and MRE11/RAD50 foci. Taken together, these results suggest that NFBD1 is a mediator of DNA damage-dependent signaling.
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PMID:NFBD1/KIAA0170 is a chromatin-associated protein involved in DNA damage signaling pathways. 1249 69


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