Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0017636 (glioblastoma)
 18,345 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Antipsychotic drugs that bind to and inhibit the action of calmodulin also inhibit cellular proliferation. In addition these drugs are cytotoxic to most malignant cells and can augment the antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects of bleomycin. They are attractive candidates for use against tumors of the central nervous system since they readily pass the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in the brain. To identify more active derivatives, we studied the effect of a series of phenothiazines and a group of related compounds alone or in combination with bleomycin against rat glioblastoma cell lines. C6 cells were grown for 24 hours prior to a 48 hour exposure to anti-psychotic drug alone or to an IC20 concentration of antipsychotic drug with bleomycin. Cells were stained with methylene blue and enumerated spectrophotometrically. Eight phenothiazines were found to augment the effect of bleomycin by > or = 3-fold. These included 1-chlorpromazine (3.8x), chlorpromazine (3.2x), 3-chlorpromazine (3.0x), 4-chlorpromazine (3.4x), thiomethylpromazine (3.3x), didesmethylchlorpromazine (11x), fluphenazine (5.5x) and trifluoperazine (3.2x). Structurally similar compounds also having activity included trans-flupenthixol (6.0x), 2-chloroimipramine (6.0x), desipramine (22x), and penfluridol (24x). There was a direct correlation between the antiproliferative effect of anticalmodulin compounds and the ability of these drugs to inhibit the activation of calmodulin-sensitive phosphodiesterase. However, there was no correlation between the inhibition of calmodulin and the augmentation of the antiproliferative activity of bleomycin. Penfluridol, one of the most active compounds, was chosen for further study. It increased the activity of bleomycin against L1210 leukemic cells by 90-fold and MCF-7 human breast cancer cells by 4-fold. The effect of penfluridol in combination with bleomycin was due to increased cytotoxicity as measured by clonogenic assay.
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PMID:Effect of anti-calmodulin drugs on the growth and sensitivity of C6 rat glioma cells to bleomycin. 753 9

Calcium-binding protein S100B has been implicated in the pathology of bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) and schizophrenia (SZ). S100B protein levels are elevated in serum of patients with both disorders compared to controls. We previously reported genetic association of a SNP in the promoter of S100B, rs3788266, with a psychotic form of BPAD. To test for genotypic effects of rs3788266 in vivo, S100B serum protein levels were measured in 350 Irish and German subjects of known S100B genotype. The functional effect of rs3788266 on S100B promoter activity was studied using the luciferase reporter system in U373MG glioblastoma and SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell lines. Allelic effects of rs3788266 on protein complex formation at the S100B promoter were investigated by an electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Higher mean serum S100B levels were associated with the risk G allele of rs3788266 in BPAD cases (P = 0.0001), unaffected relatives of BPAD cases (P < 0.0001) and unrelated controls (P < 0.0001). Consistent with the in vivo findings, luciferase gene expression was significantly increased in the presence of the G allele compared to the A allele in SH-SY5Y (P = <0.0001), and in U373MG (P = <0.0008) cell lines. The binding affinity of both SH-SY5Y and U373MG protein complexes for the S100B promoter was significantly stronger in the presence of G allele compared to the A allele promoter fragments. These data support rs3788266 as a functional promoter variant in the S100B gene where the presence of the G allele promotes increased gene expression and is associated with increased serum levels of the protein.
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PMID:Functional assessment of a promoter polymorphism in S100B, a putative risk variant for bipolar disorder. 2171 70

: Metastasis is considered a major burden in cancer, being responsible for more than 90% of cancer-related deaths. Tumor angiogenesis is one of the main processes that lead to tumor metastasis. Penfluridol is a classic and commonly used antipsychotic drug, which has a great ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. Recent studies have revealed that penfluridol has significant anti-cancer activity in diverse tumors, such as metastatic breast cancer and glioblastoma. Here, we aim to identify the effect of low doses of penfluridol on tumor microenvironment and compare it with its effect on tumor cells. Although low concentration of penfluridol was not toxic for endothelial cells, it blocked angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, penfluridol inhibited VEGF-induced primary endothelial cell migration and tube formation, and in vivo, it blocked VEGF- and FGF-induced angiogenesis in the matrigel plug assay. VEGF-induced VEGFR2 phosphorylation and the downstream p38 and ERK signaling pathways were not affected in endothelial cells, although VEGF-induced Src and Akt activation were abrogated by penfluridol treatment. When cancer cells were treated with the same low concentration of penfluridol, basal Src activation levels were mildly impaired, thus impacting their cell migration and wound healing efficiency. The potential of cancer-induced paracrine effect on endothelial cells was explored, although that did not seem to be a player for angiogenesis. Overall, our data demonstrates that low penfluridol levels, similar to the ones clinically used for anti-psychotic conditions, suppress angiogenic efficiency in the tumor microenvironment.
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PMID:Low Dose of Penfluridol Inhibits VEGF-Induced Angiogenesis. 3197 94