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

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) accounts for approximately 12-15% of intracranial neoplasms. The GBM remains refractory to therapy because of tumor heterogeneity, local invasion, and non-uniform vascular permeability to drugs. Patients with GBM have the median survival of approximately 8-10 months, and for those cases where tumor recurs, the average time of tumor progression after therapy is only eight weeks. A combination of different treatment modes as surgery and chemo- or/and radiotherapy extend survival only for a short time, if any. Recently, tenascin-C (TN-C) as a dominant epitope in glioblastoma has been discovered. It is transiently expressed during organogenesis, absent or much reduced in most fully developed organs, but reappears under pathological conditions such as infection, inflammation, or tumorigenesis. It was found that the intensity of TN-C staining correlates with the tumor grade and that the strongest staining indicates poor prognosis.
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PMID:Suppression of human brain tumor with interference RNA specific for tenascin-C. 1677 34

Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) recognizes microbial DNA. We show here that TLR9 protein is expressed in human breast cancer cells and clinical breast cancer samples. Stimulation of TLR9-expressing breast cancer cells with the TLR9 agonistic CpG oligonucleotides (1-10 mumol/L) dramatically increased their in vitro invasion in both Matrigel assays and three-dimensional collagen cultures. Similar effects on invasion were seen in TLR9-expressing astrocytoma and glioblastoma cells and in the immortalized human breast epithelial cell line MCF-10A. This effect was not, however, dependent on the CpG content of the TLR9 ligands because the non-CpG oligonucleotides induced invasion of TLR9-expressing cells. CpG or non-CpG oligonucleotide-induced invasion in MDA-MB-231 cells was blunted by chloroquine and they did not induce invasion of TLR9(-) breast cancer cells. Treatment of MDA-MB-231 cells with CpG or non-CpG oligonucleotides induced the formation of approximately 50-kDa gelatinolytic band in zymograms. This band and the increased invasion were abolished by a matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitor GM6001 but not by a serine proteinase inhibitor aprotinin. Furthermore, CpG oligonucleotide treatment decreased tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-3 expression and increased levels of active MMP-13 in TLR9-expressing but not TLR9(-) breast cancer cells without affecting MMP-8. Neutralizing anti-MMP-13 antibodies inhibited the CpG oligonucleotide-induced invasion. These findings suggest that infections may promote cancer progression through a novel TLR9-mediated mechanism. They also propose a new molecular target for cancer therapy, because TLR9 has not been associated with cancer invasiveness previously.
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PMID:Toll-like receptor 9 agonists promote cellular invasion by increasing matrix metalloproteinase activity. 1684 19

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a widely spread herpesvirus, suggested to play a role in tumor progression. US28, a chemokine receptor encoded by HCMV, binds a broad spectrum of chemokines and constitutively activates various pathways linked to proliferation. Our studies reveal that expression of US28 induces a proangiogenic and transformed phenotype by up-regulating the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and enhancing cell growth and cell cycle progression. US28-expressing cells promote tumorigenesis when injected into nude mice. The G protein-uncoupled constitutively inactive mutant of US28, induces delayed and attenuated tumor formation, indicating the importance of constitutive receptor activity in the early onset of tumor development. Importantly, also in glioblastoma cells infected with the newly isolated clinical HCMV strain Titan, US28 was shown to be involved in the HCMV-induced angiogenic phenotype. Hence, the constitutively activated chemokine receptor US28 might act as a viral oncogene and enhance and/or promote HCMV-associated tumor progression.
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PMID:Human cytomegalovirus-encoded chemokine receptor US28 promotes tumorigenesis. 1692 6

Gliomatosis cerebri (GC) is a rare tumor characterized by widespread infiltration of the brain and spinal cord. Although GC usually demonstrates histomorphological features of a low-grade tumor, the formation of secondary highly malignant tumor regions may occur. In order to reveal molecular genetic changes associated with tumor progression in GC, we analyzed factors known to be associated with malignant progression in common astocytomas in an unusual GC case of an 18-year-old patient suffering from this disease for almost 7 years. We detected allelic losses in the Rb gene and in exon 4 of the TP53 gene in a tumor region corresponding to a glioblastoma multiforme. EGFR or MDM2 gene amplifications were absent, and no PTEN mutation or allelic loss on chromosome 10 could be detected. Moreover, compared to tumor-free brain tissue of this patient, tumor regions showed increased EGFR expression. These findings show that malignant progression in GC might be associated with the acquisition of molecular genetic changes also found in low-grade astrocytomas with progression to secondary glioblastoma. These data support the notion that GC can be regarded as a subtype of a common astrocytoma.
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PMID:Evaluation of molecular genetic alterations associated with tumor progression in a case of gliomatosis cerebri. 1695 19

Molecular modeling studies led to the identification of LFM-A13 (alpha-cyano-beta-hydroxy-beta-methyl-N-(2,5-dibromophenyl)propenamide) as a potent inhibitor of Polo-like kinase (Plk). LFM-A13 inhibited recombinant purified Plx1, the Xenopus homolog of Plk, in a concentration-dependent fashion, as measured by autophosphorylation and phosphorylation of a substrate Cdc25 peptide. LFM-A13 was a selective Plk inhibitor. While the human PLK3 kinase was also inhibited by LFM-A13 with an IC(50) value of 61 microM, none of the 7 other serine/threonine kinases, including CDK1, CDK2, CDK3, CHK1, IKK, MAPK1 or SAPK2a, none of the 10 tyrosine kinases, including ABL, BRK, BMX, c-KIT, FYN, IGF1R, PDGFR, JAK2, MET, or YES, or the lipid kinase PI3Kgamma were inhibited (IC(50) values >200-500 microM). The mode of Plk3 inhibition by LFM-A13 was competitive with respect to ATP with a K(i) value of 7.2 microM from Dixon plots. LFM-A13 blocked the cell division in a zebrafish (ZF) embryo model at the 16-cell stage of the embryonic development followed by total cell fusion and lysis. LFM-A13 prevented bipolar mitotic spindle assembly in human breast cancer cells and glioblastoma cells and when microinjected into living epithelial cells at the prometaphase stage of cell division, it caused a total mitotic arrest. Notably, LFM-A13-delayed tumor progression in the MMTV/neu transgenic mouse model of HER2 positive breast cancer at least as effectively as paclitaxel and gemcitabine. LFM-A13 showed a favorable toxicity profile in mice and rats. In particular there was no evidence of hematologic toxicity as documented by peripheral blood counts and bone marrow examinations. These results establish LFM-A13 as a small molecule inhibitor of Plk with in vitro and in vivo anti-proliferative activity against human breast cancer.
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PMID:Anti-breast cancer activity of LFM-A13, a potent inhibitor of Polo-like kinase (PLK). 1709 32

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the highest grade of astrocytoma. GBM pathogenesis has been linked to receptor tyrosine kinases and kinases further down signal-transduction pathways - in particular, members of the protein kinase C (PKC) family. The expression and activity of various PKC isoforms are increased in malignant astrocytomas, but not in non-neoplastic astrocytes. This suggests that PKC activity contributes to tumor progression. The level of PKC-eta expressed correlates with the degree of phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)-induced proliferation of two glioblastoma cell lines, U-1242 MG and U-251 MG. Normally, U-1242 cells do not express PKC-eta, and PMA inhibits their proliferation. Conversely, PMA increases proliferation of U-1242 cells that are stably transfected with PKC-eta (U-1242-PKC-eta). PMA treatment also stimulates proliferation of U-251 cells, which express PKC-eta. Here, we determined that extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and Elk-1 are downstream targets of PKC-eta. Elk-1-mediated transcriptional activity correlates with the PKC-eta-mediated mitogenic response. Pretreatment of U-1242-PKC-eta cells with inhibitors of PKC or MAPK/ERK kinase (MEK) (bisindolyl maleimide (BIM) or U0126, respectively) blocked both PMA-induced Elk-1 transcriptional activity and PMA-stimulated proliferation. An overexpressed dominant-negative PKC-eta reduced the mitogenic response in U-251 cells, as did reduction of Elk-1 by small interfering RNA. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that PKC-eta-mediated glioblastoma proliferation involves MEK/mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase phosphorylation, activation of ERK and subsequently of Elk-1. Elk-1 target genes involved in GBM proliferative responses have yet to be identified.
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PMID:The protein kinase C-eta isoform induces proliferation in glioblastoma cell lines through an ERK/Elk-1 pathway. 1714 45

Galectins form a family of carbohydrate-binding proteins defined by their affinity for beta-galactosides containing glycoconjugates. The carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) is responsible for the specificity of galectins for saccharides. This binding may result in modulated cell proliferation, cell death and cell migration, three processes that are intimately involved in cancer initiation and progression. Galectins can also display protein-protein types of interactions with their binding partners. Certain galectins directly involved in cancer progression seem to be promising targets for the development of novel therapeutic strategies to combat cancer. Indeed, migrating cancer cells resistant to apoptosis still constitute the principal target for the cytotoxic drugs used to treat cancer patients. Reducing the levels of migration in apoptosis-resistant cancer cells can restore certain levels of sensitivity to apoptosis (and so to pro-apoptotic drugs) in restricted-migration cancer cells. Anti-galectin agents can restrict the levels of migration of several types of cancer cell and should therefore be used in association with cytotoxic drugs to combat metastatic cancer. We provide experimental proof in support of this concept. While the present review focuses on various experimental strategies to impair cancer progression by targeting certain types of galectins, it pays particular attention to glioblastomas, which constitute the ultimate level of malignancy in primary brain tumors. Glioblastomas form the most common type of malignant brain tumor in children and adults, and no glioblastoma patient has been cured to date.
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PMID:Anti-galectin compounds as potential anti-cancer drugs. 1716 20

Pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA) is a rare primary low-grade astrocytic tumor, recently classified as a neuroglial tumor. It generally occurs in children and young adults and shows benign behaviour (WHO II), although an anaplastic variant and malignant potential have been described. Pleomorphic xanthoastrocytomas with malignant transformation have been reported in three out of eight patients operated on for this type of tumor in our department in the last 15 years. The three patients were two adult women and a child, the primary tumors were located in the cortex of the right temporal lobe, and treatment consisted of complete surgical resection. Histological examination revealed simple PXA in two patients and a PXA with anaplastic foci in the other. Mean recurrence time was 5.7 years, with the original xanthoastrocytoma evolving to glioblastoma in two cases and anaplastic astrocytoma in the third. All three patients underwent a second operation, followed by adjuvant therapies. Two died from tumor progression and one from brain edema after intracerebral haemorrhage. A review of the available PXA literature dating back to 1979 revealed 16 cases of primary anaplastic astrocytoma and 21 cases of PXA with malignant transformation. Our experience adds three more cases of malignant transformations, outlining once again the potential malignancy of pleomorphic xanthoastrocytomas and the fact that prognosis in these cases is the same as for primary anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma. Analysis of glioneuronal markers, Ki67 and p53 in all pleomorphic xanthoastrocytomas did not prove to be a discriminating factor to identify a subgroup of xanthoastrocytomas prone to malignancy. Accordingly, these tumors demand close long-term clinical and radiological follow-up.
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PMID:Malignant progression in pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma: personal experience and review of the literature. 1718 43

To evaluate if timing of chemotherapy with Temozolomide (TMZ) was able to modify the outcome of glioblastoma (GBM), we analyzed two comparable series of supratentorial GBM patients, treated with surgery and radiotherapy, in which the administration of TMZ has been performed in the first group at first relapse and in the second group in newly diagnosed cases. The end-points were the median survival, the time tumor progression (TTP) and also the Karnofsky (KPS) scale and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) scale at follow-up. From December 1999 to December 2001 30 patients with recurrent GBM received TMZ until progression. From January 2002 to January 2004 38 newly diagnosed patients received a first cycle of TMZ immediately after surgery, and additional cycles after completing radiotherapy until recurrence. In order to obtain a greater drug exposure we adopted a once-daily 10 days schedule of TMZ every 28 days as follows: 150 mg/m(2)/day (day 1-5) and 75 mg/m(2)/day (day 6-10). The first group had a median overall survival of 14 months and a median TTP of 6. The second group had a median survival of 16 months and a median TTP of 10. The difference of TTP was statistically significant (P < 0.001), while the overall survival was not. The values of KPS and MMSE at 12 months demonstrated a better quality of life in the second group (P < 0.01). Our regimen permitted to cover the therapeutic "window" between surgery and the beginning of radiotherapy in newly diagnosed cases and is well tolerated by the patients with limited side effects. We will propose as alternative option when the concomitant radio-chemotherapic protocol is not feasible.
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PMID:Temozolomide in glioblastoma: results of administration at first relapse and in newly diagnosed cases. Is still proposable an alternative schedule to concomitant protocol? 1736 34

Caveolins are basic constituents of flask-shaped cell membrane microdomains (caveolae), which are involved in many cell functions, including signalling, trafficking, and cellular growth control. The distribution of caveolae within the normal brain and in brain tumors is controversial. In the present study, we describe the expression of caveolin-1 (cav-1) in 64 brain tumors of different grade, of either astroglial or oligodendroglial origin. All studied astrocitomas of any grade (from II to IV) were cav-1 positive, displaying staining patterns and intensity specifically associated to the different tumor grades. In all glioblastomas and gliosarcomas, cav-1 staining was extremely intense, typically localized at the cell membrane and recognized a variable percentage of cells, including the majority of spindle cells and palisade-oriented perinecrotic cells. In anaplastic astrocytomas, a less intense membrane staining or a cytoplasmic dotlike immunoreactivity were present, the latter being almost the exclusive pattern observed in diffuse astrocitomas grade II. In contrast to astroglial tumors, the striking totality of grade II oligodendrogliomas and the large majority of grade III were lacking cav-1 expression. Interestingly, a cav-1 distribution overlapping the pattern described in tissues was observed also in primary cell cultures of human glioblastomas and astrocytomas, and also in one established glioblastoma cell line (U251 MG), analyzed by means of confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. In conclusion, among astroglial tumors cav-1 expression varies in distribution, pattern, and intensity specifically according to tumor types and grades. The association between tumor progression and a more structured membranous pattern of cav-1 expression could suggest the hypothesis of a neoplastic shift towards a mesenchymal phenotype, whose behavioral and biologic significance worth further studies. Finally, the lack of cav-1 immunoreactivity in oligodendrogliomas suggests its concrete application as a useful diagnostic marker.
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PMID:Caveolin-1 expression is variably displayed in astroglial-derived tumors and absent in oligodendrogliomas: concrete premises for a new reliable diagnostic marker in gliomas. 1746 Apr 61


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