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)

We report here that a neutralizing mouse monoclonal antibody against basic FGF inhibited both anchorage-dependent and anchorage-independent growth of U-87MG and T98G human glioblastoma cells and HeLa cells, all of which express both the basic FGF and the FGF receptor genes. In addition, the subcutaneous administration of this antibody significantly suppressed the tumor development of these tumor cells in nude mice. Therefore, basic FGF plays an important role in neoplastic growth of these cells. The neutralization of basic FGF will be effective in controlling the growth of tumors, such as glioblastoma and other cancer cells which bear basic FGF and FGF receptors.
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PMID:Inhibition of cell growth and tumorigenesis of human glioblastoma cells by a neutralizing antibody against human basic fibroblast growth factor. 165 81

Malignant astrocytomas are highly invasive, vascular neoplasms that comprise the majority of nervous system tumors in humans. A strong association has previously been made between malignancy in human astrocytic tumors and increased expression of certain fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family members, including basic and acidic FGF. The influence of endogenous basic FGF on glioblastoma cell growth in vitro was evaluated using basic FGF-specific antisense oligonucleotides. These studies indicated that human glioblastoma cell growth in vitro, can be inhibited by suppressing basic FGF expression. Human astrocytomas also exhibited changes in FGF receptor (FGFR) expression during the course of their progression from a benign to a malignant phenotype. FGFR2 (bek) expression was abundant in normal white matter and in all low grade astrocytomas, but was not observed in glioblastomas. Conversely, FGFR1 (flg) expression was absent or barely detectable in normal white matter, but was significantly elevated in glioblastomas. Glioblastomas also expressed an alternatively spliced form of FGFR1 containing two immunoglobulin-like disulfide loops (FGFR1 beta), whereas normal human adult and fetal brain expressed a form of the receptor containing three immunoglobulin-like disulfide loops (FGFR1 alpha). Intermediate grades of astrocytic tumors exhibited a gradual loss of FGFR2 and a shift in expression from FGFR1 alpha to FGFR1 beta as they progressed from a benign to a malignant phenotype. The underlying cytogenetic changes that contribute to these alterations are not entirely understood, but abnormalities in the p53 tumor suppressor gene may influence expression of bFGF as well as the FGFR. These results suggest that alterations in FGFR signal transduction pathways may play a critical role in the malignant progression of astrocytic tumors.
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PMID:Basic fibroblast growth factor and fibroblast growth factor receptor I are implicated in the growth of human astrocytomas. 796 81

Although fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) 4 has been reported not to be expressed in normal human astrocytes, we have demonstrated expression of FGFR-1, -3, and -4 in six human glioblastoma cell lines (SNB19, T98G, UW18, D54 MG, U251MG, and U373MG) by RT-PCR Southern blot analysis. All six lines exhibited predominantly beta-type (with only two extracellular Ig-like domains) FGFR-1 expression. In contrast, FGFR-2 expression was only detected in the UW18 cell line. This evidence support our previous observation that malignant progression in astrocytomas is associated with a shift in FGFR-1 mRNA splicing from the alpha-type (with three extracellular Ig-like domains) to the beta-type with concomitant loss of FGFR-2 expression. It also demonstrates the unique finding that FGFR-4 induction in astrocytomas is associated with transformation. In addition to these cell lines, expression of FGFRs was analyzed in normal human brain tissue and in human astrocytoma tissue samples corresponding to different grades of malignancy. FGFR-4 mRNA was undetectable in normal adult white matter, the site of origin of astrocytomas, while astrocytomas of all grades exhibited significant expression of FGFR-4 mRNA as determined by RT-PCR Southern blot analysis. The proportion of FGFR-4 mRNA did not appear to change in relation to the malignant progression of the astrocytomas. This suggests that induction of FGFR-4 expression in astrocytes represents an early event in their malignant transformation. Induction of FGFR-4 in malignant astrocytomas is consistent with previous reports demonstrating that expression of aFGF, which activates FGFR-4, increases in astrocytomas. The simultaneous induction of FGFR-4 and aFGF may establish a potential autocrine pathway that endows astrocytoma cells with a selective growth advantage. Interestingly, very high expression of FGFR-4 mRNA was found in human fetal brain tissue. The above findings suggest that the malignant transformation of astrocytes may involve the activation of a fetal growth promoting pathway.
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PMID:[Expression of fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs) mRNA in human astrocytomas]. 867 34

CTP-phosphoethanolamine cytidylyltransferase (ET) is the enzyme that catalyzes the formation of CDP-ethanolamine in the phosphatidylethanolamine biosynthetic pathway from ethanolamine. We constructed a Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant of which the ECT1 gene, putatively encoding ET, was disrupted. This mutant showed a growth defect on ethanolamine-containing medium and a decrease of ET activity. A cDNA clone was isolated from a human glioblastoma cDNA expression library by complementation of the yeast mutant. Introduction of this cDNA into the yeast mutant clearly restored the formation of CDP-ethanolamine and phosphatidylethanolamine in cells. ET activity in transformants was higher than that in wild-type cells. The deduced protein sequence exhibited homology with the yeast, rat, and human CTP-phosphocholine cytidylyltransferases, as well as yeast ET. The cDNA gene product was expressed as a fusion with glutathione S-transferase in Escherichia coli and shown to have ET activity. These results clearly indicate that the cDNA obtained here encodes human ET.
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PMID:Cloning of a human cDNA for CTP-phosphoethanolamine cytidylyltransferase by complementation in vivo of a yeast mutant. 908 1

The Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) signaling pathway is reported to stimulate glioblastoma (GBM) growth. In this work we evaluated the effect of FGF2, FGF receptor (FGFR), and small molecule inhibition on GBM cells grown in traditional media, or cultured directly in stem-cell media. These lines each expressed the FGFR1, FGFR3 and FGFR4 receptors. Addition of FGF2 ligand showed significant growth stimulation in 8 of 10 cell lines. Disruption of FGF signaling by a neutralizing FGF2 monoclonal antibody and FGFR1 suppression by RNA interference both partially inhibited cell proliferation. Growth inhibition was temporally correlated with a reduction in MAPK signaling. A receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor with known FGFR/VEGFR activity, PD173074, showed reproducible growth inhibition. Possible mechanisms of growth suppression by PD173074 were implicated by reduced phosphorylation of AKT and MAPK, known oncogenic signal transducers. Subsequent reduction in the cyclin D1, cyclin D2 and CDK4 cell cycle regulators was also observed. Our results indicate that FGF signaling pathway inhibition as a monotherapy will slow, but not arrest growth of glioblastoma cells.
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PMID:Glioblastoma cell growth is suppressed by disruption of Fibroblast Growth Factor pathway signaling. 1934 Mar 97

Lung organogenesis is guided by epithelial-mesenchymal interactions that coordinate cellular events responsible for the formation of the respiratory system. Several signaling pathways have been implicated in this process; among them, sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling has emerged as a crucial regulator of branching morphogenesis in the mammalian lung. Canonical Shh signaling requires the presence of patched (Ptch) and smoothened (Smo) transmembrane receptors in order to induce the activation of glioblastoma (Gli) zinc finger transcription factors that are the true effectors of the pathway. Signal transduction is finely regulated by Ptch1, Gli, and Hhip (hedgehog-interacting protein). The present work characterizes, for the first time, the expression pattern of shh, ptch1, smo, gli1, and hhip in early stages of the embryonic chick lung. In situ hybridization studies revealed that these genes are expressed in the same cellular compartments as their mammalian counterparts, although their proximo-distal distribution is slightly changed. Moreover, the molecular interactions between fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and Shh signaling pathway were assessed, in vitro, by grafting beads soaked in SU5402 (an FGF receptor inhibitor). In the chick lung, Shh signaling seems to have some features that are species specific since shh is not a downstream target of FGF signaling. Nonetheless and despite the observed differences, these findings suggest a role for Shh signaling in the epithelial-mesenchymal interactions that control chick lung morphogenesis.
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PMID:Expression analysis of Shh signaling members in early stages of chick lung development. 2722 80

Introduction: Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are key mitogens in tissue homeostasis and cancer. FGF2 regulates self-renewal of multiple stem-cell types, is widely used in stem cell culture paradigms and has been adopted for cultivating the growth of cancer stem cells ex vivo. Research has shed light on the functions of FGF2 in brain tumors, particularly malignant glioma, and this has demonstrated that FGF2 increases self-renewal of glioblastoma stem cells.Areas covered: This review examines the potential targeting of FGF2 signaling as a possible treatment avenue for glioblastoma. The expression of FGF ligands and the FGFR family of receptor tyrosine kinases in the normal brain and in glioblastoma is described. Moreover, the paper sheds light on FGF/FGFR signaling, including the function of heparin/heparan sulfate proteoglycans in facilitating FGF signaling. We speculate on potential avenues for the therapeutic targeting of the FGF2-FGF receptor signaling axis in glioblastoma and the associated challenges envisioned with these approaches.Expert opinion: Precision targeting of FGF/FGFR signaling could improve prospective glioblastoma therapeutics and moderate adverse effects. Shrewd development of experimental models and FGF2 inhibitors could provide a 'pharmacological toolbox' for targeting diverse ligand/receptor combinations.
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PMID:FGF2: a novel druggable target for glioblastoma? 3217 97