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 have previously isolated two different aFGF cDNA clones from kidney and brain. The two corresponding mRNA, designated aFGF 1.A and 1.B, are the predominant species in kidney and brain, respectively. During the characterization of aFGF mRNA in glioblastoma cells, we demonstrated that aFGF mRNA in U1242MG and D65MG glioblastoma cells contain 5'-untranslated sequences different from those of 1.A and 1.B. Through a strategy combining chromosome walking, identification and sequencing of evolutionarily conserved DNA regions, and a reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-based assay for RNA expression, we have isolated two novel aFGF cDNA clones. The cDNA clone representing aFGF mRNA 1.C was isolated from U1242MG cells; another aFGF cDNA, designated 1.D, was isolated from D65MG cells. Promoter 1C has extensive sequence homology to the hamster aFGF gene promoter that was shown to respond to testosterone stimulation by chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene assays. Using RT-PCR, we showed that normal, benign and cancerous prostate tissues do not express aFGF 1.C mRNA. In contrast, a prostate carcinoma cell line (PC-3) expresses 1.C mRNA. RT-PCR using 1.D-specific primers showed that kidney, brain and prostate do not express 1.D mRNA even though kidney and brain are the most abundant source for aFGF protein. RNase protection analysis further showed that 1.D mRNA is the predominant aFGF transcript in D65MG glioblastoma cells and in NFF-6 neonatal foreskin fibroblast cells. The genomic DNA corresponding to these two cDNA clones and the 5'-flanking regions were also isolated and their sequences determined. These DNA clones will provide important reagents for studying the regulatory elements of aFGF gene expression.
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PMID:Cloning of two novel forms of human acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF) mRNA. 768 Jan 20

Human solid tumors (prostate carcinomas PC-3 and DU-145, breast carcinoma MX-1, cervical carcinoma ME-180, small cell lung carcinoma SW2, and glioblastoma T98G) were grown as xenografts in nude mice. Using the Eppendorf pO2 histograph microelectrode system, the oxygen profiles of the tumors were determined while the animals breathed air or carbogen (95% O2/5% CO2), and after administration of the perfluorochemical emulsion Oxygent-CA (8 ml/kg) under air breathing and carbogen breathing conditions. Under normal air breathing with or without Oxygent-CA administration the mean oxygen tensions were between 4.9 and 9.3 mmHg and each tumor had severely hypoxic regions where the pO2 was less than 5 mmHg. The severely hypoxic regions comprised 41-71% of the oxygen tension measurements under normal air breathing conditions. Carbogen breathing alone increased the mean oxygen tensions to 10.9-23.9 mmHg. Administration of Oxygent-CA and carbogen breathing increased the mean oxygen tensions over the levels of carbogen breathing alone to varying degrees. The highest mean oxygen tensions were 40.8 mmHg in the T98G glioblastoma and 24.5 mmHg in the ME-180 cervical carcinoma. Investigation of the use of Oxygent-CA/carbogen to increase the oxygenation of clinical tumors is warranted.
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PMID:Oxygenation of human tumor xenografts in nude mice by a perfluorochemical emulsion and carbogen breathing. 784 46

We have studied the role of Jun/stress-activated protein kinase (JNK/SAPK) pathway in DNA repair and cisplatin resistance in T98G glioblastoma cells. JUN/SAPK is activated by DNA damage and phosphorylates serines 63 and 73 in the N-terminal domain of c-Jun, which is known to increase its transactivation properties. We show that treatment of T98G glioblastoma cells with cisplatin but not the transplatin isomer activates JNK/SAPK about 10-fold. T98G cells, which are highly resistent to cisplatin (IC50 = 140 +/- 13 microM), modified to express a nonphosphorylatable dominant negative c-Jun (termed dnJun) exhibit decreased viability following treatment with cisplatin, but not transplatin, in proportion (rPearson = 0.98) to the level of dnJun expressed leading to a 7-fold decreased IC50. Similar effects are observed in U87 cells, PC-3 cells, and MCF-7 cells, as well as in T98G cells modified to express TAM-67, a known inhibitor of c-Jun function. In contrast, no sensitization effect was observed in cells modified to express wild-type c-Jun. Furthermore, through quantitative polymerase chain reaction-stop assays, we show that dnJun expressing cells were inhibited in repair of cisplatin adducts (p = 0.55), whereas repair is readily detectable (p = 0.003) in parental cells. These observations indicate that the JNK/SAPK pathway is activated by cisplatin-induced DNA damage and that this response is required for DNA repair and viability following cisplatin treatment. Regulation of DNA repair following genotoxic stress may be a normal physiological role of the JNK/SAPK pathway.
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PMID:The Jun kinase/stress-activated protein kinase pathway functions to regulate DNA repair and inhibition of the pathway sensitizes tumor cells to cisplatin. 916 25

Calpain is a calcium-dependent cysteine protease that is implicated in calcium-dependent cell death, and calpain inhibitors are generally considered as inhibitors of apoptosis. To the contrary, in the present study, we found that calpain inhibitor II (CPI-2) triggers rapid apoptosis in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) cells. All target cell lines were killed by CPI-2, including: ALL-1, a multidrug-resistant BCR-ABL fusion transcript-positive t(9;22) pro-B ALL cell line; RS4;11, a highly radiation-resistant MLL-AF4 fusion transcript-positive t(4;11) pre-pre B ALL cell line; RAMOS, a highly radiation-resistant and p53-deficient Burkitt's lymphoma cell line; DAUDI, a Burkitt's leukemia/lymphoma cell line; NALM-6, a pre-B ALL cell line; and JURKAT and MOLT-3, two T-lineage ALL/NHL cell lines. CPI-2-induced apoptosis in LYN-deficient and BTK-deficient subclones of the DT-40 lymphoma B cell line as effectively as it did in wild-type DT-40 cells. Thus, CPI-2-induced apoptosis is not dependent on the protein tyrosine kinases LYN or BTK. Notably, caspase inhibitor I effectively inhibited CPI-2-induced apoptosis, suggesting that the inhibition of a CPI-2-susceptible protease results in caspase activation, leading to apoptosis in ALL/NHL cells. Unlike the high calpain-expressing ALL/NHL cell lines, myeloid leukemia cell lines HL-60/AML, K562/CML, and U937/AMML, or solid tumor cell lines BT-20/breast cancer, PC-3/prostate cancer, U373/glioblastoma, and HeLa/epitheloid cancer, were not susceptible to the cytotoxicity of CPI-2. Taken together, our results identify calpain as a new molecular target for the treatment of ALL and NHL. CPI-2 and its analogues represent a promising new class of antileukemia/lymphoma agents that deserves further development.
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PMID:Calpain inhibitor II induces caspase-dependent apoptosis in human acute lymphoblastic leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cells as well as some solid tumor cells. 1087 99

To analyze the implication of PTEN in the control of tumor cell invasiveness, the canine kidney epithelial cell lines MDCKras-f and MDCKts-src, expressing activated Ras and a temperature-sensitive v-Src tyrosine kinase, respectively, were transfected with PTEN expression vectors. Likewise, the human PTEN-defective glioblastoma cell lines U87MG and U373MG, the melanoma cell line FM-45, and the prostate carcinoma cell line PC-3 were transfected. We demonstrate that ectopic expression of wild-type PTEN in MDCKts-src cells, but not expression of PTEN mutants deficient in either the lipid or both the lipid and protein phosphatase activities, reverted the morphological transformation, induced cell-cell aggregation, and suppressed the invasive phenotype in an E-cadherin-dependent manner. In contrast, overexpression of wild-type PTEN did not counteract Ras-induced invasiveness of MDCKras-f cells expressing low levels of E-cadherin. PTEN effects were not associated with marked changes in accumulation or phosphorylation levels of E-cadherin and associated catenins. Wild-type, but not mutant, PTEN also reverted the invasive phenotype of U87MG, U373MG, PC-3, and FM-45 cells. Interestingly, PTEN effects were mimicked by N-cadherin-neutralizing antibody in the glioblastoma cell lines. Our data confirm the differential activities of E- and N-cadherin on invasiveness and suggest that the lipid phosphatase activity of PTEN exerts a critical role in stabilizing junctional complexes and restraining invasiveness.
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PMID:The lipid phosphatase activity of PTEN is critical for stabilizing intercellular junctions and reverting invasiveness. 1175 67

Juvenile Batten disease is a neurodegenerative disease caused by accelerated apoptotic death of photoreceptors and neurons attributable to defects in the CLN3 gene. CLN3 is antiapoptotic when overexpressed in NT2 neuronal precursor cells. CLN3 negatively modulates endogenous ceramide levels in NT2 cells and acts upstream of ceramide generation. Because defects in regulation of apoptosis are involved in the development of cancer, we evaluated the expression of CLN3 on both mRNA and protein levels in a variety of cancer cell lines and solid colon cancer tissue. We also observed the effect of the blocking of CLN3 protein expression on cancer cell growth, survival, ceramide production, and apoptosis by using an adenovirus-bearing antisense CLN3 construct. We show that CLN3 mRNA and protein are overexpressed in glioblastoma (U-373G and T98g), neuroblastoma (IMR-32 and SK-N-MC), prostate (Du145, PC-3, and LNCaP), ovarian (SK-OV-3, SW626, and PA-1), breast (BT-20, BT-549, and BT-474), and colon (SW1116, SW480, and HCT 116) cancer cell lines but not in pancreatic (CAPAN and As-PC-1) or lung (A-549 and NCI-H520) cancer cell lines. CLN3 is also up-regulated in mouse melanoma and breast carcinoma cancer cell lines. We found CLN3 expression is 22-330% higher than in corresponding normal colon control tissue in 8 of 10 solid colon tumors. An adenovirus-expressing antisense CLN3 (Ad-AS-CLN3) blocks CLN3 protein expression in DU-145, BT-20, SW1116, and T98g cancer cell lines as seen by Western blot. Blocking of CLN3 expression using Ad-AS-CLN3 inhibits growth and viability of cancer cells. It also causes elevation in endogenous ceramide production through de novo ceramide synthesis and results in increased apoptosis as shown by propidium iodide and JC-1 staining. This suggests that Ad-AS-CLN3 may be an option for therapy in some cancers. More importantly these results suggest that CLN3 is a novel molecular target for cancer drug discovery.
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PMID:The CLN3 gene is a novel molecular target for cancer drug discovery. 1183 May 36

Cancer cells frequently show high constitutive activity of the antiapoptotic transcription factor nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB), which results in their enhanced survival. Activation of NF-kappaB classically depends on degradation of its inhibitor IkappaBalpha by the 26s proteasome. Specific proteasome inhibitors induce apoptosis in cancer cells and, at nonlethal concentrations, sensitize cells to the cytotoxic effects of ionizing radiation and chemotherapeutic drugs. Recently, the protease coded by the HIV-I virus has been shown to share cleavage activities with the proteasome. For this reason, we investigated whether the HIV-I protease inhibitor saquinavir can inhibit NF-kappaB activation, block 26s proteasome activity in prostate cancer cells, and promote their apoptosis. The effect of saquinavir on LPS/IFN-gamma-induced activation of NF-kappaB was assessed by gel-shift assays and by Western analysis of corresponding IkappaBalpha-levels. Its effect on 20s and 26s proteasome activity was analyzed with a fluorogenic peptide assay using whole cell lysates from LnCaP, DU-145, and PC-3 prostate cancer cells pretreated with saquinavir for 9 h. Proteasome inhibition in living cells was assessed using ECV 304 cells stably transfected with an expression plasmid for an ubiquitin/green fluorescence protein fusion protein (ECV 304/10). Apoptosis was monitored morphologically and by flow cytometry. Saquinavir treatment prevented LPS/IFN-gamma-induced activation of NF-kappaB in RAW cells and stabilized expression of IkappaBalpha. It inhibited 20s and 26s proteasome activity in lysates from LnCaP, DU-145, and PC-3 prostate cancer cells with an IC(50) of 10 micro M and caused the accumulation of an ubiquitin/green fluorescence protein fusion protein in living ECV 304/10 cells. Incubation of PC-3 and DU-145 prostate cancer, U373 glioblastoma, and K562 and Jurkat leukemia cells with saquinavir caused a concentration-dependent induction of apoptosis. In the case of PC-3 and DU-145, saquinavir sensitized the surviving cells to ionizing radiation. We conclude that saquinavir inhibits proteasome activity in mammalian cells as well as acting on the HIV-I protease. Because saquinavir induced apoptosis in human cancer cells, HIV-I protease inhibitors might become a new class of cytotoxic drugs, alone or in combination with radiation or chemotherapy.
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PMID:The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 protease inhibitor saquinavir inhibits proteasome function and causes apoptosis and radiosensitization in non-HIV-associated human cancer cells. 1223 89

Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor-Met signaling has been implicated in tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis. Suppression of this signaling pathway by targeting the Met protein tyrosine kinase may be an ideal strategy for suppressing malignant tumor growth. Using RNA interference technology and adenovirus vectors carrying small-interfering RNA constructs (Ad Met small-interfering RNA) directed against mouse, canine, and human Met, we can knock down c-met mRNA. We show a dramatic dependence on Met in both ligand-dependent and ligand-independent mouse, canine, and human tumor cell lines. Mouse mammary tumor (DA3) cells and Met-transformed NIH3T3 (M114) cells, as well as both human and canine prostate cancer (PC-3 and TR6LM, human sarcoma (SK-LMS-1), glioblastoma (DBTRG), and gastric cancer (MKN45) cells, all display a dramatic reduction of Met expression after infection with Ad Met small-interfering RNA. In these cells, we observe suppression of tumor cell growth and viability in vitro as well as inhibition of hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor-mediated scattering and invasion in vitro, whether Met activation was ligand dependent or not. Importantly, Ad Met small-interfering RNA led to apoptotic cell death in many of the tumor cell lines, especially DA3 and MKN45, but did not adversely affect MDCK canine kidney cells. Met small-interfering RNA also abrogated downstream Met signaling to molecules such as Akt and p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase. We further show that intratumoral infection with c-met small-interfering RNA adenovirus results in a substantial reduction in tumor growth. Thus, Met small-interfering RNA adenoviruses are reliable tools for studying Met function and raise the possibility of their application for cancer therapy.
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PMID:RNA interference reveals that ligand-independent met activity is required for tumor cell signaling and survival. 1552 Feb 3

Despite advances in understanding the role of histone deacetylases (HDACs) in tumorigenesis, the mechanism by which HDAC inhibitors mediate antineoplastic effects remains elusive. Modifications of the histone code alone are not sufficient to account for the antitumor effect of HDAC inhibitors. The present study demonstrates a novel histone acetylation-independent mechanism by which HDAC inhibitors cause Akt dephosphorylation in U87MG glioblastoma and PC-3 prostate cancer cells by disrupting HDAC-protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) complexes. Of four HDAC inhibitors examined, trichostatin A (TSA) and HDAC42 exhibit the highest activity in down-regulating phospho-Akt, followed by suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid, whereas MS-275 shows only a marginal effect at 5 microm. This differential potency parallels the respective activities in inducing tubulin acetylation, a non-histone substrate for HDAC6. Evidence indicates that this Akt dephosphorylation is not mediated through deactivation of upstream kinases or activation of downstream phosphatases. However, the effect of TSA on phospho-Akt can be rescued by PP1 inhibition but not that of protein phosphatase 2A. Immunochemical analyses reveal that TSA blocks specific interactions of PP1 with HDACs 1 and 6, resulting in increased PP1-Akt association. Moreover, we used isozyme-specific small interfering RNAs to confirm the role of HDACs 1 and 6 as key mediators in facilitating Akt dephosphorylation. The selective action of HDAC inhibitors on HDAC-PP1 complexes represents the first example of modulating specific PP1 interactions by small molecule agents. From a clinical perspective, identification of this PP1-facilitated dephosphorylation mechanism underscores the potential use of HDAC inhibitors in lowering the apoptosis threshold for other therapeutic agents through Akt down-regulation.
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PMID:Histone acetylation-independent effect of histone deacetylase inhibitors on Akt through the reshuffling of protein phosphatase 1 complexes. 1618 12

The synthesis of pentacoordinated Tin(IV) compounds derived from aminoalcohols is described. The compounds were characterized by IR, 1H-, 13C-, and 119Sn-NMR, the mass spectrometry exhibits molecular ions corresponding to monomeric species. All compounds were evaluated for in vitro cytotoxic activities against five human tumor cell lines, U251 (human glioblastoma), PC-3 (human prostatic adenocarcinoma), K-562 (human chronic myelogenous leukemia), HCT-15 (human colorectal adenocarcinoma), MCF-7 (human mammary adenocarcinoma). The cytotoxic evaluation revealed that all compounds possess higher cytotoxic potency than that of the cisplatin, which was used as reference. Additionally, MT2 cells (human T-lymphocytes) were also evaluated.
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PMID:Synthesis, characterization and in vitro cytotoxicity of pentacoordinated Tin(IV) complexes derived from aminoalcohols. 1639 49


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