UMLS:C0019204 - FACTA Search

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Query: UMLS:C0019204 (hepatocellular carcinoma)
71,386 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The human ADH1, ADH2, and ADH3 genes are closely related members of a gene family which are differentially expressed during liver development. To begin examining the mechanism of this tissue-specific and stage-specific expression, the 5'-flanking nucleotide (nt) sequences of the three genes were determined and the transcription start point (tsp) were identified. Sequences of all three genes indicated a high degree of homology (greater than 80% nt sequence identity) from the AUG translation start codon to about nt -780 relative to the tsp. Transient transfection assays of a set of plasmids containing various lengths of ADH 5'-flanking DNA fused to cat were performed in the HepG2 and Hep3B human hepatoma cell lines. The results indicated that the ADH2 promoter-proximal region was transcriptionally active in the absence of upstream sequences. To identify potential cis-acting elements in the ADH2 promoter-proximal region, a DNase I footprinting assay using a rat liver nuclear extract was used. Protection occurred in several locations including one, between nt -51 and -10, which shares homology with known binding sites for a previously identified rat-liver transcription factor called CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP). Purified C/EBP was shown by footprint analysis to bind at two distinct sites in the ADH2 promoter located at nt -51 to -31 and -21 to -10. The TATA-box promoter element at nt -30 to -22 was not protected by C/EBP, but was partially protected by a factor in the rat liver nuclear extract. Thus, it is possible that the flanking C/EBP molecules may create a novel binding pocket for TFIID, the TATA-binding general transcription factor for RNA polymerase II. Alternatively, the C/EBP molecules may block access to the TATA box, and stimulate transcription of ADH2 by interacting with some component(s) other than TFIID.
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PMID:Promoters for the human alcohol dehydrogenase genes ADH1, ADH2, and ADH3: interaction of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein with elements flanking the ADH2 TATA box. 216 44

We analyzed a family of proteins from hepatoma cell nuclei that bind to interleukin-6 responsive elements (IL-6REs) of several acute-phase genes. This family is characterized by leucine zipper domains compatible with that of the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP). A cDNA clone coding for a member of the family, IL-6DBP, was isolated; it is strongly homologous to C/EBP in the region of the basic domain and in the leucine zipper sequence. IL-6DBP and C/EBP can interact in vitro to form heterodimers that bind to DNA with the same specificity as the respective homodimers, and they can interact functionally in vivo. Both the DNA binding activity and the trans-activating capacity of IL-6DBP are induced in hepatoma cells by treatment with IL-6 through a posttranslational mechanism, implicating it as a nuclear target of IL-6 and as a mediator of the IL-6-dependent transcriptional activation of liver genes during the acute-phase response.
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PMID:IL-6DBP, a nuclear protein involved in interleukin-6 signal transduction, defines a new family of leucine zipper proteins related to C/EBP. 217 80

The sequences preceding the albumin mRNA start site are able to direct efficient transcription only upon introduction into cells expressing the endogenous albumin gene. In transient expression assays, the activity of a reporter gene (CAT) linked to this promoter is 100-fold higher in H4II differentiated hepatoma cells than in H5 dedifferentiated cells which no longer express their albumin gene. This tissue specificity depends on the very proximal promoter region, composed of a CCAAT box, the proximal element and a TATA box. Deletion of the CCAAT box leads to a two- to threefold decrease in activity, deletion of the proximal element (PE) results in loss of activity. The PE is a high-affinity binding site for HNF1/APF, a strictly liver specific trans-acting factor. When the affinity of this factor for PE is decreased by bacterial methylation (PE includes a dam methylase site), by mutation, or by its replacement with the homologous element from the alpha-fetoprotein gene (AFP), the activity of the short promoter (PE plus the TATA box) is abolished. This activity can be rescued in the presence of the more upstream elements: DEII, DEI and the CCAAT box (recognized, respectively, by the NF1/CTF, C/EBP and NFY/ACF factors) which are then absolutely required. Our results suggest that the upstream elements contribute to promoter activity by stabilizing the HNF1-PE complex and not by direct interaction with TFIID or the RNA polymerase. It is probable that these elements, essentially dispensable in already differentiated hepatoma cells, play a crucial role during development or differentiation to activate the promoter in cells that contain a low concentration of HNF1 and/or an HNF1 unable to open inactive chromatin alone.
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PMID:Anatomy of the rat albumin promoter. 218 62

We used molecular genetic methods to generate systematically altered forms of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP). The aim of our experiments was to identify regions of C/EBP that contribute to its capacity to activate transcription from the promoter of the serum albumin gene in cultured hepatoma cells. Earlier experiments had shown that the DNA-binding domain must remain intact for C/EBP to activate albumin transcription. We now provide evidence of two additional elements of C/EBP that are required for its gene-activating role. One such element occurs within a 28-residue region located close to the amino terminus of the protein. The other maps to a broader, more internal region of the protein and appears to exhibit functional redundancy. These newly defined elements of C/EBP exhibit two characteristics of "activation" domains delineated in studies of other gene regulatory proteins. First, they play no obvious role in the capacity of C/EBP to bind to its DNA substrate. Second, they retain function after being appended onto the DNA-binding domain of a different protein. Neither of these putative activating elements is characterized by overt distinction in either charge or preponderance of any particular amino acid. The more amino-terminal element does, however, exhibit several features suggesting that it may assume an alpha-helical structure. These studies offer observations and reagents that will be valuable for future studies concerning the physiologic function of C/EBP.
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PMID:Identification of two polypeptide segments of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein required for transcriptional activation of the serum albumin gene. 222 17

We have cloned the promoter for the human third component of complement (C3) gene and have identified sequences involved in its regulation during the acute-phase response. A construct linking 199 bp of the C3 promoter to the firefly luciferase gene was found to be very responsive to interleukin-1 (IL-1) and modestly responsive to interleukin-6 (IL-6) by transfection analysis in the human hepatoma line Hep3B2. Simultaneous treatment with the two cytokines showed a strong synergy between the actions of the two molecules. A 58-bp fragment (-127 to -70 bp) was shown by 5' and 3' deletional mutagenesis to contain cis-acting elements that mediated both the IL-1 response and the IL-1-plus-IL-6 synergistic response of this promoter. When coupled to a heterologous promoter, this fragment enabled the synergistic induction by IL-1 plus IL-6. Sequences homologous to the palindrome ACATTGCACAATCT, which mediates the induction of the IL-6 gene by IL-1 (S. Akira, H. Isshiki, T. Sugita, O. Tanabe, S. Kinoshita, Y. Nishio, T. Nakajima, T. Hirano, and T. Kishimoto, EMBO J. 9:1897-1906, 1990), and the core sequence of the IL-6-responsive element of the rat alpha 2-macroglobulin gene (CTGGGA; M. Hattori, L. J. Abraham, W. Northemann, and G. H. Fey, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87:2364-2368, 1990) are contained within this fragment in immediate juxtaposition and partially overlapping. Site-directed mutagenesis within this homology region drastically reduced the inducibility of the C3 promoter by either cytokine. DNase I footprinting analysis defined a binding site for the transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP), which included the IL-1-responsive element-like sequence. No differences were seen between the footprints generated by using extracts from unstimulated and IL-1-stimulated Hep3B2 cells. However, gel retardation analyses revealed two IL-1-specific bands. The data suggest that the induction by IL-1 is mediated by a factor belonging to the family of C/EBP-related proteins.
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PMID:A 58-base-pair region of the human C3 gene confers synergistic inducibility by interleukin-1 and interleukin-6. 224 55

The gene for ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC; EC 2.1.3.3), a urea cycle enzyme, is expressed almost exclusively in the liver and small intestine. To identify DNA elements regulating transcription of the OTC gene in the liver, transient expression analysis was carried out by using hepatoma (HepG2) and nonhepatic (CHO) cell lines. The 1.3-kilobase 5'-flanking region of the rat OTC gene directed expression of the fused chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene in HepG2 cells much more efficiently than in CHO cells. Analysis of deletion mutants of the 5'-flanking region in HepG2 cells revealed that there are at least one negative and two positive regulatory elements within the about 220-base-pair immediate 5'-flanking region. DNase I footprint analysis showed the presence of factors binding to these regulatory elements in nuclear extracts of rat liver and brain, and footprint profiles at the two positive elements exhibited liver-specific features. Transient expression analysis also revealed the existence of an enhancer region located 11 kilobases upstream of the transcription start site. The OTC enhancer was able to activate both its own and heterologous promoters in HepG2 but not in CHO cells. The enhancer was delimited to an about 230-base-pair region, and footprint analysis of this region revealed four protected areas. Footprint profiles at two of the four areas exhibited liver-specific features, and gel shift competition analysis showed that a factor(s) binding to the two liver-specific sites is related to C/EBP. These results suggest that both liver-specific promoter and enhancer elements regulate expression of the OTC gene through interaction with liver-specific factors binding to these elements.
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PMID:Promoter and 11-kilobase upstream enhancer elements responsible for hepatoma cell-specific expression of the rat ornithine transcarbamylase gene. 230 62

The promoter proximal sequences of a group of liver-specific genes including that of albumin interact with the same hepato-specific factor named HNF1, LFB1, APF or HP1, a distant member of the homeoprotein family. A distinct protein, termed variant HNF1 (vHNF1), of lower mol. wt but displaying identical sequence specificity is found both in dedifferentiated variants and in an extinguished somatic hybrid that fail to express most or all of the tissue-specific traits, including albumin. We show here that HNF1 transcripts are present only in differentiated hepatoma cells. No transcripts are detected in dedifferentiated variants or in the extinguished cell hybrid, strongly suggesting that the vHNF1 protein is encoded by a distinct gene. Finally, HNF1 transcripts reappear in revertants to the hepatic phenotype. Run-on transcription analysis in isolated nuclei demonstrates that the expression of HNF1 in these cell lines is regulated primarily at the transcriptional level. Contrary to HNF1, the mRNAs coding for two other nuclear factors involved in albumin transcription, C/EBP and NF1, do not follow the distribution of albumin transcripts in these cell lines. These results indicate that extinction in somatic hybrids or loss of expression upon dedifferentiation of liver-specific genes possessing an HNF1 recognition site is caused, at least in part, by a block in HNF1 gene expression.
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PMID:Hepatocyte dedifferentiation and extinction is accompanied by a block in the synthesis of mRNA coding for the transcription factor HNF1/LFB1. 235 69

An expression vector capable of encoding full-length CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) has been constructed and tested in transient transfection assays for its capacity to activate transcription from the promoter of the serum albumin gene. When tested in cultured hepatoma cells, the C/EBP expression vector achieved potent trans-activation of the albumin promoter. Less substantial activation was observed when the same experiment was conducted using cultured mouse fibroblasts. Expression vectors that encoded defective forms of C/EBP failed to activate the albumin promoter. Moreover, mutated variants of the albumin promoter that lack the C/EBP-binding site failed to be trans-activated. The data are consistent with the interpretation that C/EBP is a bona fide transcription factor. During the course of these experiments it was noted also that C/EBP is more than an order of magnitude less concentrated in cultured hepatoma cells than it is in adult liver cells. Given these findings, we speculate that C/EBP may play a general role in establishing and maintaining the differentiated, nonproliferative state.
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PMID:CCAAT/enhancer binding protein activates the promoter of the serum albumin gene in cultured hepatoma cells. 255 52

The X-gene product of human hepatitis B virus is a transacting transcriptional factor which activates a variety of heterologous viral and host promoters/enhancers. We have found that the X-gene product can significantly transactivate the regulatory sequences located at the 5'-upstream of the c-jun oncogene when a reporter plasmid containing the sequences was co-transfected to HepG2 cells with an X-gene expression plasmid. The results of mutational analysis indicate that the X-gene activation requires the AP-1 sequence of the c-jun gene. Furthermore, we also found that the X-gene is capable of activating the 5'-upstream sequence of the alpha-fetoprotein gene. There are at least two elements that respond to the X-gene transactivation. One is located in the sequences between -5,100 and -2,900, and the other is at the C/EBP site. Therefore, the X-gene activates the c-jun and alpha-fetoprotein genes through different host factors, namely AP-1 and C/EBP, respectively. The results of c-jun activation by the X-gene strongly support the previous hypothesis that the X-gene may play a critical role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.
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PMID:The X-gene of human hepatitis B virus transactivates the c-jun and alpha-fetoprotein genes. 751 Apr 74

The promoter of the rat alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) gene, which makes the expression of the developmentally regulated AFP gene specific to the liver, is a putative target for transcription factors of the CAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP), hepatocyte nuclear factor-1 (HNF-1) and nuclear factor-1 (NF-1) families. We have evaluated the influence of these factors on the activity of the AFP promoter by transfection of HepG2 hepatoma cells with the appropriate expression vector plus a CAT plasmid under the control of the AFP promoter. A similar plasmid bearing the rat albumin promoter was used as a control. C/EBP alpha, C/EBP beta and D-binding protein (DBP) acted as trans-activators on the AFP promoter, whereas liver inhibitory protein (LIP), a truncated form of C/EBP beta, was a potent negative regulator of the promoter. C/EBP alpha also bound to and stimulated the activity of the AFP enhancer at -2.5 kb. Interestingly, HNF-1 beta was found to be more potent than HNF-1 alpha in activating the AFP promoter. This effect was specific, as it did not occur with the rat albumin promoter. HNF-1 beta, which is produced earlier than HNF-1 alpha during liver development, would thus have the greater influence on the AFP promoter in early development. Both HNF-1s allowed expression of the AFP promoter in cells of nonhepatic origin. Overexpression of NF-1 induced a specific decrease in the activity of the AFP promoter. This strongly suggests that competition between NF-1 and HNF-1 for binding to their overlapping binding sites on the AFP promoter is critical for modulating its activity. Thus changing combinations of these trans-acting factors may tightly modulate the AFP promoter activity in the course of liver development and carcinogenesis.
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PMID:Members of the CAAT/enhancer-binding protein, hepatocyte nuclear factor-1 and nuclear factor-1 families can differentially modulate the activities of the rat alpha-fetoprotein promoter and enhancer. 751 71

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