Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0019204 (hepatocellular carcinoma)
 71,386 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The effects of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), alone and in combination with IL-1, IL-6 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), on in vitro erythropoietin (Epo) production by the human hepatoma Hep3B cell line were evaluated. The addition of IFN-gamma to either unstimulated or cobalt chloride (CoCl2)-treated Hep3B cells resulted in a dose-dependent inhibition of Epo release in the medium by as much as 70% at 1000 U/ml. Half-maximal inhibition was observed at around 50 U/ml. According to previous observations, IL-6 had a stimulatory effect on Epo production by CoCl2-treated Hep3B cells; however, the simultaneous addition of IFN-gamma and IL-6 resulted in a reversal of the stimulatory effects due to IL-6. IFN-gamma and IL-1 had an additive inhibitory effect, whereas IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha acted in a synergistic fashion in inhibiting Epo production by Hep3B cells. The inhibitory effect of IFN-gamma appeared to be due to a down-modulation of Epo mRNA levels in CoCl2-treated Hep3B cells, as shown by Northern blot analysis. These data indicate that Epo production by hepatoma cells in vitro is inhibited by IFN-gamma, and that a complex network of interacting cytokines may regulate Epo production in response to an hypoxic stimulus. Overall, these results also suggest that IFN-gamma might have a role in the defective Epo production observed in several inflammatory and immunemediated disorders characterized by relatively high IFN-gamma plasma levels.
 ...
PMID:Inhibition of erythropoietin production in vitro by human interferon gamma. 794 42

Mouse serum amyloid A proteins (SAA) are encoded by multiple genes and the expression of these SAA genes is highly induced during inflammation. We demonstrate that the expression of one of SAA genes (SAA3) is induced by interleukin-1 (IL-1), and that other inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and leukemia inhibitory factor, while they themselves are without any effects, enhanced IL-1 induced SAA3 gene expression. The results of mutational analysis on the SAA3 promoter indicate that both the NF-kappa B and C/EBP transcription factor-binding motifs are essential for cytokine-induced SAA3 gene expression in Hep3B cells. To study further roles of NF-kappa B and C/EBP transcription factor family members in SAA3 gene activation, expression vectors for NF-kappa B subunits (p50 and p65) and C/EBP family members (C/EBP-alpha and NFIL-6, also called C/EBP-beta) were co-transfected into Hep3B hepatoma and F9 embryonic carcinoma cells. The results show that, while the expression of p65 alone strongly transactivated a SAA3 gene, p50 did not induce a significant transactivation, and NFIL-6 and C/EBP-alpha induced only a marginal transactivation when expressed alone. However, the co-expression of p50 or p65 with C/EBP family members did result in the efficient induction of SAA3 gene expression, indicating that the synergy between NF-kappa B and C/EBP transcription factor families is essential for SAA3 gene expression during inflammation.
 ...
PMID:NF-kappa B and C/EBP transcription factor families synergistically function in mouse serum amyloid A gene expression induced by inflammatory cytokines. 795 7

Protein S deficiency, which is associated with thrombosis, can either be inherited or acquired. Recently, we reported that a decrease in free protein S was observed in 19 of 25 persons with HIV/AIDS. The proinflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), has been reported to be elevated in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients and has been shown to induce a procoagulant state on the surface of endothelial cells. We report here that recombinant TNF-alpha (rTNF-alpha) downregulated protein S synthesis in the SV-40T transfected human microvascular endothelial cell line (HMEC-1) model system by approximately 70% and in primary human umbilical vein and dermal microvascular endothelial cell cultures by approximately 50%. Using the HMEC-1 model, Northern blot analysis showed a decrease in protein S RNA at 24 hours that was corroborated by Western blot analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) quantification. Evidence supporting the specificity of the TNF-alpha effect included the following: (1) TNF-alpha down-regulation of protein S was completely blocked by TNF neutralizing antibody; (2) the effect was transient, and protein S was restored to near normal levels after TNF was removed from cell cultures; (3) an antibody directed to the TNF RI (55-kD receptor) was shown to mimic the action of TNF-alpha on HMEC-1 cells; and (4) other proinflammatory cytokines, interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, and TGF-beta, had no effect on protein S secretion. However, TNF-alpha showed no regulatory control over protein S synthesis in the human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG-2. We suggest that TNF-alpha downregulation of protein S may be a mechanism for localized procoagulant activity and thrombosis recently reported in some AIDS patients with associated protein S deficiency.
 ...
PMID:Tumor necrosis factor-alpha downregulates protein S secretion in human microvascular and umbilical vein endothelial cells but not in the HepG-2 hepatoma cell line. 802 76

The liver plays a central role in the systemic acute phase response of an organism to injury. Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), a major regulator of fibrinolysis, is an important component of the acute phase response in humans. The source of plasma PAI-1 has been a matter of controversy, but recent in situ hybridization experiments have demonstrated that human hepatocytes express the PAI-1 gene in vivo. However, little is known about regulation of human hepatic PAI-1 gene expression by mediators of the acute phase response. We have analyzed the regulation of PAI-1 mRNA accumulation by interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, and dexamethasone, known mediators of the acute phase response, in HepG2 cells, a highly differentiated human hepatoma cell line that produces a broad spectrum of acute phase proteins including PAI-1. Incubation of HepG2 cells with IL-1 resulted in a rapid and transient 40-fold induction of the 3.2-kilobase PAI-1 mRNA and a 30-fold induction of the 2.2-kilobase PAI-1 mRNA. Although IL-6 alone had only a modest effect on PAI-1 expression, in combination with IL-1, it caused a synergistic induction of PAI-1 mRNA accumulation. Dexamethasone alone did not increase PAI-1 mRNA accumulation but enhanced it in combination with IL-1. Using nuclear run-on experiments, we determined that the mechanism by which IL-1 alone, or in combination with IL-6, induced PAI-1 mRNA accumulation was to cause a 10-15-fold, transient stimulation of PAI-1 gene transcription. We found no evidence of an effect of these cytokines on PAI-1 mRNA stability. These data demonstrate that mediators of the acute phase response induce the accumulation of PAI-1 mRNA in human hepatoma cells by rapidly and transiently increasing the transcription of the PAI-1 gene.
 ...
PMID:Induction of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 in HepG2 human hepatoma cells by mediators of the acute phase response. 803 68

Control serum levels of IL-6 measured by ELISA in 30 healthy blood donors or volunteers were 18 +/- 34 pg/ml (mean +/- SD). Pretransplant serum levels of IL-6 in 169 adult candidates for liver transplantation were significantly higher than control in those with fulminant hepatitis (203 +/- 232 pg/ml), alcoholic cirrhosis (116 +/- 257 pg/ml), and hepatocellular carcinoma (82 +/- 105 pg/ml). With these data as background, plasma or serum levels of IL-6 were monitored in 24 adult patients after first OLT and correlated with the clinical courses and the histopathological diagnosis of rejection. Serum or plasma levels of IL-6 decreased after transplantation regardless of pretransplant value. Four patients with infection subsequently developed continuously high IL-6 values. In the 20 of 24 patients who did not have infection, significantly higher levels of IL-6 were consistently found 0-4 days before histopathological diagnosis of rejection (131 +/- 78 pg/ml) compared with significantly lower values in patients without rejection episodes (40 +/- 21 pg/ml). The elevations of IL-6 were spike shaped, did not correlate well with the histopathological grades of rejection, and were highly responsive to augmented immunosuppression. These 20 cases were classified as: group 1, no spikes of IL-6 after liver transplantation; group 2, single spike of IL-6 after liver transplantation; and group 3, multiple spikes of IL-6 after liver transplantation. The combined early and late graft loss of each group was 0% (group 1), 25% (group 2), and 67% (group 3). We conclude that daily monitored serum or plasma IL-6 levels can be a good premonitor of liver allograft rejection and also a useful predictor of long-term graft outcome.
 ...
PMID:Evaluation of sequential serum interleukin-6 levels in liver allograft recipients. 816 99

Hemopexin (Hx) is an abundant acute-phase protein (APP) that binds heme with high affinity. In rat hepatic cells, the transcription rate of the Hx gene is increased by interleukin (IL)-1 and IL-6. To investigate the cis-acting regulatory elements (REs) responsive to these hormones, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase constructs of rat and human Hx gene sequences were tested in transiently transfected hepatoma cells. An IL-6-RE was identified in the promoter of both rat and human Hx genes, the function of which was dependent on the core sequence (CCGGGAA) common in other APP genes. The previously characterized Hx A element mediated a relatively minor cytokine response as compared with the Hx IL-6-RE. The human Hx A element, in contrast to the rat and human Hx IL-6-REs, was strongly trans-activated by cotransfected CAAT enhancer-binding proteins (C/EBP)-beta and -delta. The rat gene homolog of the human Hx A element was inactive as a cytokine RE and was minimally trans-activated by C/EBP isoforms. Results of electrophoretic mobility shift assays indicated that the Hx IL-6-RE is a binding site for the IL-6-inducible nuclear protein IL-6 RE-BP, which also binds to the conserved IL-6-REs of other APP genes and is distinct from C/EBP beta.
 ...
PMID:The rat and human hemopexin genes contain an identical interleukin-6 response element that is not a target of CAAT enhancer-binding protein isoforms. 817 75

In patients with the anemia of chronic diseases, the plasma level of EPO is often low in relation to the blood hemoglobin concentration. Because infectious and inflammatory processes cause activation of cytokine-producing macrophages and lymphocytes, we investigated whether isolated inflammatory cytokines influence the synthesis of EPO in vitro. IL-1 and TNF-alpha were shown to inhibit EPO mRNA levels and EPO formation in the human hepatoma cell cultures HepG2 and Hep3B, and to lower EPO formation in isolated perfused rat kidneys. IFN-alpha and IFN-beta also induced some inhibition of EPO production in HepG2 cultures. IL-3, TGF-beta 2, and IFN-gamma did not inhibit. IL-6 stimulated the production of EPO in Hep3B cells but was ineffective in HepG2 cells and lowered EPO production in isolated perfused rat kidneys. IL-1, TNF-alpha, and possibly other cytokines could contribute to defective EPO production in renal and nonrenal immune responses.
 ...
PMID:Inhibition of erythropoietin production by cytokines. Implications for the anemia involved in inflammatory states. 818 37

Isolated murine splenic NK cells and the cultured murine endothelioma cell line, eEND2, were used to study the effects of cytokines on NK cell/endothelial cell adhesion. Treatment of eEND2 cells with TNF-alpha induced a marked increase (four- to sevenfold) in adherence of NK cells, as compared with control cultures of endothelioma cells or eEND2 cells treated with IL-1 alpha or IL-6. TNF-alpha induction of NK cell adherence to eEND2 was dose dependent with rapid kinetics, reaching a maximum at concentrations between 10 and 1000 U/ml after a 2-h incubation. TNF-alpha treatment of L929 fibroblasts or CL-2 hepatoma cells did not result in increased NK cell adhesion. The concentration range of TNF-alpha that was found to maximally augment NK cell adhesion to eEND2 also induced NK cell chemokinetic activity. The relevance of these in vitro results was subsequently analyzed in vivo. Initial studies confirmed that a single dose of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid and poly-L-lysine stabilized in carboxymethyl cellulose (poly-ICLC), augmented hepatic NK activity and resulted in a 2.2-fold increase in the number of liver-associated NK cells. Concomitant treatment of mice with a TNF-alpha neutralizing antisera eliminated both the hepatic influx of NK cells and the increase in poly-ICLC-induced liver NK activity. These results suggest that TNF-alpha is a principal cytokine involved in the in vivo recruitment and localization of parenchymal NK cells after treatment with a biological response modifier, and that this regulation seems to occur via alterations in NK cell/endothelial cell interactions.
 ...
PMID:TNF-alpha is a principal cytokine involved in the recruitment of NK cells to liver parenchyma. 820 46

A high level of plasma fibrinogen has been shown to be an important risk factor for myocardial infarction and stroke. Thus, we were prompted to investigate regulation of human fibrinogen biosynthesis, a process wherein expression of the B beta-chain of fibrinogen appears to be rate-limiting for fibrinogen secretion. Using electrophoretic mobility shift assays with synthetic probes representing portions of the human B beta-fibrinogen promoter, we have defined several elements that bind distinct classes of transcription factors present in human hepatoma cell nuclear extracts. The contribution of each element to promoter activity was demonstrated in transfection experiments using promoter-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase constructs and human hepatoma cells. Our observations indicate that two distinct sequence elements are required for maximal induction of transcription by interleukin-6. One of these sequences is an IL-6-RE core element similar to that reported for the rat alpha 2-macroglobulin promoter and the other is a binding site for the C/EBP family of transcription factors. We also report two additional elements, one negative- and one positive-acting, that bind novel sequence-specific factors.
 ...
PMID:Functional characterization of promoter elements involved in regulation of human B beta-fibrinogen expression. Evidence for binding of novel activator and repressor proteins. 822 73

Twenty hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) were analyzed by Northern blotting to test the expression of pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor (PSTI). This gene was expressed in all HCCs, but not in other tumors, including mammary, thyroid, pulmonary and ovarian cancers. Some gastric and colonic cancers weakly expressed PSTI. Among cell lines examined in a similar manner, PSTI was expressed in all of 4 derived from hepatoma. On the other hand, among 15 cell lines derived from cancers other than hepatoma, only 3, derived from pancreatic, colonic and gastric cancers, weakly expressed PSTI. A CAT assay using a deletion set of the 5' region from the cloned PSTI gene has shown that in hepatoma cell lines, the expression of this gene is dependent on the presence of 2 regulatory regions that include an IL-6 responsive elements and an AP-I-binding site. However, in non-hepatoma cell lines, the 2 regulatory regions are not necessary for expression. The blood level of PSTI in 27 patients with HCC was significantly increased, and it was positively correlated with tumor size, suggesting that specific expression of PSTI in HCC causes this effect and that elevated blood level of PSTI without inflammation indicates the presence of HCC.
 ...
PMID:Specific expression of the pancreatic-secretory-trypsin-inhibitor (PSTI) gene in hepatocellular carcinoma. 824 68


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>