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)

Anthracyclines and anthracenediones are well-known cancer chemotherapeutic agents but their uses are limited with cardiotoxicity and drug resistance. Several l- and d-form amino acids were introduced into the anthraquinone skeleton and numerous derivatives were synthesized for the evaluation of anticancer activity. The screening tests showed that WRC-213, an l-methionine conjugation, was the most effective derivative to inhibit proliferative effect of human androgen-independent prostate cancer PC-3 cells (IC50=50 nM). In an extension evaluation, WRC-213 displayed a potent anti-proliferative activity in various cancer cell lines, including non-small cell lung cancer A549, androgen-independent prostate cancer DU145, colorectal cancer HT-29, breast cancer MCF-7 and hepatocellular carcinoma Hep3B and HepG2. It induced cell-cycle arrest at S and G2, but not mitotic phase, in PC-3 cells. The comet assay revealed that induction of DNA damage and inhibition of topoisomerase II were the primary insults. After the checkpoint arrest of the cell-cycle, WRC-213 induced the mitochondria-mediated intrinsic apoptotic pathway, including Mcl-1 cleavage, Bcl-2 down-regulation and activation of caspase-9/caspase-3 cascades. Survivin degradation and caspase-2 activation also contributed to WRC-213-induced apoptosis. Moreover, the assessment of cytotoxicity in H9c2 cardiomyocytes and drug resistance in NCI/ADR-RES cells demonstrated that WRC-213 showed much lower cardiotoxicity and P-glycoprotein-related resistance than those of mitoxantrone, etoposide and doxorubicin. In conclusion, it is suggested that WRC-213 is a potential topoisomerase II inhibitor with reduced cardiotoxicity and drug resistance. It inhibits topoisomerase II activity and induces chromosomal DNA strand breaks, leading to S and G2 arrest of the cell-cycle and activation of mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathways.
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PMID:WRC-213, an l-methionine-conjugated mitoxantrone derivative, displays anticancer activity with reduced cardiotoxicity and drug resistance: identification of topoisomerase II inhibition and apoptotic machinery in prostate cancers. 1803 33

FaO rat hepatoma cells show increased levels of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) ligands, when compared with adult normal hepatocytes, and higher activity of the TNF-alpha converting enzyme (TACE/ADAM17), which is required for EGFR ligand proteolysis and activation. In this work we have analysed the consequences of inhibiting the EGFR in FaO rat hepatoma cells, focusing the attention on autocrine growth and protection from apoptosis. Results have indicated that FaO cells show overactivation of the EGFR pathway, which induces basal growth (in the absence of serum) and protection from pro-apoptotic agents, such as doxorubicin, generating drug resistance. Treatment of cells with the combination of doxorubicin and the tyrphostin 4-(3-chloroanilino)-6,7-dimethoxyquinazoline (AG1478, a potent and specific inhibitor of EGFR tyrosine kinase) potently inhibits autocrine growth and induces apoptosis. The apoptotic effect correlates with high expression and activation of the pro-apoptotic Bax and decreased transcript and protein levels of the anti-apoptotic Mcl-1 and Bcl-x(L). Furthermore, the combination of AG1478 and doxorubicin induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and glutathione depletion in FaO cells, coincident with up-regulation of the NADPH oxidase NOX4 and down-regulation of the gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (gamma-GCS), a key regulatory enzyme of the glutathione synthesis. Incubation of cells with glutathione ethyl ester attenuates the apoptosis induced by the combination of doxorubicin and AG1478, which indicates that glutathione depletion is required for an efficient cell death. In conclusion, targeting EGFR combined with other conventional pro-apoptotic drugs should potentially be effective in antineoplastic therapy towards liver cancer.
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PMID:Inhibition of the EGF receptor blocks autocrine growth and increases the cytotoxic effects of doxorubicin in rat hepatoma cells: role of reactive oxygen species production and glutathione depletion. 1837 37

The oncogenic hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 are highly co-expressed in chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and well-differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although HBx is shown to activate COX-2, the functional consequences of this interaction in hepatocarcinogenesis remain unknown. Using an engineered hepatoma cell system in which the expression of wild-type p53 can be chemically modulated, we show here that COX-2 mediates HBx actions in opposing p53. Enforced expression of HBx sequestrates p53 in the cytoplasm and significantly abolishes p53-induced apoptosis. The anti-apoptotic Mcl-1 protein is suppressed by p53 but reactivated by HBx. The abrogation of apoptosis is completely reversed by specific COX-2 inhibition, suggesting that HBx blocks p53-induced apoptosis via activation of COX-2/PGE(2) pathway. We further show that COX-2 inhibition blocks HBx reactivation of Mcl-1, linking this protein to the anti-apoptotic function of COX-2. These results demonstrate that COX-2 is an important survival factor mediating the oncogenic actions of HBx. Over-expression of HBx and COX-2 may provide a selective clonal advantage for preneoplastic or neoplastic hepatocytes and contribute to the initiation and progression of HCC.
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PMID:COX-2 mediates hepatitis B virus X protein abrogation of p53-induced apoptosis. 1860 5

Tubulin and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) are two potential targets for the development of cancer chemotherapeutic agents. Mana-Hox is a synthetic derivative of beta-carboline, a structure relevant to marine sponge component, manzamine. In this study, Mana-Hox induced an inhibition of cell proliferation in several types of human cancer cell lines, including androgen-independent prostate cancer PC-3 and DU-145, hepatocellular carcinoma Hep3B and HepG2, and colorectal cancer HT-29 cells. The p53-null PC-3 cells were used for to anticancer mechanisms. Mana-Hox stimulated an increase of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) phosphorylation on Ser-1981, indicating the induction of DNA double-strand breaks. It also displayed an inhibitory effect on tubulin polymerization using tubulin turbidity assay and immunofluorescence identification. However, it only showed a minor inhibition on the activity of Aurora kinase and histone deacetylase. Mana-Hox induced mitotic arrest of the cell cycle identified by downregulation of cyclin E, cyclin A, and cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (Cdk2) and an increase of MPM-2 expression. Next, it caused Bcl-2 phosphorylation on Ser-70, downregulation of Mcl-1 expression, and activation of caspase-3, leading to apoptotic cell death. Notably, Mana-Hox was not a P-glycoprotein (P-gp) substrate and showed equipotent activity against P-gp-rich cancer cells. We conclude that Mana-Hox induces dual effects on DNA damage and tubulin depolymerization, leading to mitotic arrest and activation of mitochondria-mediated apoptotic pathways. Data provide evidence that the anticancer strategy of dual-action targets could be a potential anticancer approach.
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PMID:Mana-Hox displays anticancer activity against prostate cancer cells through tubulin depolymerization and DNA damage stress. 1866 30

Although aberrant microRNA (miRNA) expressions have been observed in different types of cancer, their pathophysiologic role and their relevance to tumorigenesis are still largely unknown. In this study, we first evaluated the expression of 308 miRNAs in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and normal hepatic tissues and identified 29 differentially expressed miRNAs in HCC tissues. miR-101, a significantly down-regulated miRNA, was further studied in greater detail because the signal pathway(s) regulated by miR-101 and the role of miR-101 in tumorigenesis have not yet been elucidated. Interestingly, decreased expression of miR-101 was found in all six hepatoma cell lines examined and in as high as 94.1% of HCC tissues, compared with their nontumor counterparts. Furthermore, ectopic expression of miR-101 dramatically suppressed the ability of hepatoma cells to form colonies in vitro and to develop tumors in nude mice. We also found that miR-101 could sensitize hepatoma cell lines to both serum starvation- and chemotherapeutic drug-induced apoptosis. Further investigation revealed that miR-101 significantly repressed the expression of luciferase carrying the 3'-untranslated region of Mcl-1 and reduced the endogenous protein level of Mcl-1, whereas the miR-101 inhibitor obviously up-regulated Mcl-1 expression and inhibited cell apoptosis. Moreover, silencing of Mcl-1 phenocopied the effect of miR-101 and forced expression of Mcl-1 could reverse the proapoptotic effect of miR-101. These results indicate that miR-101 may exert its proapoptotic function via targeting Mcl-1. Taken together, our data suggest an important role of miR-101 in the molecular etiology of cancer and implicate the potential application of miR-101 in cancer therapy.
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PMID:MicroRNA-101, down-regulated in hepatocellular carcinoma, promotes apoptosis and suppresses tumorigenicity. 1915 2

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major health problem, being the sixth most common cancer world-wide. Dysregulation of the balance between proliferation and cell death represents a pro-tumorigenic principle in human hepatocarcinogenesis. This review updates the recent relevant contributions reporting molecular alterations for HCC that induce an imbalance in the regulation of apoptosis. Alterations in the expression and/or activation of p53 are frequent in HCC cells, which confer on them resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. Many HCCs are also insensitive to apoptosis induced either by death receptor ligands, such as FasL or TRAIL, or by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta). Although the expression of some pro-apoptotic genes is decreased, the balance between death and survival is dysregulated in HCC mainly due to overactivation of anti-apoptotic pathways. Indeed, some molecules involved in counteracting apoptosis, such as Bcl-X(L), Mcl-1, c-IAP1, XIAP or survivin are over-expressed in HCC cells. Furthermore, some growth factors that mediate cell survival are up-regulated in HCC, as well as the molecules involved in the machinery responsible for cleavage of their pro-forms to an active peptide. The expression and/or activation of the JAK/STAT, PI3K/AKT and RAS/ERKs pathways are enhanced in many HCC cells, conferring on them resistance to apoptotic stimuli. Finally, recent evidence indicates that inflammatory processes, as well as the epithelial-mesenchymal transitions that occur in HCC cells to facilitate their dissemination, are related to cell survival. Therefore, therapeutic strategies to selectively inhibit anti-apoptotic signals in liver tumor cells have the potential to provide powerful tools to treat HCC.
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PMID:Dysregulation of apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. 1919 51

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common malignancy worldwide. Vascular endothelial growth factor, platelet derived growth factor and the Raf/mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal regulated kinase (Raf/MEK/ERK) signalling pathway regulates the growth, neovascularization, invasiveness and metastatic potential of HCC. In this study, we investigated the in vivo antitumour activity and mechanisms of action of sorafenib tosylate on four patient-derived HCC xenografts. Sorafenib dosed at 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg inhibited tumour growth by 85% and 96%, respectively. Sorafenib-induced growth suppression and apoptosis were associated with inhibition of angiogenesis, down-regulation of phospho-platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta Tyr1021, phospho-eIF4E Ser209, phospho-c-Raf Ser259, c-Raf, Mcl-1, Bcl-2, Bcl-x and positive cell cycle regulators, up-regulation of apoptosis signalling kinase-1, p27 and p21. Expression of IGF-1Rbeta and phosphorylation of c-Raf Ser338, MEK1/2 Ser217/221 and ERK1/2 Thr202/Tyr204 were increased by sorafenib treatment. Phosphorylation of mammalian target-of-rapamycin (mTOR) targets (p70S6K, S6R and 4EBP1) was reduced by sorafenib in sorafenib-sensitive lines but activated in sorafenib-less-sensitive 10-0505 xenograft. Sorafenib-induced phosphorylation of c-met, p70S6K and 4EBP1 was significantly reduced when 10-0505 cells were co-treated with anti-human anti-HGF antibody, suggesting that treatment with sorafenib leads to increased HGF secretion and activation of c-met and mTOR targets. Treatment of 10-0505 tumours with sorafenib plus rapamycin resulted in growth inhibition, inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 phosphorylation, increased apoptosis and completely blocked sorafenib-induced phosphorylation of mTOR targets and cyclin B1 expression. These data also provide a strong rationale for clinical investigation of sorafenib in combination with mTOR inhibitors in patients with HCC.
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PMID:Sorafenib and rapamycin induce growth suppression in mouse models of hepatocellular carcinoma. 1922 May 80

Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) has been shown to play an important role in the development and progression of cancer. In this study, we systematically examined NF-kappaBp65 signaling pathway in both human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue and HCC cell lines. NF-kappaBp65 signaling pathway is aberrantly expressed and activated in both human HCC tissue and HCC Hep3B cells. Inhibition of NF-kappaB activity significantly reduced proliferation and invasion of Hep3B cells as well as down-regulated the expression of invasion-related molecules including matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-9, membrane type-1 MMP (MT1-MMP), urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Hep3B cells exhibited a dose-dependent increase in apoptosis after receiving sorafenib treatment. Inhibition of NF-kappaB activity strongly sensitized Hep3B cells to sorafenib-induced cell death. Mechanistically, combined treatment of sorafenib and NF-kappaB inhibition enhanced inhibition of MAPK signaling and down-regulation of anti-apoptotic protein Mcl-1 expression. These observations indicate that inhibition of NF-kappaB may be a potential antineoplastic therapy for HCC, especially the combination of NF-kappaB inhibition and sorafenib provides a novel therapeutic strategy for patients with advanced-stage HCC.
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PMID:NF-kappaB inhibition in human hepatocellular carcinoma and its potential as adjunct to sorafenib based therapy. 1930

The activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) has been linked with the proliferation, survival, invasion, and angiogenesis of a variety of human cancer cells, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Agents that can suppress STAT3 activation have potential for the prevention and treatment of HCC. In this study, we tested an agent, beta-escin, for its ability to suppress STAT3 activation. We found that beta-escin, a pentacyclic triterpenoid, inhibited both constitutive and interleukin-6-inducible STAT3 activation in a dose- and time-dependent manner in HCC cells. The suppression was mediated through the inhibition of activation of upstream kinases c-Src, Janus-activated kinase 1, and Janus-activated kinase 2. Vanadate treatment reversed the beta-escin-induced down-regulation of STAT3, suggesting the involvement of a tyrosine phosphatase. Indeed, we found that beta-escin induced the expression of tyrosine phosphatase Src homology phosphatase 1 that correlated with the down-regulation of constitutive STAT3 activation. beta-Escin also down-regulated the expression of STAT3-regulated gene products, such as cyclin D1, Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, survivin, Mcl-1, and vascular endothelial growth factor. Finally, beta-escin inhibited proliferation and also substantially potentiated the apoptotic effects of paclitaxel and doxorubicin in HCC cells. Overall, these results suggest that beta-escin is a novel blocker of STAT3 activation that may have potential in the suppression of proliferation and chemosensitization in HCC.
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PMID:Identification of beta-escin as a novel inhibitor of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3/Janus-activated kinase 2 signaling pathway that suppresses proliferation and induces apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells. 2037 17

The multikinase inhibitor sorafenib is the first oral agent to show activity against human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Apoptosis has been shown to be induced in HCC by several agents, including sorafenib as well as by the naturally occurring K vitamins (VKs). As few nontoxic agents have activity against HCC growth, we evaluated the activity of sorafenib and VKs, both independently and together on the growth of HCC cells in vitro and in vivo. We found that when VK was combined with sorafenib, the concentration of sorafenib required for growth inhibition was substantially reduced. Conversely, VK enhanced sorafenib effects in several HCC cell lines on growth inhibition. Growth could be inhibited at doses of VK plus sorafenib that were ineffective with either agent alone, using vitamins K1, K2 and K5. Combination of VK1 plus sorafenib induced apoptosis on FACS, TUNEL staining and caspase activation. Phospho-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) levels were decreased as was myeloid cell leukemia sequence 1 (Mcl-1), an ERK target. Sorafenib alone inhibited growth of transplantable HCC in vivo. At subeffective sorafenib doses in vivo, addition of VK1 caused major tumor regression, with decreased phospho-ERK and Mcl-1 staining. Thus, combination of VK1 plus sorafenib strongly induced growth inhibition and apoptosis in rodent and human HCC and inhibited the RAF/mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/ERK pathway. VK1 alone activated PKA, a mediator of inhibitory Raf phosphorylation. Thus, each agent can antagonize Raf: sorafenib as a direct inhibitor and VK1 through inhibitory Raf phosphorylation. As both agents are available for human use, the combination has potential for improving sorafenib effects in HCC.
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PMID:Vitamin K enhancement of sorafenib-mediated HCC cell growth inhibition in vitro and in vivo. 2135 Dec 73

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