Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0025202 (melanoma)
 69,561 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Using human tyrosinase cDNA as a probe, a mouse tyrosinase cDNA clone representing approximately 75% of the tyrosinase coding region and a mouse genomic clone which includes the tyrosinase 5' coding sequences were isolated: nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequence of the mouse tyrosinase gene were determined from these clones. The predicted amino acid sequence revealed that the mouse tyrosinase is composed of 533 amino acids with a molecular weight of 60,536. The deduced protein contains 6 potential N-glycosylation sites, two cysteine- and two histidine-rich regions which may serve as copper-binding sites, a potential signal and transmembrane sequences. The mouse and human tyrosinase nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences are approximately 81% homologous. The level of mouse tyrosinase mRNA was elevated after stimulation of Cloudman S-91 melanoma cells with melanotropin and isobutylmethylxanthine and the level of transcript reflected that of tyrosinase activity and melanin content in the cells.
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PMID:Sequence analysis of mouse tyrosinase cDNA and the effect of melanotropin on its gene expression. 313 20

Cysteine proteinase inhibitors in the human melanoma tissue transplanted into nude mice were found to increase in concentration during tumor growth. The activity (unit/g) at 8 weeks was about 3 times higher than the activity at 4 weeks after transplantation. The inhibitors were separated into two main forms (Mr about 76,000 and 10,000) with Sephacryl S-200 and/or Sephadex G-75 gel chromatography. The activities of the inhibitors of both molecular masses increased parallely during tumor growth. The high molecular mass inhibitor fractions reacted with antisera made against alpha-cysteine proteinase inhibitor (alpha-CPI, human kininogen) and against neutral low-molecular mass proteinase inhibitor (cystatin B). Free cystatin B appeared to be liberated in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis following electroimmunoblotting with an antiserum to cystatin B. Similarly, free cystatin B was detected in gel chromatography on Sephadex G-75 after alkali treatment at pH 11.5. It may thus represent a cystatin B--cysteine proteinase complex mixed with alpha-CPI. The low molecular mass inhibitor fractions reacted with antisera made against cystatin A and cystatin B. When the low-molecular mass inhibitor fraction was subjected to isoelectric focusing, it was separated into three peaks with pIs 8.0, 7.4, and 6.0. The inhibitors with pI 8.0 and 7.4 reacted with antisera made against cystatin B, while the inhibitor with pI 6.0 reacted with antisera made against cystatin B and cystatin A.
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PMID:Cysteine proteinase inhibitors in human melanoma transplanted into nude mice. 314 93

Melanins are light-absorbant polymeric pigments found widely dispersed in nature. They possess many interesting physicochemical properties. One of these is the expression in the polymer of stable free radicals which appear to have a protective action in cells, probably by acting as a sink for diffusible free-radical species. Polymer formation is thought to occur by a free-radical process in which semiquinones are added to the chain. Semiquinones are formed by redox equilibration interactions between metabolic intermediates formed during the tyrosinase-catalyzed oxidation process. In the continued presence of substrate, steady-state concentrations of reactive species are predicted in the reaction system, and the melanogenic pathway may be considered as potentially hazardous for pigment-generating cells. This feature has been exploited by the use of analogue substrates to generate cytotoxic species as a possible rational approach to the treatment of malignant melanoma. One such substance is 4-hydroxyanisole, the oxidation of which gives rise to semiquinone radical species. The possibility that the anisyl semiquinone initiates a mechanism leading to cell damage has not been excluded. However, the current view is that the major cytotoxicity due to the oxidation products of this compound is the result of the action of the corresponding orthoquinone. A number of mechanisms exist for detoxifying quinones if they reach the cytosol such as O-methylation and the formation of thiol adducts with cysteine or glutathione, and these can be used as markers of melanogenesis. In general, however, only small amounts of reactive intermediates of melanogenesis escape from the confines of the melanosome, probably because of their limited lipid solubility. The selective toxic action of anisyl quinone in the treatment of melanoma may, in part, be due to membrane defects in the melanosomes of malignant melanocytes.
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PMID:Radicals in melanin biochemistry. 324 55

The ability of B16-F10 mouse melanoma cells to cross an amnion basement membrane was determined in the presence of strong inhibitors of both serine and cysteine proteases. The concentrations of inhibitors were at orders of magnitude higher than their Ki values to serine and cysteine proteases implicated in metastasis, thus ensuring a complete inhibition for tumor secreted proteases such as cathepsin B-like proteases, plasminogen activators, and plasmin. Under these conditions of high serine and cysteine protease inhibitor concentrations, no significant decrease in B16-F10 melanoma cell invasion through the amnion was observed. Separate experiments showed that the inhibitors were neither toxic to the cells nor degraded. The results show that neither tumor cell secreted cathepsin B-like proteases nor plasminogen activator have a controlling role in basement membrane crossing in this metastatic model. A possible role for tumor cell membrane proteases in basement membrane invasion, in which the substrates of the protease bind to receptor sites near a membrane associated proteolytic activity, is not eliminated.
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PMID:Inhibition of proteolytic enzymes in the in vitro amnion model for basement membrane invasion. 352 1

The principal region of the human plasma fibronectin molecule mediating the adhesion of melanoma cells appears to be the alternatively spliced type III connecting segment (IIICS (Humphries, M. J., Akiyama, S. K., Komoriya, A., Olden, K., and Yamada, K. M. (1986a) J. Cell Biol., in press]. A series of overlapping synthetic peptides spanning the entire IIICS (CS peptides) were examined for their effects on B16-F10 melanoma cell adhesion to the parent fibronectin molecule. Two nonadjacent CS peptides, designated CS1 and CS5, were inhibitory. In contrast, neither inhibited fibronectin-mediated spreading of fibroblastic baby hamster kidney cells. When N-terminal cysteine derivatives of the CS peptides were conjugated to IgG by covalent cross-linking with N-succinimidyl-3(2-pyridyldithio)propionate, both the CS1 and CS5 conjugates promoted B16-F10 melanoma cell spreading. All conjugates were inactive for spreading of baby hamster kidney cells, confirming the cell type specificity of the IIICS adhesion site. Determination of the amounts of CS peptide required to support melanoma cell adhesion revealed that the activity of CS1 was only 2.4-fold lower than that of the intact fibronectin molecule. CS5 was approximately 320-fold less active than fibronectin, suggesting that the CS1 region may be the major site of interaction with the melanoma cell surface. The adhesion-promoting activities of CS1-IgG and CS5-IgG were additive as were the inhibitory activities of the free peptides for B16-F10 cell spreading on fibronectin. These findings suggest that both regions of the IIICS can function separately or together in mediating the interaction of melanoma cells with fibronectin. Since CS1 and CS5 are each found in separate alternatively spliced regions of the IIICS, it is conceivable that the adhesion-promoting activity of fibronectin for different cell types may be under complex regulation.
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PMID:Identification of two distinct regions of the type III connecting segment of human plasma fibronectin that promote cell type-specific adhesion. 357 Dec 91

Phenolic and catecholic compounds were synthesized, by combination with cysteine or cysteamine through thioether bond, and their antimelanoma and melanocytotoxic effects were evaluated. Among nine compounds tested, 4-S-cysteaminylphenol (CAP) resulted in an increase in the life span (% ILS) of melanoma-bearing mice and in the growth inhibition (% GI) of melanoma tissue. 4-S-Cysteinylphenol (CP) and its methyl ester form also showed some increase in % GI. The 2-S-isomers of CP and CAP and diphenolic derivatives of CP did not show any significant antimelanoma effect. In addition, the s.c. injection of 4-S-CAP and 4-S-CP, in particular 4-S-CAP, caused the depigmentation of black hair which was manifested by loss of functioning melanocytes, as seen under light microscopy. The 4-S-CAP appears to provide a basis for development of a new class of antimelanoma and melanocytotoxic agents that are more stable than catecholic compounds, which have been most widely utilized as a source of rational chemotherapy for malignant melanoma.
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PMID:Synthesis of cysteinylphenol, cysteaminylphenol, and related compounds, and in vivo evaluation of antimelanoma effect. 367 57

We have purified the human low molecular mass cysteine proteinase inhibitor in good yield from amniotic fluid, using ultrafiltration through 100-kDa and 1-kDa cut-off filters, chromatography on Ultrogel AcA 54, and affinity chromatography on alkylated papain-agarose. Approximately 1-4 mg/l of this inhibitor are present in amniotic fluid. The purified inhibitor had an apparent molecular mass of 10.5-12 kDa, as judged by its electrophoretic behavior. Amino acid analysis showed it to be rich in acidic and aliphatic residues and in cysteine. No carbohydrate side-chains could be demonstrated. The purified inhibitor inhibited papain, ficin, cathepsins B, C, and H, the cathepsin B-like enzyme from B16 melanoma cells, and a bovine chromaffin granule enkephalin-converting activity. No inhibition of Ca2-dependent neutral cysteine proteinase, serine- or metallo-proteinases was seen. Analysis of the purified inhibitor by isoelectric focusing revealed 7 major bands with pI values of 7.95, 7.0, 6.7, 6.55, 6.25, 5.5, and 5.2, all of which inhibited papain.
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PMID:Purification and characterization of a low molecular mass cysteine proteinase inhibitor from human amniotic fluid. 388 72

Cysteine protease inhibitors that specifically reacted with several cysteine proteases were found in KSCN extract of human melanoma tissue. From 30 gm of the tissue, approximately 593.5 U inhibitor was obtained. The inhibitors were adsorbed on a papain-Sepharose column and could be eluted with 10 mmol/L phosphate buffer, pH 6.0, containing NaCl or KCl, or with 20 mmol/L acetate buffer, pH 4.0, containing KSCN. They revealed a strong inhibitory activity for cysteine proteases such as ficin, papain, and cathepsin B, but did not react with cysteine protease bromelain or serine protease trypsin. No immunologic relationship was confirmed between the inhibitor and other well-known plasma inhibitors such as alpha 1-antitrypsin, alpha 2-macroglobulin, alpha 1-antichymotrypsin, antithrombin III, C1-in-activator, and alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor. With Sephadex G-100, two main peaks of molecular weight 40,000 and 10,000 were detected in the KSCN extract of the human melanoma tissue. However, the inhibitors revealed three molecular weights of 10,000, 25,000, and 80,000 when estimated by Sephadex G-100 gel filtration after papain-Sepharose affinity chromatography. On the other hand, the molecular weights of the inhibitors changed to two peaks of 25,000 and 10,000 on rechromatography with a papain-Sepharose column.
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PMID:Cysteine protease inhibitors isolated from human malignant melanoma tissue. 393 99

The medium of cultured melanoma cells was studied for tyrosine hydroxylation and dopa-oxidizing activity. The supernatant obtained after centrifugation at 100 000 g for 2 hours was treated with ammonium sulphate, and the precipitate obtained between 35 and 50% saturation was used. Dopa was determined as the product of tyrosine hydroxylation and 5-S-cysteinyldopa as the product of dopa oxidase activity. Determinations were performed with HPLC and electrochemical detection. Our preparation of culture medium of cells showed the following. 1) No hydroxylation of tyrosine in the absence of co-factor. 2) Hydroxylation of L-tyrosine in the presence of dopamine. No hydroxylation with boiled medium. Minimal effect of catalase on hydroxylation. 3) Hydroxylation of tyrosine in the presence of ascorbic acid. Hydroxylation was catalyzed also with boiled medium. Catalase strikingly diminished hydroxylation. 4) Oxidation of L-dopa to dopaquinone determined as its main reaction product with cysteine, 5-S-cysteinyl-dopa. There was negligible oxidation with boiled medium. 5) With dopamine as co-factor the catalysis of tyrosine hydroxylation was stereospecific for L-tyrosine. Dopa oxidase activity was also stereospecific for L-dopa.
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PMID:Tyrosinase activity in the medium of human melanoma cell cultures. 619 32

Human tyrosinase prepared from cultured melanoma cells is inactivated by 10 mM cysteine. The inactivation of the enzyme by cysteine is less pronounced in the presence of catalase and superoxide dismutase. Thus, oxygen radicals and/or hydrogen peroxide may contribute to the inactivation of human tyrosinase by cysteine. Dopa and/or tyrosine protects tyrosinase against inactivation by cysteine. The protection observed with tyrosine alone indicates that oxidation of substrate is not necessary for the protection. The effect of dopa and/or tyrosine is probably due to steric hindrance at the active site preventing the access of cysteine to the copper.
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PMID:Inactivation of human tyrosinase by cysteine. Protection by dopa and tyrosine. 620 5


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