Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0026850 (muscular dystrophy)
 5,870 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

WW domains are protein modules that bind proline-rich ligands. WW domain-ligand complexes are of importance as they have been implicated in several human diseases such as muscular dystrophy, cancer, hypertension, Alzheimer's, and Huntington's diseases. We report the results of a protein array aimed at mapping all the human WW domain protein-protein interactions. Our biochemical approach integrates parallel synthesis of peptides, protein expression, and high-throughput screening methodology combined with tools of bioinformatics. The results suggest that the majority of the bioinformatically predicted WW peptide ligands and most WW domains are functional, and that only about 10% of the measured domain-ligand interactions are positive. The analysis of the WW domain protein arrays also underscores the importance of the amino acid residues surrounding the WW ligand core motifs for specific binding to WW domains. In addition, the methodology presented here allows for the rapid elucidation of WW domain-ligand interactions with multiple applications including prediction of exact WW ligand binding sites, which can be applied to the mapping of other protein signaling domain families. Such information can be applied to the generation of protein interaction networks and identification of potential drug targets. To our knowledge, this report describes the first protein-protein interaction map of a domain in the human proteome.
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PMID:A map of WW domain family interactions. 1499 88

Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) is a major transcription factor that plays an essential role in several aspects of human health including the development of innate and adaptive immunity. The dysregulation of NF-kappaB is associated with many disease states such as AIDS, atherosclerosis, asthma, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, muscular dystrophy, stroke, and viral infections. Recent evidence also suggests that the dysfunction of NF-kappaB is a major mediator of some human genetic disorders. Appropriate regulation and control of NF-kappaB activity, which can be achieved by gene modification or pharmacological strategies, would provide a potential approach for the management of NF-kappaB related human diseases. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the physiological and pathophysiological functions of NF-kappaB and its possible role as a target of therapeutic intervention
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PMID:Nuclear factor-kappaB: its role in health and disease. 1517 63

Caveolae are vesicular organelles (50-100-nm in diameter) that are particularly abundant in cells of the cardiovascular system, including endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, macrophages, cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts. In these cell types, caveolae function both in protein trafficking and signal transduction, as well as in cholesterol homeostasis. Caveolins are the structural proteins that are both necessary and sufficient for the formation of caveolae membrane domains. Caveolins 1 and 2 are co-expressed in most cell types, while the expression of caveolin-3 is muscle-specific. Thus, endothelial cells and fibroblasts are rich in caveolins 1 and 2, while cardiac myocytes and skeletal muscle fibers express caveolin-3. In contrast, smooth muscle cells express all three caveolins (Cav-1, -2, and -3). Mechanistically, caveolins interact with a variety of downstream signaling molecules, including Src-family tyrosine kinases, p42/44 mitogen activated protein (MAP) kinase, and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), and hold these signal transducers in the inactive conformation until activation by an appropriate stimulus. In many ways, caveolins serve both to compartmentalize and regulate signaling. Recent studies using caveolin-deficient mouse models dramatically show that caveolae and caveolins play a prominent role in various human patho-biological conditions, especially those related to the cardiovascular system. These disease phenotypes include: atherosclerosis, cardiac hypertrophy, cardiomyopathy, pulmonary hypertension, and neointimal hyperplasia (smooth muscle cell proliferation). In addition, caveolins play a significant role in other disease phenotypes, such as cancer, diabetes, bladder dysfunction, and muscular dystrophy, as we discuss in this review. Thus, caveolin-deficient mice will serve as important new animal models to dissect the intricate role of caveolae and caveolins in the pathogenesis of human diseases.
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PMID:The Caveolin genes: from cell biology to medicine. 1576 30

The field of gene therapy, delivering genes to directly treat diseases, has had a remarkable year. This is no more evident than in the scope of the third annual meeting of the American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT). Clear progress has been made in both ex vivo clinical protocols and in vivo administration. The meeting covered every major method of gene delivery, from injection of naked DNA to advanced synthetic gene delivery systems, as well as the major viral-based vectors. The optimism of the society was tempered, however, by the much-publicized death of a patient in a clinical trial at the University of Pennsylvania last year. There was a correspondingly high regulatory presence at the meeting, with several presentations by representatives of the US FDA and National Institutes of Health (NIH). Major clinical advances in gene therapy have been in genetic diseases, including hemophilia, severe combined immunodeficiency, and cystic fibrosis. Therapies are in later-stage clinical trials, and evidence of efficacy has been demonstrated, most notably by the apparent cure of SCID-affected children in Paris by ex vivo gene therapy with cytokine receptor subunit genes. Cancer gene therapy is also making significant headway, with many products entering phase II and III trials. Basic technology development is proceeding in vector targeting, enhancement of gene transfer efficiency, and regulating expression of therapeutic genes. In addition, basic research demonstrates the promise of new combined modes for treating diseases such as muscular dystrophy, lysosomal storage diseases and cardiovascular disease.
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PMID:American Society of Gene Therapy - Third Annual Meeting. 1604 54

Skeletal muscle atrophy is a common comorbidity of cancer. The cellular signaling mechanisms that regulate muscle size constitute a balance of the protein breakdown pathways upregulated during atrophy, and the protein synthesis pathways that are activated during skeletal muscle hypertrophy. In this issue of Cancer Cell, Acharyya et al. demonstrate a new and surprising regulatory axis that is centered around dystrophin, the protein that is mutated in settings of muscular dystrophy. These data reposition dystrophin as a signaling protein and connect an important cellular complex required for the structural integrity of muscle to the pathways that modulate muscle size.
Cancer Cell 2005 Nov
PMID:A signaling role for dystrophin: inhibiting skeletal muscle atrophy pathways. 1628 49

Cachexia contributes to nearly a third of all cancer deaths, yet the mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle wasting in this syndrome remain poorly defined. We report that tumor-induced alterations in the muscular dystrophy-associated dystrophin glycoprotein complex (DGC) represent a key early event in cachexia. Muscles from tumor-bearing mice exhibited membrane abnormalities accompanied by reduced levels of dystrophin and increased glycosylation on DGC proteins. Wasting was accentuated in tumor mdx mice lacking a DGC but spared in dystrophin transgenic mice that blocked induction of muscle E3 ubiquitin ligases. Furthermore, DGC deregulation correlated positively with cachexia in patients with gastrointestinal cancers. Based on these results, we propose that, similar to muscular dystrophy, DGC dysfunction plays a critical role in cancer-induced wasting.
Cancer Cell 2005 Nov
PMID:Dystrophin glycoprotein complex dysfunction: a regulatory link between muscular dystrophy and cancer cachexia. 1628 42

The calpains represent a well-conserved family of calcium-dependent cysteine proteases. They consist of several ubiquitous and tissue specific isoforms and exhibit broad substrate specificity influencing many aspects of cell physiology including migration, proliferation and apoptosis. Calpain activity in vivo is tightly regulated by its natural endogenous inhibitor calpastatin. Calpastatin specifically inhibits calpain and not other cysteine proteases by interaction with several sites on the calpain molecule. Inappropriate regulation of the calpain-calpastatin proteolytic system is associated with several important human pathological disorders including muscular dystrophy, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, neurological injury, ischaemia/reperfusion injury, atherosclerosis, diabetes and cataract formation. Recent advances in elucidating the tertiary structures of calpain 2 and its regulatory domain calpain 4, together with identification of new modes of regulating calpain activity provide new opportunities for the design of novel calpain inhibitors. Several classes of inhibitors, including peptidyl epoxide, aldehyde, and ketoamide inhibitors, targeting the active site have proven effective against the calpains and are in the process of evaluation in animal models of human disease. However, a major limitation to the clinical use of such inhibitors is their lack of specificity among cysteine proteases and other proteolytic enzymes. The development of a new class of calpain inhibitors that interact with domains outside of the catalytic site of calpain may provide greater specificity and therapeutic potential.
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PMID:Calpain inhibition: a therapeutic strategy targeting multiple disease states. 1647 52

Mutations in the dystrophin gene that prevent synthesis of a functional protein lead to Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), the most common serious childhood muscular dystrophy. The major isoform is produced in skeletal muscle and the size of the dystrophin gene and complexity of expression have posed great challenges to the development of a therapy for DMD. Considerable progress has been made in the areas of gene and cell replacement, yet it appears that any potential therapy for DMD is still some years away. Other approaches are being considered, and one that has generated substantial interest over the last few years is induced exon skipping. Antisense oligonucleotides have been used to block abnormal splice sites and force pre-mRNA processing back to the normal patterns. This approach is re-interpreted to address the more common dystrophin mutations, where normal splice sites are targeted to induce abnormal splicing, resulting in specific exon exclusion. Selected exon removal during processing of the dystrophin pre-mRNA can by-pass nonsense mutations or restore a disrupted reading frame arising from genomic deletions or duplications. Attributes of the dystrophin gene that have hampered gene replacement therapy may be regarded as positive features for induced exon skipping, which may be regarded as a form of by-pass surgery at the molecular level. In humans, antisense oligonucleotides have been more generally applied to down-regulate specific gene expression, for the treatment of acquired conditions such as malignancies and viral infections. From interesting in vitro experiments several years ago, the dystrophin exon-skipping field has progressed to the stage of planning for clinical trials.
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PMID:Redirecting splicing to address dystrophin mutations: molecular by-pass surgery. 1707 69

The transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily includes TGF-betas, activin, myostatin and bone morphogenetic proteins. Misregulation of the activity of TGF-beta family members is involved in pathogenesis of cancer, muscular dystrophy, obesity and bone and tooth remodeling. Natural inhibitors for the TGF-beta superfamily regulate fine-tuning of activity of TGF-beta family in vivo. In addition to natural inhibitors for the TGF-beta family, soluble forms of receptors for the TGF-beta family, blocking monoclonal antibodies and small chemical TGF-beta inhibitors have been developed. In this review, we summarize recent advances in our understanding of inhibitors for the TGF-beta superfamily and their medical applications.
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PMID:Inhibitors of the TGF-beta superfamily and their clinical applications. 1710 Jun 37

Inflammation is a key homeostatic process elicited by microbial components and by tissue damage. Increasing evidence indicates that the outcomes either tissue repair or persistent inflammatory damage and degeneration tightly depend on the pattern of cell death in situ and on infiltrating leukocytes and antigen presenting cells. Defects in the initiation and execution steps of programmed cell death such as in the clearance of cell debris are indeed often associated to inflammation defective repair and autoimmunity. Here we report recent developments on the control of apoptosis induction and execution discussing how cell death may be exploited for therapeutic purposes and the links between cell death persisting inflammation and stem cell recruitment and activation in experimental models of complex human diseases such as muscular dystrophy and cancer.
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PMID:Cell death: tipping the balance of autoimmunity and tissue repair. 1822 Aug 37


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