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Query: UMLS:C0027651 (tumor)
 685,946 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

To elucidate the pathogenesis of thyroid gland hypervascularity in patients with Graves' disease, we studied the expression of mRNAs for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor, Flt family, using human thyroid follicles in vitro and thiouracil-fed rats in vivo. Human thyroid follicles, cultured in the absence of endothelial cells, secreted de novo-synthesized thyroid hormone in response to thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and Graves' IgG. The thyroid follicles produced VEGF mRNA but not flt-1 mRNA. The expression of VEGF mRNA was enhanced by insulin, tumor-promoting phorbol ester, calcium ionophore, dibutyryl cAMP, TSH, and Graves' IgG. When rats were fed thiouracil for 4 wk, their serum levels of TSH were increased at day 3. VEGF mRNA was also increased on day 3, accompanied by an increase in flt family (flt-1 and KDR/ flk-1) mRNA expression. These in vitro and in vivo findings suggest that VEGF is produced by thyroid follicles in response to stimulators of TSH receptors, via the protein kinase A and C pathways. VEGF, a secretable angiogenesis factor, subsequently stimulates Flt receptors on endothelial cells in a paracrine manner, leading to their proliferation and producing hypervascularity of the thyroid gland, as seen in patients with Graves' disease.
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PMID:Stimulation by thyroid-stimulating hormone and Grave's immunoglobulin G of vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA expression in human thyroid follicles in vitro and flt mRNA expression in the rat thyroid in vivo. 765 4

We studied the correlation between expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and their receptors with vascularity, metastasis, and proliferative index of human colon cancers. Immunohistochemical analyses using antibodies against VEGF, bFGF, their receptors (KDR, flt-1, bek, and flg), factor VIII, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen were carried out on archival specimens of 52 human colon carcinomas and 10 adenomas. Vessels were quantitated by light microscopy (x200), and the intensity of staining for VEGF and bFGF was assessed on a scale of 0-3+. The presence or absence of immunostaining for KDR, flt-1, bek, and flg was evaluated in endothelial cells, and proliferation was determined by counting the number of proliferating cell nuclear antigen-positive cells per 500 tumor cells. Expression of VEGF and KDR was higher in metastatic than in nonmetastatic neoplasms and directly correlated with the extent of neovascularization and the degree of proliferation, whereas expression of bFGF, flt-1, bek, and flg did not differ among tumor types. Vessel counts were greater in metastatic tumors than in nonmetastatic tumors. These findings support the hypothesis that VEGF is an important angiogenic factor in primary and metastatic human colon cancer. VEGF expression and vessel counts may aid in predicting patients at risk for metastasis from colon cancer.
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PMID:Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptor, KDR, correlates with vascularity, metastasis, and proliferation of human colon cancer. 766 63

Hypervascularity, focal necrosis, persistent cerebral edema, and rapid cellular proliferation are key histopathologic features of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common and malignant of human brain tumors. By immunoperoxidase and immunofluorescence, we definitively have demonstrated the presence of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFr) in five out of five human glioma cell lines (U-251MG, U-105MG, D-65MG, D-54MG, and CH-235MG) and in eight human GBM tumor surgical specimens. In vitro experiments with glioma cell lines revealed a consistent and reliable relation between EGFr activation and VEGF production; namely, EGF (1-20 ng/ml) stimulation of glioma cells resulted in a 25-125% increase in secretion of bioactive VEGF. Conditioned media (CM) prepared from EGF-stimulated glioma cell lines produced significant increases in cytosolic free intracellular concentrations of Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Neither EGF alone or CM from glioma cultures prepared in the absence of EGF induced [Ca2+]i increases in HUVECs. Preincubation of glioma CM with A4.6.1, a monoclonal antibody to VEGF, completely abolished VEGF-mediated [Ca2+]i transients in HUVECs. Likewise, induction by glioma-derived CM of von Willebrand factor release from HUVECs was completely blocked by A4.6.1 pretreatment. These observations provide a key link in understanding the basic cellular pathophysiology of GBM tumor angiogenesis, increased vascular permeability, and cellular proliferation. Specifically, EGF activation of EGFr expressed on glioma cells leads to enhanced secretion of VEGF by glioma cells. VEGF released by glioma cells in situ most likely accounts for pathognomonic histopathologic and clinical features of GBM tumors in patients, including striking tumor angiogenesis, increased cerebral edema and hypercoagulability manifesting as focal tumor necrosis, deep vein thrombosis, or pulmonary embolism.
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PMID:Epidermal growth factor stimulates vascular endothelial growth factor production by human malignant glioma cells: a model of glioblastoma multiforme pathophysiology. 768 Feb 47

We have recently shown that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is produced by human malignant glioma cells and acts on tumor endothelial cells, which express VEGF receptors, suggesting that VEGF is a regulator of tumor angiogenesis. To investigate the feasibility of antiangiogenic brain tumor therapy, we developed an intracerebral (i.c.) rat glioma model. We used two transplantable rat glioma cells lines, C6 and GS-9L, to analyze VEGF regulation in vitro and expression of VEGF and its high affinity tyrosine kinase receptors, flt-1 and flk-1, in vivo. Glioma cells were transplanted i.c. or s.c. into syngeneic rats. C6 gliomas exhibit morphological characteristics of human glioblastoma multiforme such as necroses with palisading cells. Immunocytochemistry with von Willebrand factor showed that C6 gliomas are highly vascularized and therefore show another prominent feature of human glioblastoma. GS-9L gliosarcomas were less vascularized. In situ hybridization showed that VEGF is expressed in vivo in rat glioma cells which reside along necrotic areas and therefore closely mimicks the expression pattern of VEGF observed in human glioblastoma. flt-1 and flk-1 are specifically expressed in endothelial cells in the tumor and at the border between tumor and normal brain but are absent from endothelial cells in the normal brain proper. The action of VEGF may therefore be restricted to tumor endothelium. Upregulation of VEGF, but not acid fibroblast growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, and platelet-derived growth factor B messenger RNA was observed in hypoxic C6 and GS-9L cells in vitro. These observations are consistent with a role for VEGF in tumor- and hypoxia-induced angiogenesis. Since the expression pattern of VEGF and its receptors in rat glioma appears to be indistinguishable from human glioblastoma multiforme, this model provides an excellent tool to study anti-angiogenic therapy.
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PMID:Up-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor and its cognate receptors in a rat glioma model of tumor angiogenesis. 769 95

Autonomous cell growth may result from interactions of cellular growth factors with their receptors leading to the establishment of external or internal autocrine loops which can induce tumor formation. Tumor progression above a small volume also requires an increase in blood supply. This is achieved by the release from the tumor of angiogenic growth factors which diffuse toward preexisting capillaries. The search for compounds interfering with growth factors and their receptors represents a field of investigation of increasing importance. In this report we show that almitrine interferes with the binding of basic fibroblast growth factor and vasculotropin/vascular endothelial growth factor to their receptors present on vascular endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells or retinal pigment epithelium. This molecule inhibits reversibly serum and basic growth factors stimulated cell growth and motility without affecting epidermal growth factor-stimulated proliferation.
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PMID:Inhibition of basic fibroblast growth factor and vasculotropin biological activities on cultured cells by almitrine. 769 45

Vascular endothelial growth factor/vascular permeability factor (VEGF/VPF) is an endothelial cell-specific mitogen that is structurally related to platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). Vascular endothelial growth factor/vascular permeability factor induces angiogenesis in vivo and may play a critical role in tumor angiogenesis. Using immunohistochemical analysis, the authors demonstrated the presence of VEGF/VPF protein in surgical specimens of glioblastoma multiforme and cultured glioma cells. By means of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of cell supernatants, the authors showed that VEGF/VPF is variably secreted by all nine cultured human malignant glioma cell lines (CH-235MG, D-37MG, D-54MG, D-65MG, U-87MG, U-105MG, U-138MG, U-251MG, U-373MG) and by a single meningioma cell line (CH-157MN). An immunocytochemical survey of these cell lines revealed a cytoplasmic and cell-surface distribution of VEGF/VPF. In the U-105MG glioma cell line, VEGF/VPF secretion was induced with physiological concentrations of epidermal growth factor, PDGF-BB, or basic fibroblast growth factor, but not with PDGF-AA. Moreover, it was observed that activation of convergent growth factor signaling pathways led to increased glioma VEGF secretion. Similar results were obtained using these growth factor combinations in the D-54MG glioma cell line. The data obtained suggest a potential role for VEGF/VPF in tumor hypervascularity and peritumoral edema. These observations may lead to development of new therapeutic strategies.
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PMID:Vascular endothelial growth factor in human glioma cell lines: induced secretion by EGF, PDGF-BB, and bFGF. 771 13

We previously immortalized normal human oral keratinocytes by transfection with recombinant HPV-16 DNA and subsequently exposed the cells to benzo(a)pyrene for 7 days. The exposure to benzo(a)pyrene modified the immortalized cells: the modified cells (HOK-16B-BaP) proliferated in an ordinary culture medium containing physiological calcium level (1.5 mM), but demonstrated only enhanced proliferation capacity without tumor formation in nude mice and failed to show in vitro anchorage-independency. In this study, we further modified the HOK-16B-BaP cells by subculturing the cells in a medium containing benzo(a)pyrene for 6 months. The cells were further modified with a chronic benzo(a)pyrene exposure and were termed HOK-16B-BaP-T cells (1) demonstrated a malignant phenotype in organotypic 'raft' culture, (2) showed in vitro anchorage-independency, (3) developed tumors in nude mice when injected subcutaneously, (4) contained a significantly higher copy number of intact and integrated HPV-16 DNA; (5) contained higher level of HPV-16 E6/E7 messages and E7 protein, (6) were more resistant to transforming growth factor-beta 1 and (7) secreted higher level of vascular endothelial growth factor with molecular weight of 56 kd than parental HOK-16B-BaP cells. However, the levels of p53 and ras proteins and the levels of p53, c-myc and c-fos transcripts in the HOK-16B-BaP-T cells were not different from those in the HOK-16B-BaP cells. The highly conserved coding regions of the p53, c-Ha-ras1, and c-Ki-ras2 genes of the tumor cells were not mutated. These data indicate that the HPV-immortalized human oral keratinocytes can convert to tumorigenic cells by chronic exposure to benzo(a)pyrene. The tumorigenic conversion seems to be associated with (1) the overexpression of viral oncogenes such as E6 and E7 genes, (2) the higher resistance of cells to transforming growth factor-beta 1 and (3) the high secretion of 56 kd vascular endothelial growth factor from the cells.
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PMID:Combined oral carcinogenicity of HPV-16 and benzo(a)pyrene: an in vitro multistep carcinogenesis model. 778 58

We have previously shown that mouse sarcoma 180 cells produce vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF; Rosenthal et al., 1990, Growth Factors, 4: 53-59], an endothelial mitogen that stimulates angiogenesis. Recent reports have implicated metalloproteinases and their inhibitors in the regulation of vascular morphogenesis, tumor invasion, and metastasis. We report here that mouse sarcoma 180 cells produce two collagenase inhibitors. These inhibitors were purified by heparin-Sepharose affinity chromatography, gel filtration, and C4 reverse phase h.p.l.c. Analytical gel electrophoresis of the purified inhibitors (MS-22 and MS-31) revealed molecular masses of 22,000 and 31,000 Da under reducing conditions, and 20,000 and 30,000 Da under nonreducing conditions, respectively. The NH2-terminal amino acid sequence of MS-22 was identical to that of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases type 2 (TIMP-2) produced by human melanoma cells [Stetler-Stevenson et al., 1989, J. Biol. Chem. 264: 17374-17378) over the first 30 amino acids. The NH2-terminal amino acid sequence of MS-31 was identical to that of murine TIMP-1 [Gewert et al., 1989, EMBO J 6:651-657]. Statistical analysis of the amino acid composition data of these two mouse sarcoma 180-derived collagenase inhibitors confirms the identification of MS-22 as TIMP-2 and MS-31 as TIMP-1.
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PMID:Purification and characterization of two collagenase inhibitors from mouse sarcoma 180 conditioned medium. 780 96

Solid tumors must induce a vascular stroma to grow beyond a minimal size, and the intensity of the angiogenic response has been correlated with prognosis in breast cancer patients. Vascular permeability factor (VPF), also known as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), is a secreted protein that has been implicated in tumor-associated angiogenesis. Vascular permeability factor directly stimulates endothelial cell growth and also increases microvascular permeability, leading to the extravasation of plasma proteins, which alter the extracellular matrix in a manner that promotes angiogenesis. To determine whether VPF has a role in breast cancer, we used in situ hybridization to study VPF mRNA expression in normal breast tissue (13 specimens), comedo-type ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) (four specimens), infiltrating ductal carcinoma (12 specimens), infiltrating lobular carcinoma (two specimens), metastatic ductal carcinoma (three specimens) and metastatic lobular carcinoma (one specimen). Vascular permeability factor mRNA was expressed at a low level by normal duct epithelium but was expressed at high levels in tumor cells in all cases of comedo-type DCIS, infiltrating ductal carcinoma, and metastatic ductal carcinoma. In contrast, VPF mRNA was not expressed at high levels in infiltrating lobular carcinoma. We also used in situ hybridization to study the expression of two recently described endothelial cell surface VPF receptors, flt-1 and kdr. Vascular permeability factor receptor mRNA was strongly expressed in endothelial cells of small vessels adjacent to malignant tumor cells in DCIS, infiltrating ductal carcinoma, and metastatic ductal carcinoma. In contrast, no definite labeling for receptor mRNA was detected in infiltrating lobular carcinoma or nonmalignant breast tissue. The intense expression of VPF mRNA by breast carcinoma cells and of VPF receptor mRNA by endothelial cells of adjacent small blood vessels provides strong evidence linking VPF expression to the angiogenesis associated with comedo-type DCIS, infiltrating ductal, and metastatic ductal breast carcinoma.
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PMID:Expression of vascular permeability factor (vascular endothelial growth factor) and its receptors in breast cancer. 782 21

Endothelial cells (EC) are fastidious in their growth requirements in vitro and will not survive extensive passages. We have partially characterized a continuous cell line (> 40 passages) established in culture from New Zealand White rabbit vena cava endothelium (REVC). REVC cells resemble typical EC, but remain hardy when grown on uncoated plastic in DMEM/F12 + 10% FBS. REVC cells have typical cobblestone appearance, are contact-inhibited in monolayers and express factor VIII-related antigen. Weibel-Palade bodies were not seen by electron microscopy. REVC cells grown in 2% FBS on plastic demonstrate dose-dependent increases in [3H]thymidine uptake in response to acidic FGF (10-100 ng/ml), basic FGF (3-100 ng/ml), EGF (10-50 ng/ml), and ECGS (10-100 micrograms/ml). Heparin (5-100 micrograms/ml) potentiates proliferation induced by aFGF and lowered the ED50 for aFGF. REVC cells did not show an increased proliferative rate in response to vascular endothelial growth factor. Transforming growth factor beta 1 and beta 2 profoundly inhibited thymidine uptake at doses as low as 100 pg/ml. When grown on a collagen I substratum, REVC cells became larger, more polygonal and assumed a sheet-like appearance upon reaching confluence. REVC cells plated on fibronectin, laminin or poly-L-lysine demonstrated increases in pericellular granularity and pronounced spreading, especially on fibronectin. Phorbol myristate acetate produced profound morphological changes characterized by swirling whorls of bipolar cells surrounding patches of polygonal cells and multilayered overgrowth. When plated on EHS (Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm) tumor extracellular matrix (Matrigel), REVC cells became quiescent and underwent morphological changes reminiscent of differentiation with elongated cytoplasmic extensions. Chromosomal examination of REVC cells revealed a normal diploid karyotype (2n = 44). This continuous cell line is undergoing further characterization and may be quite useful in investigating many aspects of endothelial cell biology in vitro.
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PMID:Physiologic responses of REVC, a continuous rabbit endothelial vascular cell. 787 8


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