Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0027651 (tumor)
685,946 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Pathways controlling cell proliferation and cell survival require flexible adaptation to environmental stresses. These mechanisms are frequently exploited in cancer, allowing tumor cells to thrive in unfavorable milieus. Here, we show that Hsp90, a molecular chaperone that is central to the cellular stress response, associates with survivin, an apoptosis inhibitor and essential regulator of mitosis. This interaction involves the ATPase domain of Hsp90 and the survivin baculovirus inhibitor of apoptosis repeat. Global suppression of the Hsp90 chaperone function or targeted Abmediated disruption of the survivin-Hsp90 complex results in proteasomal degradation of survivin, mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest with mitotic defects. These data link the cellular stress response to an antiapoptotic and mitotic checkpoint maintained by survivin. Targeting the survivin-Hsp90 complex may provide a rational approach for cancer therapy.
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PMID:Regulation of survivin function by Hsp90. 1461 32

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression and certain growth hormones, such as gastrin, have been related to gastric carcinogenesis, but little is known about the factors that enhance this COX-2 expression and whether specific blockade of this enzyme has any influence on tumor growth and progression. Our objective was to determine the influence of a specific COX-2 inhibitor, rofecoxib (Vioxx), on serum and tumor levels of gastrin and its precursor, progastrin, as well as on tumor gene expression of COX-2, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma), and apoptosis-related proteins (Bax and Bcl-2, caspase-3, and survivin). Twenty-four gastric cancer (GC) patients entered this study and were examined twice, once before and then following a 14-day treatment with Vioxx at a dose of 25 mg twice daily. For comparison, 48 age- and sex-matched healthy controls and 24 similarly matched Helicobacter pylori (Hp)-positive subjects were enrolled and treated with Vioxx as GC patients. Serum levels of anti-Hp and anti-CagA antibodies as well as IL-8 and TNF-alpha were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), while serum and tumor contents of progastrin and amidated gastrin were determined by specific RIA. Tumor gene and protein expressions of COX-2, PPARgamma, Bax and Bcl-2, caspase-3, and survivin were determined by RT-PCR and western blot. The overall Hp and CagA seropositivity in 24 GC patients was significantly higher (82% and 47%) than in 48 controls (61% and 22%) but not in 24 Hp-infected subjects (100% and 38%). Serum IL-8 and TNF-alpha values were significantly higher in GC patients than in controls without GC or Hp-infected controls. Median serum progastrin and gastrin levels were found to be significantly higher in GC than in controls without GC and in Hp-positive subjects. Treatment of GC patients with Vioxx resulted in a significant decrease in plasma and tumor contents of both progastrin and gastrin, and this was accompanied by the increment in tumor expression of COX-2, PPARy, Bax, and caspase-3 with a concomitant reduction in Bcl-2 and survivin expression. We conclude that: (1) GC patients show significantly higher Hp and CagA seropositivity than age- and sex-matched controls, but not Hp-positive subjects, indicating that infection with cytotoxic Hp is linked to GC. (2) Serum progastrin and gastrin levels are significantly higher in GC patients than in matched controls, confirming that both gastrins may be implicated in gastric carcinogenesis. (3) GC patients exhibit significantly higher levels of IL-8 and TNF-alpha than non-GC controls and Hp-positive subjects, probably reflecting more widespread gastritis in GC. (4) COX-2, PPARgamma, Bcl-2, and survivin were overexpressed in gastric tumor, but the inhibition of COX-2 activity by Vioxx resulted in a significant reduction in serum and tumor levels of progastrin and gastrin and serum IL-8 and TNF-alpha levels, suggesting that gastrin and proinflammatory cytokines could mediate the up-regulation of COX-2 in gastric cancerogenesis. (5) Vioxx also enhanced expression of COX-2, PPARy, Bax, and caspase-3, while inhibiting the expression of Bcl-2 and survivin, suggesting that COX-2 blockade might be useful in chemoprevention against gastric cancer possibly due to enhancement of the PPARy- and proapoptotic proteins-dependent apoptosis and the reduction in progastrin/gastrin-induced promotion of tumor growth.
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PMID:Influence of COX-2 inhibition by rofecoxib on serum and tumor progastrin and gastrin levels and expression of PPARgamma and apoptosis-related proteins in gastric cancer patients. 1462 49

Vaccination with antigen-presenting cells (APCs) engineered to mimic mechanisms of immune stimulation represents a promising approach for cancer immunotherapy. Dendritic cell vaccines have entered phase 3 testing in adult malignancies, but such vaccines in children have been limited. We demonstrate that CD40-activated B cells (CD40-B) transfected with RNA may serve as an alternative vaccine that can be generated from small blood volumes regardless of patient age. CD40-B from pediatric patients are efficient APCs and can be loaded with RNA as an antigenic payload, permitting simultaneous targeting of multiple antigenic epitopes without the necessity of HLA matching. For viral and tumor antigens, CD40-B/RNA technology induced cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) from adults and children, which could be identified with peptide/major histocompatibility complex (MHC) tetramers. These CTLs secreted interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and killed targets in an MHC-restricted fashion. For pooled neuroblastoma RNA and autologous neuroblastoma RNA, CTLs that lysed neuroblastoma cell lines, including CTLs specific against the widely expressed tumor-antigen survivin, were generated. These findings support a novel platform for tumor-specific vaccine or adoptive immunotherapies in pediatric malignancies.
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PMID:RNA-transfected CD40-activated B cells induce functional T-cell responses against viral and tumor antigen targets: implications for pediatric immunotherapy. 1463 Aug 10

Survivin plays an important role in cancer development. We aim to show here that suppression of survivin expression or function by antisense and dominant-negative (DN) mutant can inhibit gastric cancer carcinogenesis and angiogenesis in vivo. Plasmid constructs expressing survivin antisense and DN mutant replacing the cysteine residue at amino acid 84 with alanine (Cys84Ala) were prepared and introduced into BCG-823 and MKN-45 gastric cancer cells to establish stable transfectants. We showed that both antisense and DN mutant stable transfectants exhibited abnormal morphology, with decreased cell growth and increased rate of spontaneous apoptosis and mitotic catastrophe. Furthermore, in nude mice xenografts, these cells exhibited decreased de novo gastric tumor formation and reduced development of angiogenesis. Results from these studies strongly suggest that survivin is a promising target for gastric cancer treatment.
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PMID:Suppression of survivin expression inhibits in vivo tumorigenicity and angiogenesis in gastric cancer. 1463 97

Radioresistance markedly impairs the efficacy of tumor radiotherapy and may involve antiapoptotic signal transduction pathways that prevent radiation-induced cell death. A common cellular response to genotoxic stress induced by radiation is the activation of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB). NF-kappaB activation in turn can lead to an inhibition of radiation-induced apoptotic cell death. Thus, inhibition of NF-kappaB activation is commonly regarded as an important strategy to abolish radioresistance. Among other compounds, the fungal metabolite gliotoxin (GT) has been reported to be a highly selective inhibitor of NF-kappaB activation. Indeed, low doses of GT were sufficient to significantly enhance radiation-induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells. However, this effect turned out to be largely independent of NF-kappaB activation since radiation of HL-60 cells with clinically relevant doses of radiation induced only a marginal increase in NF-kappaB activity, and selective inhibition of NF-kappaB by SN50 did not result in a marked enhancement of GT-induced apoptosis. GT induced activation of JNKs, cytochrome c release from the mitochondria and potently stimulated the caspase cascade inducing cleavage of caspases -9, -8, -7 and -3. Furthermore, cleavage of the antiapoptotic protein X-linked IAP and downregulation of the G2/M-specific IAP-family member survivin were observed during GT-induced apoptosis. Finally, the radiation-induced G2/M arrest was markedly reduced in GT-treated cells most likely due to the rapid induction of apoptosis. Our data demonstrate that various other pathways apart from the NF-kappaB signaling complex can sensitize tumor cells to radiation and propose a novel mechanism for radiosensitization by GT, the interference with the G2/M checkpoint that is important for repair of radiation-induced DNA damage in p53-deficient tumor cells.
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PMID:Evidence for radiosensitizing by gliotoxin in HL-60 cells: implications for a role of NF-kappaB independent mechanisms. 1464 73

Survivin is a recently described anti-apoptosis protein and regulator of cell division. Its expression and localization in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and in normal liver tissue has not been fully elucidated. We examined the expression of survivin, Fas, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and apoptosis in 47 specimens of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and surrounding nonmalignant hepatic tissues. To further determine the relationship between survivin expression and cell proliferation and apoptosis, we performed double immunostaining for survivin and PCNA TUNEL staining in the same HCC specimens. Positive immunostaining for survivin was present in 35 of 47 (74%) HCCs. Twenty-two of 35 survivin-positive HCCs (63%) showed punctate nuclear staining in HCC cells, and the remaining 13 showed predominant cytoplasmic staining. In contrast, nonmalignant hepatocytes showed only cytoplasmic staining. HCC cells had significantly higher PCNA-labeling and apoptotic indices compared with the case of nonmalignant hepatic tissue (P<0.001). Furthermore, nucleus-positive HCC specimens for survivin showed the highest PCNA labeling index. The nuclear localization of survivin in HCC cells correlated with tumor cell de-differentiation with the exception of the HepG2 cell line. Survivin expression was inversely associated with apoptosis and was strongly associated with Fas expression (P=0.01). All 4 HCC cell lines examined showed survivin expression and punctate nuclear localization. Our results indicate that survivin is localized to the cytoplasm in quiescent nonmalignant liver cells to suppress apoptosis and translocates into the nucleus in HCC cells. In conclusion, translocation of survivin from the cytoplasm to the nucleus may constitute an important regulatory mechanism for cell proliferation and differentiation in HCC.
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PMID:Nuclear translocation of survivin in hepatocellular carcinoma: a key to cancer cell growth? 1465 13

We have investigated the expression of the IAPs (inhibitory of apoptosis proteins) in the human HL-60 leukemia and in its multidrug resistant, P-glycoprotein (P-gp) over-expressing variant, HL-60R. HL-60R exhibits resistance to apoptosis induced from P-gp substrate drugs and also from other triggers (cisplatin, TNF-alpha, Fas ligation, TRAIL, IFN-gamma and serum starvation) not related to the multidrug transporter. Except for c-IAP-1 mRNA, HL-60R significantly over-expressed both the mRNAs and the proteins of all the IAPs studied, i.e. c-IAP-1, c-IAP-2, XIAP, NAIP and survivin. Determination of the DNA-binding capacity of NF-kappaB (p50 or p65 subunits) indicated that, while HL-60 cells show constitutive activation of p50 only, HL-60R cells contain the activated forms of both p50 and p65. Since p65 is necessary to form the NF-kappaB heterodimers able to increase transcription, its presence in HL-60R cells might well correlate to their increased levels of IAPs and, possibly of P-gp, which, reportedly, are NF-kappaB target genes. These results underline the possible role that the coordinated over-expression of the different IAPs may play in tumor cell resistance to drug induced apoptosis. Inhibition of NF-kappaB might be a useful strategy to block their up-regulation.
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PMID:Expression of the IAPs in multidrug resistant tumor cells. 1465 15

Neuroblastomas are the most frequently occurring solid tumors in children under 5 years. Spontaneous regression is more common in neuroblastomas than in any other tumor type, especially in young patients under 12 months. Unfortunately, the full clinical spectrum of neuroblastomas also includes very aggressive tumors, unresponsive to multi-modality treatment and accounting for most of the pediatric cancer mortalities under 5 years of age. It is generally emphasized that more than one biological entity of neuroblastoma exists. Structural genetic defects such as amplification of MYCN, gain of chromosome 17q and LOH of 1p and several other chromosomal regions have proven to be valuable as prognostic factors and will be discussed in relation to their clinical relevance. Recent research is starting to uncover important molecular pathways involved in the pathogenesis of neuroblastomas. The aim of this review is to discuss several important aspects of the biology of the neuroblast, such as the role of overexpressed oncogenes like MYCN and cyclin D1, the mechanisms leading to decreased apoptosis, like overexpression of BCL-2, survivin, NM23, epigenetic silencing of caspase 8 and the role of tumor suppressor genes, like p53, p73 and RASSF1A. In addition, the role of specific proteins overexpressed in neuroblastomas, such as the neurotrophin receptors TrkA, B and C in relation to spontaneous regression and anti-angiogenesis will be discussed. Finally, we will try to relate these pathways to the embryonal origin of neuroblastomas and discuss possible new avenues in the therapeutic approach of future neuroblastoma patients.
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PMID:Pediatric neuroblastomas: genetic and epigenetic 'danse macabre'. 1469 5

Two HLA-A2 restricted epitopes have recently been identified from the broadly expressed tumor antigen survivin, and several vaccination trials in cancer patients based on these survivin-derived peptides have been initiated. Consequently, there is a crucial need for the identification of survivin epitopes restricted to other HLA-molecules in order to extend the proportion of patients that can enter these ongoing clinical trials. In the present study, we characterized 2 survivin-derived epitopes, which are restricted to HLA-B35. Specific T-cell reactivity against these survivin-derived epitopes was found in the peripheral blood from patients with different B-cell malignancies and melanoma. Substitution of the C-terminal anchor residue of the survivin-derived peptides improved the recognition by tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes from melanoma patients. Furthermore, we demonstrated spontaneous cytotoxic T-cell responses to survivin in a primary melanoma lesion. The characterization of these epitopes allows more patients can be included in the ongoing peptide-based survivin vaccination trials against cancer.
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PMID:HLA-B35-restricted immune responses against survivin in cancer patients. 1471

The presence and functional status of intracellular expression of caspase 8, caspase 10, cFLIP, caspase 3, survivin, and NF-kappaB was investigated in permeabilized tumor and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in gastric carcinoma (N = 20) from primary locus, metastatic gastric carcinoma (N = 22) from malignant ascites, and benign gastric mucosa (N = 20) for the control. The quantitative analysis was based on the percentage of positive cells by a flow cytometry. The results showed that the six intracellular molecules were constitutively expressed in primary and metastatic carcinomas as well as normal epithelium in nearly all the patients. In particular, metastatic carcinoma revealed to significantly overexpress these molecules. In the analysis of TIL, the expression of these six molecules could usually be observed in carcinoma and normal epithelium. There was aberrant expression of these molecules in immune TIL within metastatic carcinoma nests. Taken together, the results showed the significantly different expression of the signaling molecules in both tumor and TIL between primary and metastatic carcinoma nests. Increased expression of cFLIP, survivin, and NF-kappaB in carcinoma might play an important role in hindering an intracellular apoptotic process, followed by accelerating the cancer invasion and/or metastasis.
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PMID:Differential expression of intracellular apoptotic signaling molecules in tumor and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes during development of invasion and/or metastasis of gastric carcinoma. 1471 15


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