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

The hallmark of chronic myelogenous leukemia is the translocation of the human c-abl protooncogene (ABL) from chromosome 9 to the specific breakpoint cluster region (bcr) of the BCR gene on chromosome 22. The t(9;22)(q34;q11) translocation results in the formation of a BCR-ABL fusion gene that encodes a 210-kDa chimeric protein with abnormal tyrosine kinase activity. The ABL and BCR genes are expressed by normal cells and thus the encoded proteins are presumably nonimmunogenic. However, the joining-region segment of the p210BCR-ABL chimeric protein is composed of unique sequences of ABL amino acids joined to BCR amino acids that are expressed only by malignant cells. The current study demonstrates that the joining region of BCR-ABL protein is immunogenic to murine T cells. Immunization of mice with synthetic peptides corresponding to the joining region elicited peptide-specific, CD4+, class II major histocompatibility complex-restricted T cells. The BCR-ABL peptide-specific T cells recognized only the combined sequence of BCR-ABL amino acids and not BCR or ABL amino acid sequences alone. Importantly, the BCR-ABL peptide-specific T cells could recognize and proliferate in response to p210BCR-ABL protein. The response of peptide-specific T cells to protein demonstrated that p210BCR-ABL can be processed by antigen-presenting cells so that the joining segment is bound to class II major histocompatibility complex molecules in a configuration similar to that of the immunizing peptide and in a concentration high enough to stimulate the antigen-specific T-cell receptor. Thus, BCR-ABL protein represents a potential tumor-specific antigen related to the transforming event and shared by many individuals with chronic myelogenous leukemia.
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PMID:T-cell immunity to the joining region of p210BCR-ABL protein. 134 32

Amplification and/or overexpression of the erbB-2 gene have been demonstrated in 20-30% of adenocarcinomas of the breast, ovary, lung, and stomach and are associated with aggressive clinical course and poor prognosis. Interference with erbB-2 function by the use of monoclonal antibodies is a promising approach to the treatment of these diseases. In this study we demonstrate that a combination of two anti-erbB-2-specific antibodies inhibited the growth of human gastric tumor cells in vitro. This combination antibody therapy also inhibited the growth of human tumor cell lines growing as xenografts in nude mice and was able to dramatically reduce established tumors. This is the first reported observation of tumor regression induced by anti-erbB-2 monoclonal antibodies. Treatment was not curative in that tumors regrew after 6 weeks. Treatment with either single antibody alone did not inhibit cell growth or tumor formation. Pulse chase and tyrosine kinase activity experiments were used to investigate the activity of the erbB-2 gene product (gp185erbB-2). The formation of complexes by two antibodies was found to interfere with receptor function and mimic some properties of a typical receptor ligand. Selective interference of the erbB-2 receptor by combination antibody therapy may be advantageous for the treatment of human cancers.
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PMID:Therapy of an animal model of human gastric cancer using a combination of anti-erbB-2 monoclonal antibodies. 134 49

The proto-oncogene designated erbB2 or HER2 encodes a 185-kilodalton transmembrane tyrosine kinase (p185erbB2), whose overexpression has been correlated with a poor prognosis in several human malignancies. A 45-kilodalton protein heregulin-alpha (HRG-alpha) that specifically induced phosphorylation of p185erbB2 was purified from the conditioned medium of a human breast tumor cell line. Several complementary DNA clones encoding related HRGs were identified, all of which are similar to proteins in the epidermal growth factor family. Scatchard analysis of the binding of recombinant HRG to a breast tumor cell line expressing p185erbB2 showed a single high affinity binding site [dissociation constant (Kd) = 105 +/- 15 picomolar]. Heregulin transcripts were identified in several normal tissues and cancer cell lines. The HRGs may represent the natural ligands for p185erbB2.
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PMID:Identification of heregulin, a specific activator of p185erbB2. 135 Mar 81

A series of novel gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) and Somatostatin analogs have been developed in our laboratory and were screened for antiproliferative and signal transduction inhibitory effect. Our GnRH analog Folligen, had significant antitumor activity on DMBA induced mammary carcinomas in rats without blocking ovarian functions. The direct effect of Folligen and Buserelin has been compared on the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. Folligen was found to be more effective in inhibiting cell proliferation and significant differences were found in the signal transduction pathways activated by these analogs. Our novel Somatostatin analogs were screened for tyrosine kinase inhibition and for antiproliferative effect on human colon tumor cells and for growth hormone (GH) release inhibition in vitro and in vivo. The analog TT-2-50 was significantly more active inhibiting GH release in superfused rat pituitary cells and in vivo than native Somatostatin and it strongly inhibited tyrosine kinase and proliferation while it stimulated protein kinase C activity.
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PMID:Novel antitumor peptide hormones and their effect on signal transduction. 135 11

The neu/erbB-2 protooncogene encodes a transmembrane tyrosine kinase homologous to receptors for polypeptide growth factors. The oncogenic potential of the presumed receptor is released through multiple genetic mechanisms including a point mutation, truncation of non-catalytic sequences and overexpression. The latter mechanism appears to be relevant to human cancers as elevated expression of the neu/erbB-2 gene is frequently observed in solid tumors of various adenocarcinomas. It is therefore conceivable that strategies aimed at the biochemical mechanism of action of the neu/erbB-2 tyrosine kinase may contribute to the treatment of certain human cancers. To this aim we undertook a multiple research approach consisting of the following directions: (i) The neu/erbB-2 ligand--a systematic screening of potential biological sources of the hypothetical hormone molecule, that presumably binds to the neu/erbB-2 protein, resulted in detection of a candidate activity in the medium of certain cultured transformed cells. Partial purification indicated that the factor is a 30-35 kDa glycoprotein. Further studies revealed several biochemical characteristics of the factor that may be helpful for complete purification and structural analysis of this novel hormone. (ii) Signal transduction by neu/erbB-2--using a chimeric receptor approach and various mutants we found that all the oncogenic forms of the neu/erbB-2 are constitutively coupled, both physically and functionally, to a multi-protein complex of signaling molecules. The latter includes the phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C gamma and a phosphatidylinositol kinase. Thus, the metabolism of inositol lipids is probably a major biochemical pathway utilized by the neu/erbB-2 tyrosine kinase. (iii) Tumor inhibitory antibodies--we generated a panel of monoclonal antibodies to the presumed receptor. Surprisingly, some antibodies almost completely inhibited the growth of tumor cells in athymic mice, whereas one antibody significantly accelerated the rate of tumor growth in animals. Interestingly, the inhibitory antibodies conferred a mature phenotype to cultured breast cancer cells, implicating terminal differentiation in tumor retardation.
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PMID:Signal transduction by the neu/erbB-2 receptor: a potential target for anti-tumor therapy. 135 18

Overexpression and amplification of the neu (c-erbB2, ERBB2) protooncogene have been implicated in the development of aggressive human breast cancer. To directly assess the effect of mammary gland-specific expression of the neu protooncogene, transgenic mice carrying unactivated neu under the transcriptional control of the mouse mammary tumor virus promoter/enhancer were established. By contrast to the rapid tumor progression observed in several transgenic strains carrying the activated neu transgene, expression of unactivated neu in the mammary epithelium resulted in the development of focal mammary tumors after long latency. The majority of the mammary tumors analyzed expressed elevated levels of neu-encoded mRNA and protein. Overexpression of neu in the mammary tumors was also associated with elevated neu intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity and the de novo tyrosine phosphorylation of several cellular proteins. Interestingly, many of the tumor-bearing transgenic mice developed secondary metastatic tumors in the lung. These observations suggest that overexpression of the unactivated neu protein can induce metastatic disease after long latency.
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PMID:Expression of the neu protooncogene in the mammary epithelium of transgenic mice induces metastatic disease. 135 41

In summary, evidence is beginning to accumulate in support of a major role for tyrosine kinase receptors (and their activating growth factors) and steroid hormones and their receptors in normal development and differentiation of the mammary gland. A point of intersection of their mechanisms of action in growth control appears to be the induction of nuclear protooncogenes such as c-myc. When c-myc is amplified, as it is in many breast cancers, EGF and FGF receptor tyrosine kinase action becomes transforming, not simply mitogenic. A source of the transforming factors could be either stromal or epithelial. This mechanism could function early in the progression of breast cancer. c-erbB-2 and EGF receptor overexpression and amplification, when they occur, appear to render tumors even more malignant and of especially poor prognosis. These mechanisms could function late in the progression of breast cancer. Transgenic mouse studies have begun to echo these themes. They have established that a growth factor (TGF-alpha) and its receptor (EGF receptor), which appear to be important in normal mouse and human proliferation and gland development, and a protooncogene (c-myc), commonly amplified and overexpressed in human and mouse breast cancer, can each contribute to mammary carcinogenesis. The mechanisms of the two are likely to be distinct. myc is likely to be acting as a tumor initiator in combination with normal proliferative factors, whereas TGF-alpha is likely to be acting as a hyperproliferative (promotional) factor in combination with a normal background of mutational events. The role of unmutated but amplified erbB-2 in the transgenic mouse is not yet known.
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PMID:Tyrosine kinase receptor--nuclear protooncogene interactions in breast cancer. 136 Feb 36

Cytogeneticists first proposed that the karyotypic abnormalities identified on chromosomes 1, 3, 6, 11, 13, 16, 17, and 18 supported a genetic basis for breast cancer. Such abnormal banding patterns, however, may represent either loss-of-function or gain-of-function molecular events. RFLP analyses have since confirmed that 20-60% of primary and spontaneous human breast tumors exhibit allelic losses on these same chromosomes, although the exact genes involved at these chromosomal sites remain largely unknown. Knowledge gained about the Rb-1 and p53 tumor suppressor genes at 13q14 and 17p13 in breast and other human tumors supports the paradigm that for any chromosomal locus, allelic loss associated with a mutation in the remaining tumor allele signifies an involved tumor suppressor gene. Given this paradigm, there are nearly a dozen putative breast tumor suppressor genes under active investigation, with most investigators now focusing on various chromosome 17 loci. Among the known proto-oncogenes found activated in breast cancer, amplification of c-erbB-2 at 17q21 is the most widely studied and clinically significant gain-of-function event uncovered to date, occurring in about 20% of all primary breast tumors. The involvement of this overexpressed membrane receptor has engendered interest in related tyrosine kinase receptors, such as EGFR, IR, and IGF-I-R, as well as their respective ligands, which may be overexpressed in a greater fraction of tumors, contributing to the autocrine and paracrine regulation of breast cancer growth and metastasis. New attention is being given to the potentially oncogenic function of structurally altered nuclear transactivating steroid hormone receptors, such as ER, whose overexpression has long been used to determine endocrine therapy and prognosis for individual breast cancer patients. While c-myc was one of the first known proto-oncogenes to be found amplified and overexpressed in human breast cancers, the actual incidence and clinical significance of its activation remain disputed and in need of further study. Lastly, we can expect greater clarification about the importance of various 11q13 genes found coamplified in nearly 20% of primary breast cancers, and pursuit into the intriguing possibility that a cyclin-encoding gene represents the overexpressed locus of real interest in this amplicon. Virtually all of these important genetic abnormalities identified thus far are associated with but not restricted to human breast cancers. The absence of identifiable molecular defects relating to the tissue specificity of this malignancy must be considered a substantial gap in our basic understanding of breast carcinogenesis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Activated oncogenes and putative tumor suppressor genes involved in human breast cancers. 136 56

The growth of a panel of eight different human glioblastoma cell lines was examined in a human tumor cloning assay in agar, a tritiated thymidine uptake assay, and by counting cell numbers, in cultures performed in the absence or presence of increasing concentrations (1 to 100 ng/ml) of recombinant human stem cell factor (SCF). Growth of 7 of 8 cell lines was not significantly and reproducibly affected by recombinant human SCF. However, growth of the CRL 1620 cell line could be stimulated up to 5-fold by the cytokine. In contrast to the other cell lines investigated, CRL 1620 expressed the c-kit protooncogene assessed on the mRNA and protein level. Furthermore, SCF-induced proliferation of CRL 1620 cells was sensitive to the tyrosine kinase inhibitor erbstatin. Our data suggest that SCF can be operative in growth modulation of malignant cells outside the hematopoietic system, and this finding should be further studied for its possible clinical implications.
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PMID:Recombinant human stem cell factor stimulates growth of a human glioblastoma cell line expressing c-kit protooncogene. 137 70

Previous studies of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) action on tumor cells revealed a possible role for tyrosine phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor in the growth-regulatory activities of this cytokine (N. J. Donato, G. E. Gallick, P. A. Steck, and M. G. Rosenblum, J. Biol. Chem., 264: 20474-20481, 1989). EGF receptor immunoprecipitated from [32P] phosphate-equilibrated A431 cells demonstrated that TNF treatment resulted in both a time- and concentration-dependent stimulation of EGF receptor phosphorylation, which was maximal (approximately 3-fold) after 10-20 min of TNF exposure (10 nM). Incubation of A431 cells with an equivalent concentration of EGF resulted in similar stimulation of EGF receptor phosphorylation, albeit at different phosphotyrosine levels. Antiphosphotyrosine immunoblot analysis confirmed these results but suggested that the extent and kinetics of TNF-induced tyrosine phosphorylation were distinct from those obtained in EGF-treated cells. Resolution of tryptic phosphopeptides from EGF receptor demonstrated that TNF-induced phosphorylation of EGF receptor was similar, but not identical, to profiles obtained from EGF-treated cells and distinct when compared to the actions of phorbol ester. Unlike EGF, TNF was unable to directly stimulate EGF receptor tyrosine kinase activity in membranes prepared from A431 cells. In addition, TNF treatment had no significant effect on either the high- or low-affinity ligand-binding sites on EGF receptor and did not alter the kinetics or extent of ligand-induced internalization of EGF receptors. However, EGF receptor biosynthesis was consistently increased upon prolonged treatment with TNF (4-12 h). Our results suggest that TNF regulates both phosphorylation and biosynthesis of EGF receptor in a manner distinct from that of both EGF and phorbol ester, and studies of the differential phosphorylation of EGF receptor may aid in understanding the molecular mode of TNF action.
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PMID:Tumor necrosis factor regulates tyrosine phosphorylation on epidermal growth factor receptors in A431 carcinoma cells: evidence for a distinct mechanism. 137 52


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