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Query: UMLS:C0027819 (neuroblastoma)
 27,800 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Neuroblastomas demonstrate both clinical and biological heterogeneity. We have proposed that neuroblastomas may be classified in three genetically distinct subtypes, based on cytogenetic and molecular analysis. The first comprises those with hyperdiploid or triploid modal karyotypes (or compatible DNA content by flow cytometry), 1p LOH and MYCN amplification are absent, and TRKA expression is high. These patients are likely to be infants with low stages of disease (stages 1, 2, or 4S by the International Neuroblastoma Staging System), and they have a very favourable outcome (> 90% cure). The second group consists of tumours that generally have a near diploid or tetraploid modal chromosome number or DNA content but lack MYCN amplification. They usually have 1p allelic loss, 14q allelic loss or other structural changes, and TRKA expression is usually low. These patients are generally older with advanced stages of disease (stages 3 or 4), and they have a slowly progressive course, with a cure rate of 25-50%. The third group is characterised by tumours with MYCN amplification. These tumours are generally near diploid or tetraploid, with 1p allelic loss, and low or absent TRKA expression. The patients are usually between 1 and 5 years of age with advanced stages of disease, and they have a very poor prognosis (< 5%). It remains to be determined if tumours in one group ever evolve into a less unfavourable group, but current evidence suggests that they are distinct genetically. The identification of the oncogenes, suppressor genes and growth factor receptor pathways involved in neuroblastomas has provided great insight into the mechanisms of malignant transformation and progression, and ultimately they may provide the targets for future therapy.
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PMID:Molecular basis for heterogeneity in human neuroblastomas. 757 54

Human neuroblastoma cell lines frequently express the TRK-A proto-oncogene and bind nerve growth factor (NGF) but do not differentiate when exposed to NGF. Transient transfection of an exogenous TRK-A gene into SH-SY5Y and LA-N-5 neuroblastoma cells restored the ability of these tumor cells to differentiate with NGF. Stable TRK-A-transfected SH-SY5Y cell clones were isolated, and they responded to NGF by autophosphorylation of p140trk-A, c-fos induction, morphological differentiation, and increased expression of two neuronal marker genes, neuropeptide tyrosine and GAP-43. In phorbol ester-induced differentiated wild-type cells, TRK-A expression was increased with no change in NGF responsiveness. Thus, the restoration of the NGF-induced differentiation pathway by exogenous TRK-A presents a system of NGF-responsive human cultured cells and focuses attention on the trk-A protein and its function or malfunction in neuroblastoma.
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PMID:Transfection of TRK-A into human neuroblastoma cells restores their ability to differentiate in response to nerve growth factor. 766 28

Pleiotrophin (PTN) and midkine (MK) are members of a new family of neurotrophic factors whose expression is developmentally regulated. PTN also transforms NIH 3T3 cells, and MK is mitogenic to certain cell lines. Neuroblastomas are tumors derived from neural crest cells, and recent studies have revealed that the biology of these tumors is at least partly regulated by neurotrophic factors and their receptors. To examine the expression of PTN and MK in neuroblastoma, we analyzed their mRNA expression in 72 primary neuroblastomas and 11 neuroblastoma cell lines as well as other tissues and cell lines. PTN is highly expressed in favorable neuroblastomas (stages I, II, and IV-S, n = 44), whereas it is expressed at a significantly lower level in advanced tumors (stages III and IV, n = 28, P = 0.003). PTN is not expressed in either aggressive neuroblastomas with N-myc amplification or in neuroblastoma cell lines. Moreover, the expression pattern of PTN was similar to that of TRK-A, the high affinity receptor for nerve growth factor, in that it is correlated with a favorable prognosis (P < 0.004). In contrast, MK is highly expressed in almost all primary neuroblastomas and cell lines and showed no correlation with disease stage or N-myc amplification. These results suggest that differential expression of PTN and MK may have an important role in regulating growth and differentiation of neuroblastomas.
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PMID:Differential expression of pleiotrophin and midkine in advanced neuroblastomas. 771 89

Several genetic features have been identified that are characteristic of neuroblastomas. These include hyperdiploidy, deletion of 1p, amplification of N-myc, and expression of the neurotrophin receptor, TRK-A. These genetic characteristics allow neuroblastomas to be categorized into three subtypes, with distinct clinical features and behavior. In the past, neuroblastoma had been considered to be a disease with a better outcome if diagnosed early. However, it is now apparent that the tumors occurring in infants are genetically different than those in older children, and a genetically favorable subtype seldom, if ever, evolves into an unfavorable one. Different approaches may be necessary for each subtype, and the molecular pathology of the tumor may be better at predicting outcome than patient age and disease stage.
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PMID:Molecular pathology of human neuroblastomas. 780 5

Nerve growth factor (NGF) is known to play a critical role in the differentiation and survival of normal sympathetic neurons through its interaction with a specific cell surface receptor. We analyzed ten well-characterized neuroblastoma cell lines for the expression and function of endogenous and exogenous p140TRK-A, and p75LNGFR. Exogenous LNGFR or TRK-A (or both) were introduced by transfection into three neuroblastoma cell lines. Transfected and untransfected neuroblastoma cell lines were analyzed by Northern analysis as well as tyrosine phosphorylation studies. Results indicate that endogenous TRK-A is expressed and/or p140TRK-A is phosphorylated in 10 of 10 cell lines. However, no other downstream responses to NGF stimulation (such as tyrosine phosphorylation of PLC gamma 1, PI-3 kinase, ERK1 and ERK2, induction of FOS and NGFI-A mRNAs, and neurite extension) were observed in the unresponsive cell lines. Transfection with p75LNGFR alone had no effect on responses to NGF stimulation. Three cell lines stably transfected with TRK-A exhibited early responses to NGF stimulation, but neurite extension was not observed. Our results indicate that endogenous TRK-A in non-responsive cell lines is either defective, or present in amounts below a threshold level required to elicit measurable responses to NGF. Furthermore, even after transfection with exogenous TRK-A, early responses were restored but later events such as neurite outgrowth did not occur, suggesting that downstream responsiveness is blocked as well.
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PMID:Expression and function of the nerve growth factor receptor (TRK-A) in human neuroblastoma cell lines. 797 9

There is considerable interest in the role of the TRK family of neuotrophin receptors in regulating growth and differentiation in normal and neoplastic nerve cells. A neuroblastoma is a common pediatric tumor derived from the neural crest, and the majority of favorable neuroblastomas express a high level of TRK-A mRNA. However, little is known about the expression or function of TRK-B in these tumors. TRK-B encodes a tyrosine kinase that binds to brain-derived neuotrophic factor (BDNF), as well as neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) and NT-4/5. We have studied the N-myc-amplified human neuroblastoma cell line, SMS-KCN, which expresses both TRK-B and BDNF. Exogenous BDNF induces tyrosine phosphorylation of TRK-B as well as phosphorylation of phospholipase C-gamma 1, the extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2, and phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase. BDNF also induces expression of the immediate-early genes c-FOS and NGFI-A but not NGFI-B or NGFI-C. In addition, BDNF appears to promote cell survival and neurite outgrowth. SMS-KCN cells also express TRK-A, which is phosphorylated in response to nerve growth factor. However, the downstream TRK-A signaling is apparently defective. Finally, we determined that in a series of 74 primary neuroblastomas, 36% express TRK-B mRNA, 68% express BDNF mRNA, and 31% express both. Truncated TRK-B appears to be preferentially expressed in more-differentiated tumors (ganglioneuromas and ganglioneuroblastomas), whereas full-length TRK-B is expressed almost exclusively in immature neuroblastomas with N-myc amplification. Our findings suggest that in TRK-B-expressing human neuroblastomas, BDNF promotes survival and induces neurite outgrowth in an autocrine or paracrine manner. The BDNF/TRK-B pathway may be particularly important for growth and differentiation of neuroblastomas with N-myc amplification.
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PMID:Expression and function of TRK-B and BDNF in human neuroblastomas. 826 43

A combination of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) or 16 nM 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) and serum induces human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells to undergo differentiation and acquire a neuronal phenotype. Nerve growth factor (NGF) added to SH-SY5Y cells stably transfected with the NGF-receptor TRK-A (SH-SY5Y/trk) induces a similar differentiated phenotype. SH-SY5Y cells express protein kinase C (PKC)-alpha, PKC-beta I, PKC-epsilon, and PKC-zeta protein, and phorbol ester- or growth factor-induced differentiation results in a sustained activation of PKC. The specific PKC inhibitor GF 109203X blocked TPA- and bFGF-IGF-I-induced neurite outgrowth in wild-type SH-SY5Y cells and NGF-induced neurite outgrowth in SH-SY5Y/trk cells. When added to differentiated cells, GF 109203X caused rapid retraction of growth cone filopodia. In TPA- and bFGF-IGF-I-treated cells, addition of GF 109203X also blocked induced expression of growth associated protein-43 and neuropeptide tyrosine while the increase in expression of these two genes was only slightly affected by the inhibitor in NGF-treated SH-SY5Y/trk cells. Thus, a portion of the NGF-induced phenotypic changes appears not to be mediated via PKC-dependent signaling. A high concentration of TPA (1.6 microM) down regulated PKC-alpha and PKC-beta I almost completely and PKC-epsilon partially in wild-type SH-SY5Y and SH-SY5Y/trk cells. Cells with down-regulated PKC-alpha and PKC-beta I after 1.6 microM TPA treatment still differentiated with growth factors. In these cells, the PKC-epsilon level was restored, and the PKC-epsilon protein was enriched in the growth cones. The 1.6 microM TPA-induced down-regulation of PKC-epsilon was counteracted by bFGF and NGF but not by platelet-derived growth factor or IGF-I. These data indicate that PKC activity is vital for neurite formation, and that the cells can differentiate under conditions when PKC-alpha and PKC-beta I are extensively down regulated. The close correlation between differentiation and presence of PKC-epsilon protein suggests an important function for this isoform during this process.
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PMID:Protein kinase C-epsilon is implicated in neurite outgrowth in differentiating human neuroblastoma cells. 878 Aug 91

TRKA expression was evaluated on 122 untreated neuroblastomas by immunohistochemistry using an antibody with predetermined specificity. This procedure is simple and reliable for protein detection at cellular level in a routine clinical setting. Fourteen tumours were classified as benign ganglioneuroma with a restricted expression of TRKA on ganglion cells; these patients were excluded from the following analysis. A total of 108 tumours were classified as neuroblastoma or ganglioneuroblastoma; 74 expressed TRKA protein, which strongly correlated with low stage, absence of N-MYC amplification, age (<1 year), CD44 expression and favourable clinical outcome. In a univariate analysis including tumour stage, age, histology, N-MYC amplification, CD44 and TRKA expression, all parameters had significant prognostic value. The absence of TRKA expression on CD44-positive or N-MYC non-amplified tumours permits the characterization of a subgroup of patients with intermediate prognosis. However, in a multivariate analysis taking into consideration the prognostic factors mentioned above, CD44 and tumour stage were the only independent prognostic factors for the prediction of patients' event-free survival.
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PMID:Clinical relevance of TRKA expression on neuroblastoma: comparison with N-MYC amplification and CD44 expression. 909 63

Neuroblastomas frequently show spontaneous regression and differentiation, which may at least partly be regulated by signaling through nerve growth factor and its receptors, TRK-A and p75LNTR. We studied 52 neuroblastic tumors to test whether the cell death-related proteases, interleukin-1 beta converting enzyme (ICE), CPP32, and Ich-1, were involved in the regression of the tumors. High levels of expression of ICE and CPP32 were significantly correlated with a high level of TRK-A expression, single copy of N-myc, younger age, lower stages, and better prognosis. The immunohistochemical studies and Western analyses as well as the terminal dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) method revealed that both ICE and CPP32 were translocated from the cytoplasm into the nuclei in regressing, apoptotic tumor cells. Our results suggest that ICE and CPP32 cysteine proteases may play an important role in regulating the apoptotic process of the favorable neuroblastomas.
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PMID:High levels of expression and nuclear localization of interleukin-1 beta converting enzyme (ICE) and CPP32 in favorable human neuroblastomas. 937 72

Activated transcription of the human neuropeptide Y gene (NPY) was investigated in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells at the onset of sympathetic neuronal differentiation induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) and serum or by nerve growth factor (NGF). As determined by transient expression, two NGF response elements (REs) were required for transcription induced by NGF in SH-SY5Y cells with stable expression of an exogenous NGF receptor TRK-A gene (SH-SY5Y/trk). TPA treatment in the presence of serum induced NPY transcription in both wild-type SH-SY5Y (SH-SY5Y/wt) and SH-SY5Y/trk cells. A TPA RE (TRE), overlapping the proximal NGF RE, was identified by expression of the v-Jun oncoprotein that enhanced NPY transcription. Suppression of TPA-induced NPY transcription was obtained by expression of a dominant negative Jun protein, selective protein kinase C inhibition, or introduction of a mutated TRE, whereas NGF-induced NPY transcription was inhibited to a lesser degree. The transcription factor AP-2alpha was shown to bind cooperatively to the NPY promoter with either AP-1 or NGFI-A to the shared TRE and NGF RE and to the distal NGF RE, respectively. These results show that transcription factors AP-1, AP-2alpha, and NGFI-A are involved in activated NPY transcription during the onset of neuronal differentiation.
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PMID:Activated transcription of the human neuropeptide Y gene in differentiating SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells is dependent on transcription factors AP-1, AP-2alpha, and NGFI. 957 72


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