Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0027819 (neuroblastoma)
 27,800 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Flat, amorphous astroblasts in culture differentiate into rounded process-bearing cells after removal of serum from the media or following addition of dibutyryl cyclic-AMP (dbcAMP). We report here that addition of thrombin (10 nM) to rat primary astroglial cultures reversed both the spontaneous morphological differentiation of astroblasts caused by serum removal, and the more extensive morphological differentiation caused by pre-treatment with dbcAMP. The astroblasts retained the ability to differentiate upon removal of thrombin from the medium. Proteolytic activity of thrombin was required for the reversal of differentiation. Moreover, addition of serine protease inhibitors active against thrombin elicited a prolonged morphological differentiation rivaling that induced by dbcAMP, suggesting that inactivation of cell-associated thrombin might be sufficient for morphological differentiation to occur. Two other serine proteases with a cleavage specificity similar to thrombin were ineffective in reversing differentiation. Both the induction of morphological differentiation by dbcAMP and its reversal by thrombin were rapid, being essentially complete by 1 h. With more prolonged treatments, thrombin also reduced the dbcAMP-mediated increase in glutamine synthetase, a biochemical marker for astroglial differentiation. Thrombin also inhibited morphological differentiation in C6 glioma and altered the morphology of microglial cells; however, thrombin did not prevent neurite outgrowth in primary central neuronal cultures in contrast to its previously reported effects on the neuroblastoma 2a cell line. These findings indicate that a proteolytic mechanism mediated by thrombin and its inhibitors may underlie the regulation of astroglial differentiation.
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PMID:Thrombin and its inhibitors regulate morphological and biochemical differentiation of astrocytes in vitro. 197 84

Recent studies have suggested important roles for certain proteases and protease inhibitors in the growth and development of the CNS. In the present studies, inhibitors of urokinase or thrombin in cultured neural cells and serum-free medium from the cells were identified by screening for components that formed sodium dodecyl sulfate-stable complexes with 125I-urokinase or 125I-thrombin. Rinsed glioblastoma possessed two components that complexed 125I-urokinase. One was type 1 plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1), because the 125I-urokinase-containing complexes were immunoprecipitated with anti-PAI-1 antibodies. The other component formed complexes with 125I-urokinase that were not recognized by antibodies to PAI-1 or protease nexin-1 (PN-1). Its identity is unknown. In addition to these cell-bound components, the glioblastoma cells also secreted two inhibitors that formed complexes with 125I-urokinase; one was PAI-1, and the other was PN-1. The secreted PN-1 also formed complexes with 125I-thrombin. It was the only thrombin inhibitor detected in these studies. Human neuroblastoma cells did not contain components that formed detectable complexes with either 125I-urokinase or 125I-thrombin. However, human neuroblastoma cells did contain very low levels of PN-1 mRNA and PN-1 protein. Added PN-1 bound to the surface of both glioblastoma and neuroblastoma cells. This interaction accelerated the inhibition of thrombin by PN-1 and blocked the ability of PN-1 to form complexes with 125I-urokinase. Thus, cell-bound PN-1 was a specific thrombin inhibitor.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Inhibitors of urokinase and thrombin in cultured neural cells. 198 20

Mouse NB2a/dl neuroblastoma cells elaborate axonal neurites in response to various chemical treatments including dibutyryl cyclic AMP and serum deprivation. Hirudin, a specific inhibitor of thrombin, initiated neurite outgrowth in NB2a/dl cells cultured in the presence of serum; however, these neurites typically retracted within 24 h. The cysteine protease inhibitors leupeptin and N-acetyl-leucyl-leucyl-norleucinal (CI; preferential inhibitor of micromolar calpain but also inhibits millimolar calpain) at 10(-6) M considerably enhanced neurite outgrowth induced by serum deprivation, but could not induce neuritogenesis in the presence of serum. A third cysteine protease inhibitor, N-acetyl-leucyl-leucyl-methional (CII; preferential inhibitor of millimolar calpain but also inhibits micromolar calpain), had no detectable effects by itself. Cells treated simultaneously with hirudin and either leupeptin, CI, or CII elaborated stable neurites in the presence of serum. Cell-free enzyme assays demonstrated that hirudin inhibited thrombin but not calpain, CI and CII inhibited calpain but not thrombin, and leupeptin inhibited both proteases. These results imply that distinct proteolytic events, possibly involving more than one protease, regulate the initiation and subsequent elongation and stabilization of axonal neurites. Since the addition of exogenous thrombin or calpain to serum-free medium did not modify neurite outgrowth, the proteolytic events affected by these inhibitors may be intracellular or involve proteases distinct from thrombin or calpain.
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PMID:Multiple proteases regulate neurite outgrowth in NB2a/dl neuroblastoma cells. 199 97

The addition of two synthetic peptides with antiprotease activity to the culture medium of mouse neuroblastoma cells results in the promotion of neurite outgrowth. One of these peptides has a sequence corresponding to the reactive center of protease nexin-1 and inhibits both trypsin and thrombin. Its effect on neuroblastoma cells is similar to that found on serum withdrawal from the culture medium, giving rise to cells with one or two long neurites, and is reversed upon the addition of thrombin to the culture medium. The sequence of the other peptide is present in one of the precursor proteins of the main component of the amyloid plaques of Alzheimer's disease patients' brains, and corresponds to protease nexin-2. It can inhibit trypsin but fails to inhibit thrombin at low doses. Its effect on neuroblastoma cells is slightly different from that observed after serum deprivation, as a significant proportion of stellate cells, with short and branched neurites, is observed. An increase in the phosphorylation of microtubule-associated protein MAP-1B, which accompanies neurite outgrowth induced by serum deprivation, is also observed upon addition of the two antiprotease synthetic peptides, although the nexin-2 (amyloid) peptide induces a less marked increase in phosphorylated MAP-1B than does the nexin-1 peptide. These results may be correlated with the different antiprotease activities of both synthetic peptides, thus suggesting a role for a balance between trypsin-like and thrombin-like proteases and their inhibitors in eliciting neurite outgrowth under normal and pathological conditions.
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PMID:Addition of protease inhibitors to culture medium of neuroblastoma cells induces both neurite outgrowth and phosphorylation of microtubule-associated protein MAP-1B. 205 67

Protease nexin-1 (PN-1) is a protein proteinase inhibitor recently shown to be identical with the glial-derived neurite-promoting factor or glial-derived nexin. It has been shown to promote neurite outgrowth in neuroblastoma cells and in sympathetic neurons. The present experiments were designed to further test the hypothesis that this activity on neuroblastoma cells is due to its ability to complex and inhibit thrombin. It has been suggested that PN-1:thrombin complexes might mediate the neurite outgrowth activity of PN-1. However, the present studies showed that such complexes, unlike free PN-1, did not promote neurite outgrowth. The neurite outgrowth activity of PN-1 was only detected in the presence of thrombin or serum (which contains thrombin). PN-1 did not affect the rate or extent of neurite outgrowth that occurred when neuroblastoma cells were placed in serum-free medium. Retraction of neurites by thrombin was indistinguishable in cells whose neurites had been extended in the presence or absence of PN-1. The neurite-promoting activity of PN-1 was inhibited by an anti-PN-1 monoclonal antibody, which blocks its capacity to complex serine proteinases. The plasma thrombin inhibitor, antithrombin III, stimulated neurite outgrowth but only when its thrombin inhibitory activity was accelerated by heparin. The neurite outgrowth activity of both antithrombin III and PN-1 corresponded to their inhibition of thrombin. Together, these observations show that PN-1 promotes neurite outgrowth from neuroblastoma cells by inhibiting thrombin and suggest that this depends on the ability of thrombin to retract neurites.
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PMID:Neurite outgrowth activity of protease nexin-1 on neuroblastoma cells requires thrombin inhibition. 229 18

Glia-derived nexin (GDN) is a 43-kDa serine protease inhibitor with neurite promoting activity in mouse neuroblastoma cells (Guenther et al., 1985). In chick sympathetic neurons, GDN but not hirudin and synthetic peptide inhibitors promoted neurite outgrowth (Zurn et al., 1988). Thus, it was considered that the protease inhibitory activity cannot account for the total biological activity of GDN. We show here that synthetic peptide inhibitors with thrombin specificity mimic GDN at similar concentrations in neuroblastoma cells. Limited proteolysis of GDN with elastase causes a cleavage between sites P1 and P2, corresponding to residues Ala-344-Arg-345 of the molecule. The resulting fragments still copurify on heparin-Sepharose, but the protease inhibitor activity of GDN and the GDN neurite promoting activity are lost. The results confirm the necessity of an intact reactive site for the biological activity of GDN.
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PMID:Functional sites of glia-derived nexin (GDN): importance of the site reacting with the protease. 233 8

The relationship between plasminogen activator (PA)/plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI) activity and morphological differentiation was investigated in human neuroblastoma (NB) cells treated with retinoic acid (RA). Conditioned medium from nine NB cell lines and one closely related neuroepithelioma line was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and zymography. All NB cell lines were shown to secrete urokinase (UK)-type PA (mol. wt., 52 kDa), and all except two produced tissue PA (mol. wt., 65 kDa). Identification of the PAs was made based on molecular weight and sensitivity to inhibition by anti-UK and anti-tPA antibodies. Several cell lines expressed PA inhibitory molecules; two molecular-weight forms were observed (35 and 40 kDa) in different cell lines. Complex formation with [125]I-labelled proteases revealed specific binding with UK and trypsin but not thrombin, plasmin, or kallikrein. After treatment for 6 days with 1 microM RA, six of the cell lines exhibited an increase in cell-associated and/or secreted tPA activity, corresponding to morphological differentiation of the cells as manifested by extensive neurite outgrowth. A decrease in UK and UK-complex secretion was observed in several of these cell lines. Three cell lines exhibiting no detectable morphological alterations with RA treatment also showed no dramatic changes in PA/PAI activity. These results suggest that morphological differentiation of NB cells may be associated with alterations in the regulation of PA activity.
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PMID:Effect of retinoic acid on human neuroblastoma: correlation between morphological differentiation and changes in plasminogen activator and inhibitor activity. 259 Sep 98

This review summarizes studies on the reciprocal regulation of neuroblastoma neurite outgrowth by thrombin and protease nexin-1 (PN-1). PN-1 recently was shown to possess the same deduced amino acid sequence as the glial-derived neurite-promoting factor. The neurite outgrowth activity of PN-1 depends on its ability to inhibit thrombin. Thrombin not only blocks the neurite outgrowth activity of PN-1, but it also brings about neurite retraction in the presence of PN-1. Thrombin also produces neurite retraction in the absence of PN-1 and other regulatory factors. This suggests that its activity is due to a direct action on cells. The neurite retraction by thrombin depends on its proteolytic activity. It does not occur with the other serine proteases that have been tested, indicating that it is a specific effect and is not due to a general proteolytic effect that could detach neurites from the culture dish. Serum brings about neurite retraction in certain neuroblastoma cells and primary neuronal cultures; most of this activity is due to residual thrombin in the serum. Together, these results suggest that PN-1 and thrombin (or a thrombin-like protease) play a role in regulation of neurite outgrowth.
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PMID:Proteolytic regulation of neurite outgrowth from neuroblastoma cells by thrombin and protease nexin-1. 265 47

We have previously shown that a serum protein, termed differentiation reversal factor (DRF), is responsible for neurite retraction in differentiated cultures of an adenovirus 12 (Ad12) transformed human retinoblast cell line. Data is presented here to show that DRF is identical to the serine protease prothrombin. Both proteins have been immunoprecipitated using an antibody raised against purified prothrombin and have been shown to hydrolyse a specific thrombin substrate only after activation by the snake venom ecarin. Following addition to Ad12 HER 10 cells, which had previously been differentiated by culture in the presence of 2 mM dibutyryl cAMP in serum-free medium, thrombin and prothrombin caused half-maximal retraction of neurites at concentrations of 0.5 ng/ml and 20 ng/ml respectively. Interestingly, activation of prothrombin was shown to be unnecessary for biological activity. Using the inhibitor di-isopropylfluorophosphate (DIP), we have shown that abrogation of the proteolytic activity of thrombin also results in a loss (greater than 2000 fold) of differentiation reversal activity. Thrombin and its zymogen both stimulated the mitosis of differentiated Ad12 HER 10 cells to a similar extent. In addition, differentiation reversal was highly specific since, at physiologically significant concentrations, closely related serine proteases did not cause neurite retraction. Prothrombin and thrombin also reversed morphological differentiation in the SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cell line and in heterogeneous cultures of cells from various regions in the human foetal brain.
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PMID:Modulation of morphological differentiation of human neuroepithelial cells by serine proteases: independence from blood coagulation. 279 85

Previous studies have shown that neuroblastoma cells and several types of primary neuronal cells in culture rapidly extend neurites when switched from serum-containing to serum-free medium. The present studies on cloned neuroblastoma cells show that thrombin blocked this spontaneous differentiation at 2 nM with a half-maximal potency of 50 pM. This required the catalytic activity of thrombin and was reversed upon thrombin removal. Thrombin also caused cells in serum-free medium to retract their neurites at equally low concentrations. Two other serine proteases, urokinase and plasmin, did not block or reverse neurite extension even at 100-fold higher concentrations. A specific assay for thrombin indicated that thrombin detected in serum-containing medium from neuroblastoma cultures was derived from serum and that it was likely responsible for much of the known capacity of serum to maintain neuroblastoma cells in a nondifferentiated state. This was supported by the finding that heparin addition reduced the thrombin concentration in serum-containing medium and stimulated neurite outgrowth from neuroblastoma cells in serum-containing medium. Studies on the ability of thrombin to modulate neurite outgrowth by other agents showed that it blocked and reversed the neurite outgrowth activity of two thrombin inhibitors: protease nexin-1 (which is identical to glial-derived neurite-promoting factor) and hirudin. Thrombin, however, did not block the neurite-promoting activity of dibutyryl cAMP or prostaglandin E1. These results suggest a specific role for thrombin in control of neurite outgrowth.
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PMID:Thrombin modulates and reverses neuroblastoma neurite outgrowth. 283 73


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