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

Gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) and its receptor (GRP-R) are highly expressed in undifferentiated neuroblastoma, and they play critical roles in oncogenesis. We previously reported that GRP activates the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway to promote DNA synthesis and cell cycle progression in neuroblastoma cells. Conversely, GRP-R silencing induces cell cycle arrest. Here, we speculated that GRP/GRP-R signaling induces neuroblastoma cell proliferation via regulation of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitors. Surprisingly, we found that GRP/GRP-R differentially induced expressions of p21 and p27. Silencing GRP/GRP-R decreased p21, but it increased p27 expressions in neuroblastoma cells. Furthermore, we found that the intracellular localization of p21 and p27 in the nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments, respectively. In addition, we found that GRP/GRP-R silencing increased the expression and accumulation of PTEN in the cytoplasm of neuroblastoma cells where it co-localized with p27, thus suggesting that p27 promotes the function of PTEN as a tumor suppressor by stabilizing PTEN in the cytoplasm. GRP/GRP-R regulation of CDK inhibitors and tumor suppressor PTEN may be critical for tumoriogenesis of neuroblastoma.
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PMID:Differential regulation of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors in neuroblastoma cells. 2361 60

We have previously demonstrated the role of gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) as an autocrine growth factor for neuroblastoma. Here, we report that GRP silencing regulates cell signaling involved in the invasion-metastasis cascade. Using a doxycycline inducible system, we demonstrate that GRP silencing decreased anchorage-independent growth, inhibited migration and neuroblastoma cell-mediated angiogenesis in vitro, and suppressed metastasis in vivo. Targeted inhibition of GRP decreased the mRNA levels of oncogenes responsible for neuroblastoma progression. We also identified PTEN/AKT signaling as a key mediator of the tumorigenic properties of GRP in neuroblastoma cells. Interestingly, PTEN overexpression decreased GRP-mediated migration and angiogenesis; a novel role for this, otherwise, understated tumor suppressor in neuroblastoma. Furthermore, activation of AKT (pAKT) positively correlated with neuroblastoma progression in an in vivo tumor-metastasis model. PTEN expression was slightly decreased in metastatic lesions. A similar phenomenon was observed in human neuroblastoma sections, where, early-stage localized tumors had a higher PTEN expression relative to pAKT; however, an inverse expression pattern was observed in liver lesions. Taken together, our results argue for a dual purpose of targeting GRP in neuroblastoma--1) decreasing expression of critical oncogenes involved in tumor progression, and 2) enhancing activation of tumor suppressor genes to treat aggressive, advanced-stage disease.
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PMID:Targeting gastrin-releasing peptide suppresses neuroblastoma progression via upregulation of PTEN signaling. 2403 82

Neuroblastoma is characterized by florid vascularization leading to rapid tumor dissemination to distant organs; angiogenesis contributes to tumor progression and poor clinical outcomes. We have previously demonstrated an increased expression of gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) and its receptor, GRPR, in neuroblastoma and that GRP activates the PI3K-AKT pathway as a proangiogenic factor during tumor progression. Interestingly, AKT activation phosphorylates MTOR, a critical negative regulator of autophagy, a cellular process involved in the degradation of key proteins. We hypothesize that inhibition of GRPR enhances autophagy-mediated degradation of GRP and subsequent inhibition of angiogenesis in neuroblastoma. Here, we demonstrated a novel phenomenon where targeting GRPR using shRNA or a specific antagonist, RC-3095, decreased GRP secretion by neuroblastoma cells and tubule formation by endothelial cells in vitro. Furthermore, shGRPR or RC-3095 treatment enhanced expression of proautophagic proteins in human neuroblastoma cell lines, BE(2)-C, and BE(2)-M17. Interestingly, rapamycin, an inhibitor of MTOR, enhanced the expression of the autophagosomal marker LC3-II and GRP was localized within LC3-II-marked autophagosomes in vitro as well as in vivo, indicating autophagy-mediated degradation of GRP. Moreover, overexpression of ATG5 or BECN1 attenuated GRP secretion and tubule formation, whereas opposite effects were observed with siRNA silencing of ATG5 and BECN1. Our data supported the role of autophagy in the degradation of GRP and subsequent inhibition of angiogenesis. Therefore, activation of autophagy may lead to novel antivascular therapeutic strategies in the treatment of highly vascular neuroblastomas.
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PMID:Enhanced autophagy blocks angiogenesis via degradation of gastrin-releasing peptide in neuroblastoma cells. 2410 3


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