Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0027960 (mole)
 21,279 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The isolation of benzo(a)pyrene (BP) from coal tar, and the synthesis of dibenzanthracene (DBA), methylcholanthrene (MCA), and dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA) in the 1930's, facilitated the induction of epidermal tumors in experimental animals. It was soon found that chemical carcinogens affect not only keratinocytes, but also the melanocytes (Szabo 1953). "Painting" the skin of small laboratory animals, with carcinogens, became the principal method of studying the mechanisms of chemical carcinogenesis (Yuspa et al. 1976a). Pigmented nevi and melanoma are perhaps two of the most interesting problems in dermatology, oncology and pathology. Questions related to histogenesis, classification, diagnosis, treatment and eventual prevention remain unanswered. A substantial amount of our work is used to support most of the main points regarding the development of nevi and melanoma in laboratory animals.
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PMID:Nevi and melanoma induced by chemical carcinogens in laboratory animals: similarities and differences with human lesions. 640 71

The existence of an internal hydrogen bond in a compound representative of a syn diol epoxide (a possible intermediate in chemical carcinogenesis by certain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) has been demonstrated by x-ray crystallographic and nuclear magnetic resonance studies. This internal hydrogen bond was found in 3,4-epoxy-2-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-naphthol and was shown to persist in dioxane-water solutions containing up to 80 mole percent water. In this structure, the 1-hydroxy and 2-methyl groups are shown to occupy axial positions. In the anti diol epoxide, which has no internal hydrogen bond, analogous groups are equatorial. Crystals of the compound were unstable in the x-ray beam while the data were being collected (even at low temperatures), presumably as a result of decomposition.
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PMID:Internal Hydrogen Bond Formation in a syn-Hydroxyepoxide. 1784 5

Acquired melanocytic nevi are commonly found in sun exposed and unexposed human skin, but the potential for their transformation into invasive melanoma is not clear. Therefore, a mouse model of nevus initiation and progression was developed in C3H/HeN mice using a modified chemical carcinogenesis protocol. Nevi develop due to DNA damage initiated by dimethylbenz(a) anthracene (DMBA) followed by chronic promotion with 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Dysplastic pigmented skin lesions appeared in 7-9 wk with 100% penetrance. Nests of melanocytic cells appeared in a subset of skin draining lymph nodes (dLN) by 25 wk, but not in age matched controls. Immunohistochemistry, real-time PCR, and flow cytometric analyses confirmed their melanocytic origin. Transformed cells were present in a subset of nevi and dLNs, which exhibited anchorage-independent growth, tumor development, and metastasis in nude mice. Approximately 50% of the cell lines contained H-Ras mutations and lost tumor suppressor p16(Ink4a) expression. While most studies of melanoma focus on tumor progression in transgenic mouse models where the mutations are present from birth, our model permits investigation of acquired mutations at the earliest stages of nevus initiation and promotion of nevus cell transformation. This robust nevus/melanoma model may prove useful for identifying genetic loci associated with nevus formation, novel oncogenic pathways, tumor targets for immune-prevention, screening therapeutics, and elucidating mechanisms of immune surveillance and immune evasion.
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PMID:A murine model for the development of melanocytic nevi and their progression to melanoma. 2578 45

Platelet-activating factor-receptor (PAF-R) agonists are pleiotropic lipid factors that influence multiple biological processes, including the induction and resolution of inflammation as well as immunosuppression. PAF-R agonists have been shown to modulate tumorigenesis and/or tumor growth in various skin cancer models by suppressing either cutaneous inflammation and/or anti-tumoral adaptive immunity. We have previously shown that a chronic systemic PAF-R agonist administration of mice enhances the growth of subcutaneously implanted melanoma tumors. Conversely, chronic topical applications of a PAF-R agonist suppressed non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in a topical chemical carcinogenesis model (dimethylbenz[a]anthracene/phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (DMBA/PMA)) in-part via anti-inflammatory effects. These results indicate that the context of PAF-R agonist exposure via either chronic cutaneous or systemic administration, result in seemingly disparate effects on tumor promotion. To further dissect the contextual role of PAF-R agonism on tumorigenesis, we chronically administered systemic PAF-R agonist, carbamoyl-PAF (CPAF) to mice under a cutaneous chemical carcinogenesis protocol, recently characterized to initiate both NMSC and melanocytic nevus formation that can progress to malignant melanoma. Our results showed that while systemic CPAF did not modulate melanocytic nevus formation, it enhanced the growth of NMSC tumors.
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PMID:Systemic Platelet-Activating Factor-Receptor Agonism Enhances Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer Growth. 3031 74