Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0030305 (pancreatitis)
 16,014 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Plasminogen activators (PAs) play an important role in tumor cell invasion. We have analysed the expression of tissue-type PA (t-PA), urokinase-type PA (u-PA), and their respective receptors, annexin II and u-PAR, in normal and neoplastic cultures of pancreatic cells, as well as in pancreatic tissues, and have examined their role in tumor invasiveness in vitro. Using Northern blotting, Western blotting, and ELISA, t-PA is detected in cultured pancreas cancer cells displaying a well differentiated phenotype but it is undetectable in less differentiated cells and in normal pancreatic cultures. In contrast, u-PA transcripts, protein, and enzymatic activity are detected both in cancer cells and in normal cultures. Higher levels of u-PAR and annexin II are present in cancer cells than in normal cultures and, in SK-PC-1 cells, both receptors are localized in the basolateral membrane. In vitro invasion assays indicate that both t-PA and u-PA contribute to the invasiveness of SK-PC-1 cells through reconstituted extracellular matrix. To determine the relevance of these studies to pancreas cancer, immunohistochemical assays have been used to examine the expression of t-PA, u-PA, and their receptors in normal and neoplastic tissues. t-PA is absent from normal pancreas and from tumor associated pancreatitis, whereas it is detected in the majority of pancreas cancer tissues (16/17). Annexin II is also overexpressed in some tumors (5/13). u-PAR is overexpressed in most tumor samples examined (14/15), while u-PA is weakly detected in a low number of cases (3/14); both u-PAR and u-PA are overexpressed in areas of tumor associated pancreatitis. Indirect evidences indicate that K-ras and p53 mutated proteins can regulate the expression of PAs. In pancreatic cancer we have found an association between codon 12 K-ras mutations and t-PA expression (P=0.04). These results support the contention that, in the exocrine pancreas, activation of t-PA is more specifically associated to neoplastic transformation and to the invasive phenotype, whereas the induction of u-PA/u-PAR system might be more relevant to inflammatory or non-neoplastic events.
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PMID:The plasminogen activator system in pancreas cancer: role of t-PA in the invasive potential in vitro. 948 8

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the rate of translocation of Escherichia coli strains in different experimental/animal models. Four proficient translocating E. coli strains isolated from mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) and/or the blood of rats (strains KIC-1 and KIC-2), from a fatal case of pancreatitis (HMLN-1) and from pigs (PC-1 isolated in this study) were tested for their ability to translocate across two host species and the Caco-2 cell line as a model of the human gut epithelium. HMLN-1 was found in the MLNs of all 15 pigs tested. This strain, however, did not translocate in any rats and only colonised the caecum of four rats in small numbers. HMLN-1 and PC-1 were the dominant translocating strains in Caco-2 cells compared to KIC-1 and KIC-2, which were found to translocate at a lower rate in pigs and in Caco-2 cells. The rate of translocation of PC-1 in rats was also very low compared to KIC-1 and KIC-2. We suggest that, in studies aiming to investigate the mechanism of translocation of E. coli strains isolated from humans, rats may not be an appropriate animal model and that the Caco-2 cells or pigs are more suitable in vitro and in vivo models, respectively.
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PMID:Host species-specific translocation of Escherichia coli. 1943 50