Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0033036 (APC)
 10,214 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Mutations in the glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK3beta) phosphorylation sites of the beta-catenin gene exon 3 are found in 20-30% of human primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), whereas mutations in the APC or AXIN genes are found in other HCC populations. These data strongly suggest that the Wnt signaling pathway is involved in hepatocarcinogenesis. To determine the role of beta-catenin in intestinal tumorigenesis, we earlier constructed a mutant mouse strain Catnb(lox(ex3)), in which exon 3 of the beta-catenin gene was sandwiched by loxP sequences. By genetic crosses of these mice with the Fabpl-cre transgenic mice that express the cre gene controlled by the fatty acid binding protein gene promoter, we introduced the beta-catenin stabilizing mutation into the small intestine and liver. Although numerous polyps were formed in the small intestine, we did not find any neoplastic (i.e., dysplastic) foci in the liver, and the mice died in 5 weeks after birth because of acute liver damage accompanying mitochondrial swelling. When a recombinant adenovirus that expresses the cre gene from a human cytomegalovirus early gene promoter was constructed and inoculated at a high multiplicity (10(9) plaque-forming units/mouse), the Catnb(lox(ex3)) mice showed marked hepatomegaly, with similar mitochondrial swelling in the hepatocytes, and died within 3 weeks after infection. On the other hand, when inoculated at lower multiplicities of infection (10(7) and 10(8) plaque-forming units/mouse, respectively), the Catnb(lox(ex3)) mice survived >6 months without any neoplastic foci in the liver, although the nuclear localization of beta-catenin was found in some hepatocytes even after 6 months. These results suggest that, in contrast to intestinal polyposis, the Wnt pathway activation by stabilized beta-catenin is not sufficient for hepatocarcinogenesis, but additional mutations or epigenetic changes may be required.
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PMID:Lack of tumorigenesis in the mouse liver after adenovirus-mediated expression of a dominant stable mutant of beta-catenin. 1192 13

The Wnt pathway controls numerous developmental processes via the beta-catenin-TCF/LEF transcription complex. Deregulation of the pathway results in the aberrant accumulation of beta-catenin in the nucleus, often leading to cancer. Normally, cytoplasmic beta-catenin associates with APC and axin and is continuously phosphorylated by GSK-3beta, marking it for proteasomal degradation. Wnt signaling is considered to prevent GSK-3beta from phosphorylating beta-catenin, thus causing its stabilization. However, the Wnt mechanism of action has not been resolved. Here we study the regulation of beta-catenin phosphorylation and degradation by the Wnt pathway. Using mass spectrometry and phosphopeptide-specific antibodies, we show that a complex of axin and casein kinase I (CKI) induces beta-catenin phosphorylation at a single site: serine 45 (S45). Immunopurified axin and recombinant CKI phosphorylate beta-catenin in vitro at S45; CKI inhibition suppresses this phosphorylation in vivo. CKI phosphorylation creates a priming site for GSK-3beta and is both necessary and sufficient to initiate the beta-catenin phosphorylation-degradation cascade. Wnt3A signaling and Dvl overexpression suppress S45 phosphorylation, thereby precluding the initiation of the cascade. Thus, a single, CKI-dependent phosphorylation event serves as a molecular switch for the Wnt pathway.
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PMID:Axin-mediated CKI phosphorylation of beta-catenin at Ser 45: a molecular switch for the Wnt pathway. 1200 Jul 90

Human Aurora-A is related to a protein kinase originally identified by its close homology to Ipl1p from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and aurora from Drosophila melanogaster, which are key regulators of the structure and function of the mitotic spindle. We previously showed that human Aurora-A is turned over through the anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C)-ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. The association of two distinct WD40 repeat proteins known as Cdc20 and Cdh1, respectively, sequentially activates the APC/C. The present study shows that Aurora-A degradation is dependent on hCdh1 in vivo, not on hCdc20, and that Aurora-A is targeted for proteolysis through distinct structural features of the destruction box, the KEN box motifs and its kinase activity.
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PMID:Degradation of human Aurora-A protein kinase is mediated by hCdh1. 1202 18

Sister chromatid separation at the metaphase-to-anaphase transition is induced by the proteolytic cleavage of one of the cohesin complex subunits. This process is mediated by a conserved protease called separase. Separase is associated with its inhibitor, securin, until the time of anaphase initiation, when securin is degraded in an anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C)-dependent manner. In budding yeast securin/Pds1 not only inhibits separase/Esp1, but also promotes its nuclear localization. The molecular mechanism and regulation of this nuclear targeting are presently unknown. Here we show that Pds1 is a substrate of the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdc28. Phosphorylation of Pds1 by Cdc28 is important for efficient binding of Pds1 to Esp1 and for promoting the nuclear localization of Esp1. Our results uncover a previously unknown mechanism for regulating the Pds1-Esp1 interaction and shed light on a novel role for Cdc28 in promoting the metaphase-to-anaphase transition in budding yeast.
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PMID:Phosphorylation of the mitotic regulator Pds1/securin by Cdc28 is required for efficient nuclear localization of Esp1/separase. 1205 Jan 15

cAMP inhibits biochemical events leading to T cell activation by triggering of an inhibitory protein kinase A (PKA)-C-terminal Src kinase pathway assembled in lipid rafts. In this study, we demonstrate that activation of PKA type I by Sp-8-bromo-cAMPS (a cAMP agonist) has profound inhibitory effects on Ag-specific immune responses in peripheral effector T cells. Activation of PKA type I inhibits both cytokine production and proliferative responses in both CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The observed effects of cAMP appeared to occur endogenously in T cells and were not dependent on APC. The inhibition of responses was not due to apoptosis of specific T cells and was reversible by a PKA type I-selective cAMP antagonist. This supports the notion of PKA type I as a key enzyme in the negative regulation of immune responses and a potential target for inhibiting autoreactive T cells.
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PMID:Inhibition of antigen-specific T cell proliferation and cytokine production by protein kinase A type I. 1209 83

We describe two types of artificial gene-regulation systems responding to cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) or caspase-3. These molecular systems use newly synthesized cationic polymers, PAK and PAC. The PAK polymer includes substrate oligopeptide for PKA, ARRASLG, as receptor of PKA signal, while the PAC polymer possesses oligopeptide that is comprised of a substrate sequence of caspase-3, DEVD, and a cationic oligolysine, KKKKKK. These polymers formed stable complexes with DNA to totally suppress the gene expression. However, PKA or caspase-3 signal disintegrates the PAK-DNA or the PAC-DNA complex, respectively. This liberates the DNA and activated the gene expression. These systems are the first concept of an intracellular signal-responsive gene-regulation system using artificial polymer. We expect that these systems can be applied to the novel highly cell specific gene delivery strategy that is involved in our previously proposed new drug delivery concept, the drug delivery system based on responses to cellular signals.
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PMID:Intracellular signal-responsive artificial gene regulation for novel gene delivery. 1221 34

Previous research has shown that many of the CD4 T cells from older mice do not form functional immune synapses after conjugation with peptide-pulsed APC. We now show that the defect lies at a very early stage in the cytoskeletal reorganization that precedes movement of protein kinases and their substrates to the TCR/APC interface. Antagonist peptides presented to T cells from young mice induce migration of talin (but not paxillin, vinculin, or F-actin) to the APC contact zone, but CD4 T cells from older donors typically fail to show the talin polarization response. A spreading assay in which contact with anti-CD3-coated slides induces CD4 T cells to assume a conical shape and develop lammelopodia also shows a decline with age in the proportion of T cells that can initiate cytoskeletal changes in response to this simplified stimulus. Finally, the transition from detergent-soluble to cytoskeletal forms of the p16, p21, and p23 isoforms of CD3zeta in response to CD3/CD4/CD28 cross-linking is much stronger in young than in old T cells. Thus, defects in cytoskeletal reorganization triggered by initial contact between TCR and peptide-bearing APC precede, and presumably contribute to, defective activation of protein kinase-mediated signals in the first few minutes of the activation cascade in T cells from aged mice.
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PMID:Age-dependent defects in TCR-triggered cytoskeletal rearrangement in CD4+ T cells. 1239 Dec 17

The effects of pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) on human lung cancer cell line NCI-1299 mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) tyrosine phosphorylation and vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) expression were investigated. PACAP-27 (100 nM) increased MAPK tyrosine phosphorylation 3-fold, 5 min after addition to NCI-H1299 cells. PACAP caused tyrosine phosphorylation in a concentration-dependent manner being half-maximal at 10 nM PACAP-27. PACAP-27 or PACAP-38 (100 nM) but not PACAP28-38 or VIP caused increased MAPK tyrosine phosphorylation using NCI-H1299 cells. Also, the increase in MAPK tyrosine phosphorylation caused by PACAP-27 was totally inhibited by 10 microM PACAP(6-38), a PAC(1) receptor antagonist or 10 microM PD98059, a MAPKK inhibitor. These results suggest that PAC(1) receptors regulate tyrosine phosphorylation of MAPK in a MAPKK-dependent manner. PACAP-27 (100 nM) caused increased VEGF mRNA in NCI-H1299 cells after 8 h. The increase in VEGF mRNA caused by PACAP-27 was partially inhibited by PACAP(6-38), PD98059 and H-89. Addition of VIP to NCI-H1299 cells caused increased VEGF mRNA, which was totally inhibited by H89, a PKA inhibitor. These results suggest that PAC(1) and VPAC(1) receptors regulate VEGF expression in lung cancer cells.
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PMID:PACAP-27 tyrosine phosphorylates mitogen activated protein kinase and increases VEGF mRNAs in human lung cancer cells. 1240 25

Previous studies have shown that human fetal adrenal gland from 17- to 20-week-old fetuses expressed pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) receptors, which were localized on chromaffin cells. The aim of the present study was to identify PACAP receptor isoforms and to determine whether PACAP can affect intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) and catecholamine secretion. Using primary cultures and specific stimulation of chromaffin cells, we demonstrate that PACAP-38 induced an increase in [Ca(2+)](i) that was blocked by PACAP (6-38), was independent of external Ca(2+), and originated from thapsigargin-insensitive internal stores. The PACAP-triggered Ca(2+) increase was not affected by inhibition of PLC beta (preincubation with U-73122) or by pretreatment of cells with Xestospongin C, indicating that the inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate-sensitive stores were not mobilized. However, forskolin (FSK), which raises cytosolic cAMP, induced an increase in Ca(2+) similar to that recorded with PACAP-38. Blockage of PKA by H-89 or (R(p))-cAMPS suppressed both PACAP-38 and FSK calcium responses. The effect of PACAP-38 was also abolished by emptying the caffeine/ryanodine-sensitive Ca(2+) stores. Furthermore, treatment of cells with orthovanadate (100 microm) impaired Ca(2+) reloading of PACAP-sensitive stores indicating that PACAP-38 can mobilize Ca(2+) from secretory vesicles. Moreover, PACAP induced catecholamine secretion by chromaffin cells. It is concluded that PACAP-38, through the PAC(1) receptor, acts as a neurotransmitter in human fetal chromaffin cells inducing catecholamine secretion, through nonclassical, recently described, ryanodine/caffeine-sensitive pools, involving a cAMP- and PKA-dependent phosphorylation mechanism.
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PMID:PAC1 receptor activation by PACAP-38 mediates Ca2+ release from a cAMP-dependent pool in human fetal adrenal gland chromaffin cells. 1242 44

beta-catenin is involved in both cell-cell interactions and wnt pathway-dependent cell fate determination through its interactions with E-cadherin and TCF/LEF transcription factors, respectively. Cytoplasmic/nuclear levels of beta-catenin are important in regulated transcriptional activation of TCF/LEF target genes. Normally, these levels are kept low by proteosomal degradation of beta-catenin through Axin1- and APC-dependent phosphorylation by CKI and GSK-3beta. Deregulation of beta-catenin degradation results in its aberrant accumulation, often leading to cancer. Accordingly, aberrant accumulation of beta-catenin is observed at high frequency in many cancers. This accumulation correlates with either mutational activation of CTNNB1 (beta-catenin) or mutational inactivation of APC and Axin1 genes in some tumors. However, there are many tumors that display beta-catenin accumulation in the absence of a mutation in these genes. Thus, there must be additional sources for aberrant beta-catenin accumulation in cancer cells. Here, we provide experimental evidence that wild-type beta-catenin accumulates in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells in association with mutational inactivation of p53 gene. We also show that worldwide p53 and beta-catenin mutation rates are inversely correlated in HCC. These data suggest that inactivation of p53 is an important cause of aberrant accumulation of beta-catenin in cancer cells.
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PMID:P53 mutation as a source of aberrant beta-catenin accumulation in cancer cells. 1243 47


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