Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0035412 (rhabdomyosarcoma)
 6,156 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

During terminal differentiation of human and murine cells, telomerase activity and parallel transcription of telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) are inhibited. In this study, we used in vitro and in vivo analyses to determine the role of hTERT promoter elements and associated factors during differentiation-induced inhibition of telomerase expression in RD, a human rhabdomyosarcoma cell line. Assay of telomerase enzyme activity, hTERT mRNA, and reporter gene assays confirmed that the hTERT promoter was silenced during 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced myogenic differentiation of telomerase-positive RD cells. Promoter deletion and mutation analyses revealed that two E-boxes and an AP-2 site present in a 320-bp region of the promoter were essential for the transcriptional activity of the hTERT gene. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays identified several factors that interact with this region of DNA, including the muscle-specific transcription factors Myf5, Myf6, and myogenin and the ubiquitously expressed factors Sp1 and AP-2. Ectopic expression of the E-box binding factors c-Myc and Mad did influence promoter activity in these cells; indeed, the presence of endogenous c-Myc protein was altered after differentiation. Our findings suggest that the acute regulation of hTERT transcription is primarily controlled by E-box elements, which bind a series of factors during the phased phenotypic changes occurring during the differentiation of RD human muscle cells.
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PMID:Telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter regulation during myogenic differentiation of human RD rhabdomyosarcoma cells. 1293 99

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma of childhood and adolescence. Despite advances in therapy, patients with a histologic variant of RMS known as alveolar (aRMS) have a 5-year survival rate of <30%. aRMS tissues exhibit a number of genetic changes, including loss-of-function of the p53 and Rb tumor suppressor pathways, amplification of MYCN, stabilization of telomeres, and most characteristically, reciprocal translocation of loci involving the PAX and FKHR genes, generating the PAX7-FKHR or PAX3-FKHR fusion proteins. We previously showed that PAX3-FKHR expression in primary human myoblasts, cells that can give rise to RMS, cooperated with loss of p16INK4A to promote extended proliferation. To better understand the genetic events required for aRMS formation, we then stepwise converted these cells to their transformed counterpart. PAX3-FKHR, the catalytic unit of telomerase hTERT, and MycN, in cooperation with down-regulation of p16INK4A/p14ARF expression, were necessary and sufficient to convert normal human myoblasts into tumorigenic cells that gave rise to aRMS tumors. However, the order of expression of these transgenes was critical, as only those cells expressing PAX3-FKHR early could form tumors. We therefore suggest that the translocation of PAX3 to FKHR drives proliferation of myoblasts, and a selection for loss of p16INK4A/p14ARF. These early steps, coupled with MycN amplification and telomere stabilization, then drive the cells to a fully tumorigenic state.
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PMID:Defining the cooperative genetic changes that temporally drive alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. 1904 33

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), a cancer characterized by features of skeletal muscle histogenesis, is the most common soft tissue sarcoma of childhood and adolescence. Survival for high-risk groups is less than 30% at 5 years. RMS also occurs during adulthood, with a lower incidence but higher mortality. Recently, mutational profiling has revealed a correlation between activating Ras mutations in the embryonal (eRMS) and pleomorphic (pRMS) histologic variants of RMS, and a poorer outcome for those patients. Independently, the YAP transcriptional coactivator, an oncoprotein kept in check by the Hippo tumor suppressor pathway, is upregulated in eRMS. Here we show that YAP promotes cell proliferation and antagonizes apoptosis and myogenic differentiation of human RMS cells bearing oncogenic Ras mutations in cell culture studies in vitro and in murine xenografts in vivo. Pharmacologic inhibition of YAP by the benzoporphyrin derivative verteporfin decreased cell proliferation and tumor growth in vivo. To interrogate the temporal contribution of YAP in eRMS tumorigenesis, we used a primary human cell-based genetic model of Ras-driven RMS. Constitutively active YAP functioned as an early genetic lesion, permitting bypass of senescence and priming myoblasts to tolerate subsequent expression of hTERT and oncogenic Ras, which were necessary and sufficient to generate murine xenograft tumors mimicking RMS in vivo. This work provides evidence for cooperation between YAP and oncogenic Ras in RMS tumorigenesis, laying the foundation for preclinical co-targeting of these pathways.
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PMID:Role of the YAP Oncoprotein in Priming Ras-Driven Rhabdomyosarcoma. 2649