Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0178874 (tumor progression)
 40,807 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A series of indole/benzoimidazole-5-carboxamidines have been reported to inhibit various trypsin-like serine proteases viz. uPA, tPA, factor Xa, thrombin, plasmin, and trypsin, which are involved in various types of pathophysiological conditions such as cancer progression, thrombosis etc. Inhibition of these protease enzymes may serve as therapeutic agents in various types of cancer as well serve as anticoagulant or antithrombotic agents. The dual inhibitory action may result in poor clinical candidates. 3D-QSAR models were generated for indole/benzoimidazole-5-carboxamidines using the CoMFA technique to study their selectivity trends toward various trypsin-like serine proteases. Molecular superimposition was carried out on the template structure using atom-based RMS fit method. The CoMFA models were established from the training set of 25-29 molecules and validated by predicting the activities of seven-eight test set molecules. The CoMFA models generated using steric and electrostatic fields for tPA, fXa, thrombin, plasmin, and trypsin inhibition exhibited better statistical significance than the CoMFA models generated using ClogP as an additional descriptor. Thus, the validated CoMFA models with steric and electrostatic fields were used to generate 3D contour maps, which may provide possible modification of molecules for better selectivity/activity. The present 3D-QSAR studies emphasize the selectivity trends of indole/benzoimidazole-5-carboxamidines, which may be obliging in designing novel selective serine protease inhibitors of therapeutic interest.
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PMID:3D-QSAR CoMFA studies on trypsin-like serine protease inhibitors: a comparative selectivity analysis. 1578 88

In a number of cancer types high tumor tissue levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) protein are strongly associated with shorter cancer patient survival. This association has been intriguing since PAI-1 is known to inhibit urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) that converts plasminogen to plasmin, which is actively involved in tumor progression and invasion. In order to further explore the biological role of PAI-1 in cancer, we have prepared fibroblasts from PAI-1 gene deficient mice and from their wild type littermates. From these fibroblasts fibrosarcoma cell lines were established and characterized. Both types of fibroblasts underwent spontaneous transformation as indicated by aneuploidy, immortalization, clonogenicity in soft agar and tumor formation in vivo. While both PAI-1 deficient and PAI-1 expressing cell lines showed similar proliferation rates in vitro, cells devoid of PAI-1 were significantly more sensitive to apoptotic stimuli. When inoculated subcutaneously into nude mice PAI-1 expressing cells rapidly established tumors, while PAI-1 deficient cells had a significantly longer lag-phase before they started to grow (p<0.0001). The present study suggests that PAI-1, besides its uPA inhibiting function, has a role in cancer progression by protecting tumor cells from undergoing apoptosis.
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PMID:Indication of a role of plasminogen activator inhibitor type I in protecting murine fibrosarcoma cells against apoptosis. 1627 Jun 43

The plasminogen activation system is involved in cancer progression and metastasis. Among other proteolytic factors, it includes the serine protease urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and its three-domain (D1D2D3) receptor uPAR (CD87), which focuses plasminogen activation to the cell surface. The function of uPAR is regulated in part through shedding of domain D1 by proteases, e.g., uPA itself or plasmin. Human tissue kallikrein 4 (hK4), which is highly expressed in prostate and ovarian tumor tissue, was previously shown to cleave and activate the pro-enzyme forms of prostate-specific antigen (PSA, tissue kallikrein hK3) and uPA. Here we demonstrate that uPAR is also a target for hK4, being cleaved in the D1-D2 linker sequence and, to a lesser extent, in its D3 juxtamembrane domain. hK4 may thus modulate the tumor-associated uPA/uPAR-system activity by either activating the pro-enzyme form of uPA or cleaving the cell surface-associated uPA receptor.
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PMID:Interplay of human tissue kallikrein 4 (hK4) with the plasminogen activation system: hK4 regulates the structure and functions of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR). 1649 55

Tissue factor pathway inhibitor 2 (TFPI-2) is a 32-kDa extracellular matrix-associated kunitz-type serine proteinase inhibitor. It is secreted by all vascular cells and plays a role in tumor invasion and metastasis, presumably by plasmin-mediated matrix remodeling. Previous studies have shown high expression of TFPI-2 by benign tumors and low or absent expression in highly malignant tumors. Malignant meningiomas constitute 10-15% of all meningiomas and our previous studies revealed loss of expression of TFPI-2 in malignant gliomas. To investigate the role of TFPI-2 in the invasiveness of malignant meningiomas, we stably transfected the human meningioma cell line, IOMM-Lee, with a vector capable of expressing a transcript complementary to the full length of TFPI-2 mRNA in a sense orientation. Restoration of TFPI-2 led to decreased invasiveness of transfected cells compared to parental and vector controls in Matrigel and spheroid assays and inhibition of angiogenesis in in vitro co-cultures with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and in vivo dorsal skin assay studies. As assessed by Western blotting, we also observed increased expression of BAX, cytochrome c and caspase 3 as well as decreased expression of XIAP (X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis). Finally, TFPI-2 overexpression inhibited intracranial tumor formation in nude mice. Our data substantiate our previous observation that TFPI-2 plays an important role in tumor progression and has potential in anti-cancer therapy.
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PMID:Restoration of tissue factor pathway inhibitor inhibits invasion and tumor growth in vitro and in vivo in a malignant meningioma cell line. 1677 81

Hepsin, a type II transmembrane serine protease, is strongly up-regulated in prostate cancer. Hepsin overexpression in a mouse prostate cancer model resulted in tumor progression and metastasis, associated with basement membrane disorganization. We investigated whether hepsin enzymatic activity was linked to the basement membrane defects by examining its ability to initiate the plasminogen/plasmin proteolytic pathway. Because plasminogen is not processed by hepsin, we investigated the upstream activators, urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and tissue-type plasminogen activator. Enzymatic assays with a recombinant soluble form of hepsin demonstrated that hepsin did not cleave pro-tissue-type plasminogen activator but efficiently converted pro-uPA into high molecular weight uPA by cleavage at the Lys158-Ile159 (P1-P1') peptide bond. uPA generated by hepsin displayed enzymatic activity toward small synthetic and macromolecular substrates indistinguishable from uPA produced by plasmin. The catalytic efficiency of pro-uPA activation by hepsin (kcat/Km 4.8 x 10(5) m(-1) s(-1)) was similar to that of plasmin, which is considered the most potent pro-uPA activator and was about 6-fold higher than that of matriptase. Conversion of pro-uPA was also demonstrated with cell surface-expressed full-length hepsin. A stable hepsinoverexpressing LnCaP cell line converted pro-uPA into high molecular weight uPA at a rate of 6.6 +/- 1.9 nm uPA h(-1), which was about 3-fold higher than LnCaP cells expressing lower hepsin levels on their surface. In conclusion, the ability of hepsin to efficiently activate pro-uPA suggests that it may initiate plasmin-mediated proteolytic pathways at the tumor/stroma interface that lead to basement membrane disruption and tumor progression.
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PMID:Pro-urokinase-type plasminogen activator is a substrate for hepsin. 1690 24

The ability of neoplastic cells to dissemination from a primary tumor to lymphatic nodes and to adjacent and distant tissues and organs is an inseparable feature of malignant tumors and the main cause of failure in their treatment. Metastasis formation is a multistage process which includes proteolysis, the motility and migration of cells, proliferation, and neoangiogenesis. In the first step, the cells released from the primary tumor have to penetrate to the blood or lymphatic vessels (intravasation), the road which dissemination follows. Circulating cells can then migrate through the walls of vessels to surrounding tissues (extravasation) where they settle, proliferate, and induce angiogenesis, creating metastases. Indispensable in the process of intra- and extravasation is the activation of proteolytic enzymes capable of degrading the extracellular matrix (ECM) surrounding the endothelium or creating the basement membrane of epithelial tissue in different organs. In this stage, the activation of proteolytic enzymes, such as proteinases of the plasmin system, serine proteinases, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), is necessary. Simultaneously, changes occur in the expression of many superficial glycoproteins and factors responsible for cell adhesion (integrins) and intercellular communication (cadherins). Neoangiogenesis is connected with the expression of many markers of this process, among them vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), endoglin (CD105), a transmembranous glycoprotein which is a component of the receptor for transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta), as well as neuropilin (NRP), the co-receptor for VEGF. Conventionally, the prognosis of neoplastic disease and its treatment are based mainly on exact clinical and histopathological staging. This prognosis could, however, be improved by measuring the molecular and cellular markers which play key roles in tumor progression. Understanding the cellular processes responsible for tumor dissemination can be useful not only in the diagnosis and prognosis of treatment results, but also in developing targeted drugs, selectively directed towards those factors responsible for tumor invasiveness, as well as in creating new therapeutic strategies permitting the use of such drugs. In the present review the authors concentrate mainly on one tumor type, colorectal carcinoma, in which distant metastases, predominantly to the liver, are the main cause of failure, in spite of surgical curing of the primary tumor.
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PMID:[Mechanisms of metastasis and molecular markers of malignant tumor progression. I. Colorectal cancer]. 1701 65

The expression of melanotransferrin (MTf), a membrane-bound glycoprotein highly expressed in melanomas, is correlated with tumor vascularization and progression, suggesting a proinvasive function associated with MTf in malignant tumors. To test this hypothesis, we silenced MTf in human melanoma SK-MEL-28 cells using small interfering RNA (siRNA) and examined the plasmin activity and invasiveness of MTf-silenced melanoma. In vitro, the siRNA-mediated MTf knockdown inhibited by 58% the cell surface activation of plasminogen into plasmin. In addition, decreased expression of MTf in melanoma cells reduced cell migration. In vivo, we used a nude mice invasion model in which tissue factor (TF) induces vascular [125I]-fibrin deposition following injection. Using this metastasis model, the invasive potential of MTf-silenced cells into the lungs was reduced by fivefold. Altogether, these findings strongly suggest that MTf overexpression in melanoma cells contributes to tumor progression by stimulating plasmin generation as well as cell migration and invasion.
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PMID:Melanotransferrin induces human melanoma SK-Mel-28 cell invasion in vivo. 1719 52

The remodelling of extracellular matrix and angiogenesis represent two essential processes for tumor growth and metastatic dissemination. These phenomena imply many interactions between tumor cells and host cells via action of various proteases including metalloproteinases (MMPs) whose activity is controlled by TIMPs and serine proteases (tissue type Plasminogen Activator (tPA), urokinase type Plasminogen Activator (uPA) and plasmin) inhibited in particular by PAI-1 (Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor- 1). Evolution of tumors depends on the joint action of these enzymes, as well as precise balance between these proteases and their physiological inhibitors. Proteases regulate the fate and activity of many proteins by controlling appropriate intra- or extracellular localization; shedding from cell surfaces ; activation or inactivation of proteases and other enzymes, cytokines, hormones or growth factors and exposure of cryptic neoproteins. Hence, proteases initiate, modulate and terminate a wide range of important cellular functions by processing bioactive molecules an thereby control essential biological processes, such as DNA replication, cell-cycle progression, cell proliferation, differentiation and migration, morphogenesis and tissue remodelling, neuronal outgrowth, haemostasis, wound healing, immunity, angiogenesis and apoptosis. Work completed has for objective to elucidate the specific part played by serine proteases and MMPS produced by the host cells in the processes of tumor growth and angiogenesis. By using an original model of transplantation of malignant murine keratinocytes (PDVA cell line) into deficient mice (-/-) and wild type mice (+/+), we showed the essential proteolytic role of PAI-1 produced by host cells in the tumor progression and angiogenesis. This mechanism of PAI-1 action was confirmed by using the model in vitro aorta rings. By using deficient mice for one or two MMPs combined (MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-9, MMP-11, MMP-2&9, MMP3&9), we demonstrated that only the combined deficiency of MMP-2 and -9 showed an absence of tumor invasion and angiogenesis. These data suggest the existence of compensatory mechanisms of a MMP by another MMP or another proteolytic way. These phenomena of redundancy are to be known and detailed to elaborate in a near future, the development of specific inhibitors of MMPS.
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PMID:[Roles of serine proteases and matrix metalloproteinases in tumor invasion and angiogenesis]. 1728 5

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), a highly restricted serine protease, plays an important role in the regulation of diverse physiologic and pathologic processes. Strong clinical and experimental evidence has shown that elevated uPA expression is associated with cancer progression, metastasis, and shortened survival in patients. uPA has been considered as a promising molecular target for development of anticancer drugs. Here, we report the identification of several new uPA inhibitors using a high-throughput screen from a chemical library. From these uPA inhibitors, molecular modeling and docking studies identified 4-oxazolidinone as a novel lead pharmacophore. Optimization of the 4-oxazolidinone pharmacophore resulted in a series of structurally modified compounds with improved potency and selectivity. One of the 4-oxazolidinone analogues, UK122, showed the highest inhibition of uPA activity. The IC(50) of UK122 in a cell-free indirect uPA assay is 0.2 micromol/L. This compound also showed no or little inhibition of other serine proteases such as thrombin, trypsin, plasmin, and the tissue-type plasminogen activator, indicating its high specificity against uPA. Moreover, UK122 showed little cytotoxicity against CFPAC-1 cells (IC(50) >100 micromol/L) but significantly inhibited the migration and invasion of this pancreatic cancer cell line. Our data show that UK122 could potentially be developed as a new anticancer agent that prevents the invasion and metastasis of pancreatic cancer.
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PMID:Identification of a novel inhibitor of urokinase-type plasminogen activator. 1743 Nov 13

Tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 (TFPI-2), a member of the Kunitz-type serine proteinase inhibitor family, is a structural homologue of tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI). The expression of TFPI-2 in tumors is inversely related to an increasing degree of malignancy, which may suggest a role for TFPI-2 in the maintenance of tumor stability and inhibition of the growth of neoplasms. TFPI-2 inhibits the tissue factor/factor VIIa (TF/VIIa) complex and a wide variety of serine proteinases including plasmin, plasma kallikrein, factor XIa, trypsin, and chymotrypsin. Aberrant methylation of TFPI-2 promoter cytosine-phosphorothioate-guanine (CpG) islands in human cancers and cancer cell lines was widely documented to be responsible for diminished expression of mRNA encoding TFPI-2 and decreased or inhibited synthesis of TFPI-2 protein during cancer progression. Furthermore, an aberrantly spliced variant of TFPI-2 mRNA (designated asTFPI-2) was detected, which represents an untranslated form of TFPI-2. The levels of asTFPI-2 were very low or undetectable in normal cells but markedly upregulated in neoplastic tissue. TFPI-2 functions in the maintenance of the stability of the tumor environment and inhibits invasiveness and growth of neoplasms, as well as metastases formation. TFPI-2 has also been shown to induce apoptosis and inhibit angiogenesis, which may contribute significantly to tumor growth inhibition. Restoration of TFPI-2 expression in tumor tissue inhibits invasion, tumor growth, and metastasis, which creates a novel possibility of cancer patient treatment. However, more information is still needed to define the precise role of TFPI-2 in human tumor biology.
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PMID:The role of tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 in cancer biology. 1800 Jul 91


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