Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0345904 (liver cancer)
 15,188 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA frequently integrates into the genome of human primary liver cancer cells, but the significance of this integration in liver carcinogenesis is still unclear. Here we report the cloning of a single HBV integration site in a human hepatocellular carcinoma at an early stage of development, and of its germline counterpart. The normal locus was found to be transcribed into two polyadenylated messenger RNA species of 1.8 and 2.7 kilobases. We have isolated a complementary DNA clone from a normal adult human liver cDNA library which has an open reading frame with a coding capacity for a protein of 432 amino acids and relative molecular mass 48,536. The strong homology of the C-terminal half of the protein to the A-type cyclins of clam and Drosophila identifies it as a human cyclin A. The cyclin A gene has several exons, and the HBV integration occurs within an intron. As cyclins are important in the control of cell division, the disruption of a cyclin A gene by viral insertion might contribute to tumorigenesis.
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PMID:Hepatitis B virus integration in a cyclin A gene in a hepatocellular carcinoma. 196 22

The cyclin A gene was first identified at a site of hepatitis B virus DNA integration in a primary liver cancer (PLC). It has now been mapped to 4q27, in the proximity of a chromosomal locus (4q32) which is frequently rearranged and deleted in PLC. We took advantage of the TaqI polymorphism recently described in the cyclin A gene to search for allelic loss in this gene by means of PCR. Tumorous and non-tumorous tissue from 50 patients with PLC was analyzed: 27 samples (54%) were homozygous for the A1 type allele (i.e. the allele bearing the TaqI restriction site), three (6%) were homozygous for the A2 type allele (without the TaqI site) and 20 (40%) were heterozygous. Comparison of tumorous and non-tumorous patterns showed that only one (5%) tumorous tissue out of 20 heterozygous patients was homozygous, indicating the loss of an allele at this locus. We conclude that allelic loss in the cyclin A gene is a rare event in patients with PLC, and that PCR is rapid and reliable for the detection of allelic loss in the cyclin A gene when only small amounts of DNA are available.
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PMID:Low frequency of allelic loss in the cyclin A gene in human hepatocellular carcinomas: a study based on PCR. 825 38

Cyclin A associates with both the p34 cdc2 and p33 cdk2 kinases and is involved at two major check-points (G1-S and G2-M) of the cell cycle. The cyclin has been identified in multimeric protein complexes that incorporate the E2F transcription factor, the p33 cdk2 kinase, and p107, which is related to the retinoblastoma protein. Therefore, cyclin A provides a link between studies on the cell-cycle machinery and those aiming to elucidate the modulation of cell proliferation and regulation of gene expression by oncogenes and growth-suppressor proteins. The modification of cyclin A expression in a human liver cancer by the insertion of hepatitis B viral DNA into the cyclin A gene, and binding of cyclin A to the oncogenic E1A viral protein in adenovirus-infected cells suggest that the cyclin is implicated in human carcinogenesis. In addition, cyclin A might also be considered as a marker for tumor-cell proliferation in oncology. With these views in mind, it is now important to extend these observations to other types of cancer.
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PMID:Oncogenic activation of cyclin A. 838 33

All-trans retinoic acid (RA) was previously shown to regulate the growth of gastric cancer cells derived from the cell line SC-M1. This study was designed to investigate the effect of RA on the sensitivity of SC-M1 cells to lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) activity. RA at the concentration range of 0.001-10 microM was shown to induce SC-M1 cells to exhibit resistance to LAK activity in a dose-dependent manner. A kinetics study indicated that a significantly increased resistance was detected after 2 days of co-culturing SC-M1 cells with RA and reached a maximum after 6 days of culture. Similar results were obtained from two other cancer cell lines: promyelocytic leukaemia HL-60 and hepatic cancer Hep 3B. A binding assay demonstrated that the binding efficacy between target SC-M1 cells and effector LAK cells was not altered by RA. Flow cytometric analyses revealed that RA exhibited no effect on the expression of cell surface molecules, including HLA class I and class II antigens, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and -2, and lymphocyte function antigen-3. Cell cycle analysis revealed that culture of SC-M1 cells with RA resulted in an increase in G0/G1 phase and a decrease in S phase, accompanied by a decrease in cyclin A and cyclin B1 mRNA as determined by Northern blot analysis. Additionally, RA was shown to enhance the expression of retinoic acid receptor alpha (RAR alpha) in SC-M1 cells, and to have no effect on the expression of RARbeta or RARgamma. Taken together, these results indicate that RA can significantly increase gastric cancer cells SC-M1 to resist LAK cytotoxicity by means of a cytostatic effect through a mechanism relating to cell cycle regulation. The prevailing ideas, such as a decrease in effector to target cell binding, a reduced MHC class I antigen expression or an altered RARbeta expression, are not involved.
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PMID:All-trans retinoic acid decreases susceptibility of a gastric cancer cell line to lymphokine-activated killer cytotoxicity. 915 47

Paclitaxel stabilizes microtubules with inhibition of mitotic spindle formation and has been found effective in several solid cancers. To test whether paclitaxel could be cytotoxic in human HCC cell lines, we used established HuH-7 and HepG2 cell lines. Changes in cell number, DNA synthesis rates and cell viability were determined. We tested whether paclitaxel-treated cells underwent apoptosis, microtubular reorganization, and cell cycle restriction. Studies also examined whether chemosensitization with verapamil enhanced the antitumor activity of paclitaxel. The cell viability was impaired at greater than 0.01 microM paclitaxel concentrations (LD50, 0.8 microM), with flow cytometry indicating accumulation of cells in G2/M, and immunostaining showing polymerized microtubules with characteristic banding patterns. This G2/M restriction was further characterized by flow cytometry, which revealed cyclin A and cdc2 kinase accumulation in paclitaxel-treated cells. Exposure to paclitaxel decreased [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA in cells at 24 h but this significantly increased at 72 h, most likely due to DNA repair mechanisms related to cell cycle restriction. The cell death was via both apoptotic and non-apoptotic mechanisms. Finally, co-administration of the chemosensitizer verapamil in doses as little as 1 microM increased the antitumor efficacy of paclitaxel by up to five-fold and changed the LD50 of paclitaxel to 0.1 microM. The findings indicate that paclitaxel is cytotoxic to cultured hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Clinical studies of paclitaxel in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma may help determine additional therapies.
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PMID:Paclitaxel shows cytotoxic activity in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines. 1021 48

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies in Southeast Asia. Hyperphosphorylation of retinoblastoma (pRB) by cyclin/CDKs in G1/S transition is required for its inactivation and cell cycle progression. In the present study, we report that phosphorylation of pRB at Ser780 and Ser795 was detected in 71% (33 of 46) and 63% (29 of 46) of HCCs examined respectively. pRB protein was undetectable in 13% (6 of 46) of HCCs examined. Phosphorylated pRB was localized in the nuclei of hepatocarcinoma cells. Benign hepatocytes exhibited very weakly or no nuclear staining for phosphorylated pRB. Over-expression of E2F-1, cyclin D1, Cdk-2, Cdk-4 and cyclin A was found in 64% (30 of 46), 43% (26 of 46), 28% (11 of 46), 71% (33 of 46) and 63% (29 of 46) of HCCs examined respectively and this was correlated with elevation of ERK. Treatment of HepG2 cells with MEK1/2 inhibitor U0126 resulted in cell cycle arrest, downregulation of cyclin D1 and Cdk-2 expression and inhibition of pRB phosphorylation at Ser780 and Ser795. Ectopic expression of activated MEK1 in HepG2 cells increased cyclin D1 and Cdk-2 expression, phosphorylation of pRB at Ser780 and Ser795, and percentage of cells in S phase. Our data indicate that activated ERK plays an important role in cyclin D1 and Cdk-2 expression and phosphorylation of pRB at Ser780 and Ser795 in liver cancer cells.
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PMID:Extracellular signal-regulated kinase induces cyclin D1 and Cdk-2 expression and phosphorylation of retinoblastoma in hepatocellular carcinoma. 1554 25

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection often leads to liver cancer. NS2 protein is a HCV hydrophobic transmembrane protein that associates with several cellular proteins in mammalian cells. In this report, we investigated the functions of NS2 protein by examining its effects on cell growth and cell cycle progression. Stable NS2-expressing HeLa and Vero cell lines were established by transfection of the cells with pcDNA3.1(-)-NS2 followed by selection of the transfected cells in the presence of G418. We found that the proliferation rates of both NS2-expressing cell lines were inhibited by 40-50% compared with the control cells that were transfected with pcDNA3.1(-) control vector. Cell cycle analysis of these NS2-expressing cell lines shows that the proportion of cells in the S-phase increased significantly compared to that of control cells that do not express NS2 protein, suggesting NS2 protein induces cell cycle arrest in the S-phase. Further studies showed that the induction of cell cycle arrest in the S-phase by NS2 protein is associated with the decrease of cyclin A level. In contrast, the expression of NS2 protein does not affect the levels of cyclin-dependent kinase CDK2, CDK4, cyclin D1, or cyclin E. Our results suggest that HCV NS2 protein inhibits cell growth and induces the cell cycle arrest in the S-phase through down-regulation of cyclin A expression, which may be beneficial to HCV viral replication. Our findings not only provide information in the understanding mechanism of HCV infection, but also provide guidance for the future development of potential therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of the viral infection.
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PMID:HCV NS2 protein inhibits cell proliferation and induces cell cycle arrest in the S-phase in mammalian cells through down-regulation of cyclin A expression. 1679 69

Alpha-lipoic acid (alpha-LA) is an antioxidant used for the treatment of a variety of diseases, including liver cirrhosis, heavy metal poisoining, and diabetic polyneuropathy. In addition to its protective effect against oxidative stress, alpha-LA induces apoptosis in different cancer cells types. However, whether alpha-LA acid induces apoptosis of hepatoma cells is unknown. Herein, we investigated whether alpha-LA induces apoptosis in two different hepatoma cell lines FaO and HepG2. The results showed that alpha-LA inhibits the growth of both cell lines as indicated by the reduction in cell number, the reduced expression of cyclin A and the increased levels of the cyclin/CDKs inhibitors, p27(Kip1) and p21(Cip1). Cell cycle arrest was associated with cell loss, and DNA laddering indicative of apoptosis. Apoptosis was preceded by increased generation of reactive oxygen species, and associated with p53 activation, increased expression of Bax, release of cytochrome c from mitochondria, caspases activation, decreased levels of survivin, induction of pro-apoptotic signaling (i.e JNK) and inhibition of anti-apoptotic signaling (i.e. PKB/Akt) pathways. In conclusion, this study provides evidence that alpha-LA induces apoptosis in hepatoma cells, describes a possible sequence of molecular events underlying its lethal effect, and suggests that it may prove useful in liver cancer therapy.
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PMID:Increased ROS generation and p53 activation in alpha-lipoic acid-induced apoptosis of hepatoma cells. 1713 95

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a potent hepatocyte mitogen but its effect in liver cancer is conflicting. Methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) is an essential enzyme encoded by two genes (MAT1A and MAT2A), while a third gene (MAT2beta) encodes for a subunit that regulates the MAT2A-encoded isoenzyme. MAT1A is silenced while MAT2A and MAT2beta are induced in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The current work examined expression of HGF/c-met in HCC and whether HGF regulates MAT genes and growth in HepG2 cells. We found the mRNA levels of HGF and c-met are markedly increased in HCC. To study the influence of cell density, HepG2 cells were plated under high-density (HD) or low-density (LD) and treated with HGF (10 ng/ml). Cell density had a dramatic effect on MAT1A expression, being nearly undetectable at LD to a ninefold induction under HD. Cell density also determined the effect of HGF. At HD, HGF increased the mRNA levels of p21 and p27, while lowering the levels of MAT genes, cyclin A, and c-met. At LD, HGF increased the mRNA levels of cyclin A, MAT2A, MAT2beta, and c-met. Consistently, HGF inhibits growth under HD but stimulates growth under LD. HGF induced sustained high ERK activation under HD as compared to LD. In summary, HGF induces genes favoring growth and is mitogenic when HepG2 cells are plated under LD; however, the opposite occurs under HD. This involves cell density-dependent differences in HGF-induced ERK activation. This may explain why HGF is mitogenic only when there is loss of cell-cell contact in vivo.
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PMID:Effect of hepatocyte growth factor on methionine adenosyltransferase genes and growth is cell density-dependent in HepG2 cells. 1715 73

The possibility of vitamin K3 (VK3) as an anticancer agent was assessed. VK3 dose-dependently diminished the cell viability (measured as esterase activity) with IC50 of 13.7 microM and Hill coefficient of 3.1 in Hep G2 cells. It also decreased the population of S phase and arrested cell cycle in the G2/M phase in a dose-dependent manner. G2/M arrest was regulated by the increment of cyclin A/cdk1 and cyclin A/cdk2 complex, and contrasting cyclin B/cdk1 complex decrease. Finally, combined application demonstrated that VK3 significantly enhanced the cytotoxicity of etoposide, a G2 phase-dependent anticancer agent, whereas it reduced the cytotoxic activity of irinotecan, a S phase-dependent agent. These findings suggest that VK3 induces G2/M arrest by inhibition of cyclin B/cdk1 complex formation, and is thus useful as an enhancer of G2 phase-dependent drugs in hepatic cancer chemotherapy.
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PMID:An attempt to evaluate the effect of vitamin K3 using as an enhancer of anticancer agents. 1852 67


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