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)

The incidence and phenotype of preneoplastic and neoplastic liver lesions appearing in LEC rats after recovery from severe hereditary hepatitis were studied in comparison with the liver lesions appearing in chemical liver carcinogenesis. The livers of 168 rats (90 male, 78 female) were stained for seven histochemical markers at different time periods from the 20th week to the 122nd week of life. Glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) and non-specific esterase (ES) were used as negative markers. Gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), glutathione S-transferase placental form (GSTP), esterase isozyme L-1 (L1) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) were used as positive markers. The study on the incidence of liver lesions in the LEC rats revealed sequential development of liver foci, nodules and hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) similar to those seen in chemically induced liver carcinogenesis. These lesions appeared earlier and more frequently in male LEC rats than in female ones, suggesting the importance of hormonal environment in spontaneous HCC development. The histochemical analysis of spontaneous liver lesions in LEC rats showed that GSTP was the most reliable positive marker as previously reported in chemical liver carcinogenesis. There was no essential difference in the expression of the markers in spontaneous and chemically induced liver lesions except for L1, which is considered to be related to xenobiotic metabolism. The results of this study suggest that both spontaneous and chemically induced liver cancer may develop by passing through phenotypically similar preneoplastic processes. In addition, the LEC rat uniquely showed chronic liver damage (hepatocyte death and regeneration) at the promotion stage of carcinogenesis. Such a natural history of HCC development in LEC rats is similar to that of human HCC which is frequently associated with chronic liver damage. Thus, the LEC rat provides a useful model for studying the process and underlying mechanisms of human liver cancer development.
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PMID:Phenotype of preneoplastic and neoplastic liver lesions during spontaneous liver carcinogenesis of LEC rats. 169 69

LEC strain rats predisposed to hereditary hepatitis and liver cancer were examined for hepatic drug-metabolizing ability and the inducibility of chromosome damage by cyclophosphamide (CP) in somatic cells. Whereas the hepatic cytochrome P-450 contents and the activities of cytochrome P-450-catalyzed monooxygenases were lower in females than in males of both LEC and control LEA strains, male LEC rats exhibited significantly reduced cytochrome P-450 contents and monooxygenase activities compared with male LEA rats. When exposed to CP, a promutagen/procarcinogen requiring P-450-dependent metabolic activation, the frequencies of chromosome aberrations and sister-chromatid exchanges (SCEs) in bone marrow cells tended to be lower in females than in males of each strain and lower in LEC than in LEA rats of the same sex. In particular, the CP-induced SCEs were substantially lower in LEC rats. However, no such sex and strain differences were found in the SCE frequencies in regenerating hepatocytes of partially hepatectomized rats exposed to CP.
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PMID:Cytochrome P-450 and chromosome damage by cyclophosphamide in LEC strain rats predisposed to hereditary hepatitis and liver cancer. 238 46

Previously we established that 'LEC rats' have displayed spontaneous fulminant hepatitis with severe jaundice, which progressed to liver cancer, and a single autosomal recessive gene is responsible for the cause of the diseases. The activities of drug metabolizing enzymes were assayed in livers from LEC and control (LEA) rats at 4 weeks and 3 months before the onset of liver cancer. At 4 weeks the cytochrome P-450 content of the LEC rat livers was 43% of the control (LEA) value. At 3 months the level was 65% of the control. Epoxide hydrolase, gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase and UDP-glucuronyltransferase activities were 2.6-, 6.9- and 2.4-times higher than those in the LEA rats at 4 weeks, respectively, while glutathione S-transferase activity was not significantly different between the two strains. The enzyme changes in the LEC rats are quite similar to those observed in hyperplastic foci and nodules in chemical carcinogenesis of hepatocytes.
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PMID:Metabolic predisposition of a novel mutant (LEC rats) to hereditary hepatitis and hepatoma: alterations of the drug metabolizing enzymes. 290 Jul 2

A new mutant causing hereditary hepatitis associated with severe jaundice has been discovered in the LEC strain of rats. Hepatitis appears suddenly in adult rats three to four months after birth. The clinical signs of hepatitis are characterized by severe jaundice, subcutaneous bleeding, oliguria, and loss of body weight. The affected rats showed a high lethality and histological changes of the liver with focal necrosis of enlarged hepatocytes without inflammatory cell response. Genetic tests indicate that at least a single autosomal recessive gene is responsible for the major cause of hepatitis. Furthermore, liver cancer appears in long survived rats after recovery from jaundice as well as a few asymptomatic rats without jaundice. The LEC rats thus provide an animal model useful for the basic and clinical studies of hepatitis and liver cancer, including their pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment.
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PMID:New mutation causing hereditary hepatitis in the laboratory rat. 342 43

The LEC rat spontaneously develops liver cancer after suffering chronic liver injury caused by abnormal copper accumulation in the liver, but the role of copper accumulation in the induction of liver cancer remains obscure. We histochemically and biochemically examined the content of copper and metallothionein (MT), a cytoplasmic copper binding protein, in spontaneously developed preneoplastic and neoplastic liver lesions and compared them with those in the surrounding liver tissues. Histochemically, the majority of the preneoplastic liver lesions (68%) and liver cancers (59%) showed lower copper contents than the surrounding liver tissues and no lesions were shown to accumulate more copper than the surrounding tissues. A marked heterogeneity in copper staining was observed in cancer tissues. In contrast, these lesions showed an equal to higher MT content than their surroundings. Biochemical measurements of copper and MT in cancer tissues supported the histochemical findings. The bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling index was high in all cancer tissues and some of the preneoplastic liver lesions. Parts of the cancer tissues with negative or weak staining for copper were highly labeled with BrdU. Taking these results together, copper accumulation may exert a growth inhibitory effect on surrounding hepatocytes, whereas the hepatocytes in the liver lesions could proliferate, escaping from the effect of copper toxicity by increasing their MT induction and lowering copper accumulation. Thus, accumulation of copper may act as a promoting factor for the development of liver cancer in LEC rats by creating a selective growth environment.
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PMID:Role of copper accumulation and metallothionein induction in spontaneous liver cancer development in LEC rats. 752 80

LEC rats develop an autosomal recessive hepatitis and subsequently liver cancer associated with copper accumulation in the liver similar to that of Wilson's disease. Using 71 backcross [(WKAH x LEC) x LEC] rats, linkage analysis of the hepatitis with the WD gene for Wilson's disease revealed identical segregation and no recombination event between these two genes. This result indicates that the WD gene is a prime candidate for the hts gene responsible for the hepatitis of LEC rats, and suggests that the hepatitis of LEC rats may be caused by a defect in a copper-transporting ATPase expressed in the liver.
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PMID:The WD gene for Wilson's disease links to the hepatitis of LEC rats. 792 21

The LEC rat is an inbred mutant strain with spontaneous hepatitis isolated from Long-Evans rats. Since approximately 40% of LEC rats die of fulminant hepatitis, the rat serves an animal model for studying the pathogenesis and treatment of human fulminant hepatitis. The remaining 60% of LEC rats survive and develop chronic (prolonged) hepatitis and subsequently develop liver cancer. Therefore, the LEC rat serves an important animal model for studying the significance of chronic hepatitis in the development of human liver cancer, which often develops in association with chronic hepatitis. The LEC rat can also be used as an animal model of Wilson's disease, since recent studies have disclosed high copper accumulation in the liver and low ceruloplasmin concentration in the serum of this mutant rat.
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PMID:The LEC rat: a model for human hepatitis, liver cancer, and much more. 829 9

The LEC rat is an inbred mutant strain which spontaneously develops liver injury and subsequent liver cancer. Liver injury in LEC rats has recently been shown to be closely related to abnormal copper accumulation in the liver. Previously, we reported that LEC rat hepatocytes lose their growth potential, probably allowing selective growth of preneoplastic cells. In this study, to elucidate the effects of copper accumulation on the growth activity of LEC rat hepatocytes, we examined the growth activity and the expression of p53 and p21(waf 1/cip 1) in the livers of LEC rats fed on either a control or a low-copper diet. Potential for cell proliferation of hepatocytes obtained from normal diet fed LEC rats was almost comparable to that of the cells from age-matched Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Northern blot analysis showed that the expression of p53 and p21(waf 1/cip 1) was significantly high in the livers of LEC rats fed a control diet, while the expression of p53 and p21(waf 1/cip 1) in the LEC rats fed a low-copper diet was as low as that of SD rat livers. Western blot analysis consistently showed that the amount of p21(waf 1/cip 1) bound to the nuclear matrix scaffold of the LEC rat liver was reduced by feeding a low-copper diet. These findings suggest that abnormal accumulation of copper induced the expression of p53 and p21(waf 1/cip 1), resulting in the inhibition of cell proliferation of LEC rat hepatocytes.
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PMID:Abnormal accumulation of copper in LEC rat liver induces expression of p53 and nuclear matrix-bound p21(waf 1/cip 1). 889 83

Most of copper present in rat plasma and liver binds to caeruloplasmin and metallothionein, respectively, and is not redox active. However, free forms of copper including loosely bound forms to other molecules are redox active. We assessed the free copper in Long-Evans rats with a cinnamon-like coat color (LEC rats), an animal model of Wilson disease and liver cancer. Compared to those of control rats, the liver and plasma of LEC rats showed a marked elevation of free copper, especially at the stage of acute hepatitis, in parallel with an increase of total copper levels in the livers and a decrease of plasma caeruloplasmin (ferroxidase I) activity. At the onset of jaundice, the total copper levels, however, decreased in liver, but increased in plasma, while free copper levels in both liver and plasma remained higher. Free iron levels in both liver and plasma were also determined and did not change significantly, except for the case of plasma in jaundiced rats. The data are consistent with a proposal in which increased levels of redox active free copper in the liver of LEC rats catalyze Fenton-type reactions, producing a large flux of hydroxyl radicals that would play an important role in the observed liver dysfunction, leading to acute hepatitis, and finally, hepatocarcinoma. This is the first demonstration that the free copper may participate in the pathophysiology of the LEC rats and Wilson disease.
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PMID:A marked increase in free copper levels in the plasma and liver of LEC rats: an animal model for Wilson disease and liver cancer. 970 24

Mammalian cell cycle progression is regulated by the combined action of cyclins/cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) and CDK inhibitors. Abnormal expression as well as interaction of these proteins may result in malignant transformation of cells. To further address the role of these cell cycle proteins in hepatocellular carcinomas, we analyzed the expression of cyclin E and CDK2. A panel of livers with human hepatocellular carcinoma, liver cirrhosis, and chronic hepatitis were used as a human experimental system. The inbred LEC (Long-Evans with a cinnamon-like coat color) rats were used as an animal experimental HCC model. Immunohistochemical staining of serial paraffin sections was performed using antibodies to cyclin E and CDK2. The results showed that cyclin E and CDK2 were concurrently overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinomas both in human and rat livers. Western blot analysis and CDK2 kinase assay demonstrated expression levels of cyclin E and CDK2 and CDK2 kinase activity, respectively, and both were shown to increase along with the development of hepatocellular carcinomas. Analysis of the correlation between expression of cyclin E and CDK2 and clinicopathological parameters revealed a significant correlation between expression of cyclin E and tumor grade (P=0.013), and PCNA index (P=0.006) as well as CDK2 expression (P=0.015). Overexpression of CDK2 tended to be associated with poorly differentiated HCCs. The results suggest that overexpression of cyclin E and CDK2 plays an important role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.
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PMID:Overexpression of cyclin E and cyclin-dependent kinase 2 is correlated with development of hepatocellular carcinomas. 1147 Jun 26


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