Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0376358 (prostate cancer)
59,338 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

LNCaP prostate cancer cells are highly resistant to induction of programmed cell death by y-irradiation and somewhat sensitive to the death-inducing effects of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha. Simultaneous exposure of LNCaP cells to TNF-alpha and 8 Gy of irradiation was synergistic and resulted in a 3-fold increase of apoptotic cells within 72 h compared to TNF-alpha alone. It appeared that TNF-alpha sensitized the cells to irradiation because, when cells were irradiated 24 h after exposure to TNF-alpha, increased cell death was observed. In contrast, irradiation delivered 24 h prior to TNF-alpha exposure did not result in more cell death than after TNF-alpha alone. TNF-alpha induced expression of its own mRNA, but TNF-alpha mRNA induction was neither induced nor enhanced by irradiation. Activation of the transcription factor nuclear factor kappaB can be induced by TNF-alpha and has a modulating antiapoptotic effect. But enhancement of TNF-alpha-induced cell death by irradiation did not result from altered activation of nuclear factor kappaB. TNF-alpha treatment of LNCaP cells resulted in partial activation of caspase-8 and -6 but not caspase-3. There was only minimal poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage seen in LNCaP cells after exposure to both TNF-alpha and irradiation at 72 h, a time when 60% of the cells were apoptotic. Experiments with peptide inhibitors of cysteine and serine proteases suggested that caspases were the predominant mediators of apoptosis induced by TNF-alpha alone but that serine proteases contributed significantly to cell death induced by TNF-alpha plus irradiation. TNF-alpha increased production of ceramide in LNCaP cells 48 h after exposure. Although irradiation alone had no effect on ceramide production in LNCaP cells, TNF-alpha plus irradiation induced significantly more ceramide than TNF-alpha alone. Ceramide production did not occur immediately after exposure to TNF-alpha, but rather was delayed such that ceramide levels were increased only 24 h after exposure to apoptotic stimuli. Moreover, non-toxic levels of exogenous C2-ceramide sensitized LNCaP cells to irradiation similarly to TNF-alpha, suggesting that one mechanism by which LNCaP cells were sensitized to irradiation was by increased intracellular ceramide. Hence, ceramide generation is a critical component in radiation-induced apoptosis in human prostate cancer cells. Inhibition of ceramide generation may provide a selective advantage in the development of radioresistance in prostate cancer.
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PMID:Tumor necrosis factor-alpha sensitizes prostate cancer cells to gamma-irradiation-induced apoptosis. 1019 36

The molecular events involved in prostate cancer progression are, at present, poorly understood. Using a differential display technique, we identified a cDNA fragment that is present in greater abundance in stage D prostate tumors compared to stage B tumors. Northern analysis was used to confirm that transcripts for this gene are expressed at higher levels in prostate tumors of later pathological stage and higher Gleason grade compared to tumors of earlier stage and lower grade. These transcripts were also expressed at high levels in all four human prostate cancer cell lines, the neonatal prostate cell line FNC 267beta1, and in a variety of other normal human adult and fetal tissues. The cDNA fragment obtained by differential display was used as a probe to clone the full-length cDNA for this gene from a human heart cDNA library. DNA sequence analysis confirmed that the cDNA was novel, and we have named this gene CLAR1. The gene displays two transcripts of 2.6 and 2.0 kb in all tissues examined. CLAR1 maps to chromosome 19q13.3 and appears highly conserved among mammals. The deduced amino acid sequence of CLAR1 encodes a proline-rich protein that contains several SH3-binding domains and a serine phosphorylation site. The presence of these motifs suggests a possible role for CLAR1 in one or more signal transduction pathways. The enhanced expression of this novel gene in more advanced forms of prostate cancer and its potential role in signal transduction both argue that this gene should be further investigated.
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PMID:CLAR1, a novel gene that exhibits enhanced expression in advanced human prostate cancer. 1038 49

Okadaic acid (OA), a toxin from the black sponge Halicondria okadai, is a specific inhibitor of serine/threonine protein phosphatases 1 (PP1) and 2A (PP2A). OA is a tumor promoter but also induces apoptosis in some tumor cell lines. In this study, we determined whether ras mutation and/or p53 status are characteristics associated with the cell's sensitivity to the induction of apoptosis by OA. Several cell lines that differed in ras and p53 mutations were treated with OA (10-100 nM). At 24 to 48 h after treatment, the percentage of cells undergoing apoptosis was quantitated. The cell lines with mutations in either H-ras (human bladder carcinoma cell line T24 and mouse keratinocyte cell line 308), or K-ras (human colon carcinoma cell lines DLD-1 and HCT116; human prostate cancer cell lines LNCaP and PC-3; human lung cancer cell lines Calu-6 and SKLU-1; and human pancreatic cancer cell line MIAPaCa2) were more sensitive to OA-induced apoptosis (3- to 10-fold) than the cell lines that lacked the ras mutation (mouse epidermal cell lines C50 and JB6; murine fibroblast cell line NIH3T3; human colon cancer cell line HT29; human kidney epithelial cell line Hs715.K; and human pancreatic cancer cell line Bx-PC3). Similarly, using isogenic cell lines we found that overexpression of mutated H-ras in NIH3T3 and in SV40 immortalized human uroepithelial cells (SVHUC) enhanced their sensitivity to undergo apoptosis in response to OA treatment. The T24, DLD-1, SKLU-1, Calu-6, and MIAPaCa2 cell lines express mutated p53. The SVHUC as well as their ras-transfected counterparts have inactive p53 due to complex formation between large "T" antigen and p53. Taken together, these results imply that OA-induced apoptosis may involve a p53-independent pathway. The transfectants (NIH3T3-ras and SVHUC-ras), which express mutated H-ras, have up-regulated PP2A activity. OA treatment inhibited in vivo the levels of PP1 and PP2A activity, and induced apoptosis in SVHUC-ras and other cell lines. We conclude that OA-induced cell death pathway in ras-activated cell lines may involve a cross talk between PP1 and PP2A and ras signaling pathways. In light of the present results, the current theory that OA promotes mouse skin tumor formation by selective expansion of initiated cells that harbor ras mutations needs reevaluation.
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PMID:Ras mutation, irrespective of cell type and p53 status, determines a cell's destiny to undergo apoptosis by okadaic acid, an inhibitor of protein phosphatase 1 and 2A. 1046 39

Serine proteases of the chymotrypsin fold are of great interest because they provide detailed understanding of their enzymatic properties and their proposed role in a number of physiological and pathological processes. We have been developing the macromolecular inhibitor ecotin to be a "fold-specific" inhibitor that is selective for members of the chymotrypsin-fold class of proteases. Inhibition of protease activity through the use of wild-type and engineered ecotins results in inhibition of rat prostate differentiation and retardation of the growth of human PC-3 prostatic cancer tumors. In an effort to identify the proteases that may be involved in these processes, reverse transcription-PCR with PC-3 poly(A)+ mRNA was performed by using degenerate oligonucleotide primers. These primers were designed by using conserved protein sequences unique to chymotrypsin-fold serine proteases. Five proteases were identified: urokinase-type plasminogen activator, factor XII, protein C, trypsinogen IV, and a protease that we refer to as membrane-type serine protease 1 (MT-SP1). The cloning and characterization of the MT-SP1 cDNA shows that it encodes a mosaic protein that contains a transmembrane signal anchor, two CUB domains, four LDLR repeats, and a serine protease domain. Northern blotting shows broad expression of MT-SP1 in a variety of epithelial tissues with high levels of expression in the human gastrointestinal tract and the prostate. A His-tagged fusion of the MT-SP1 protease domain was expressed in Escherichia coli, purified, and autoactivated. Ecotin and variant ecotins are subnanomolar inhibitors of the MT-SP1 activated protease domain, suggesting a possible role for MT-SP1 in prostate differentiation and the growth of prostatic carcinomas.
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PMID:Reverse biochemistry: use of macromolecular protease inhibitors to dissect complex biological processes and identify a membrane-type serine protease in epithelial cancer and normal tissue. 1050 Jan 22

DOC-2/DAB2, a novel phosphoprotein with signal-transducing capability, inhibits human prostatic cancer cells (Tseng, C.-P., Ely, B. D., Li, Y., Pong, R.-C., and Hsieh, J.-T. (1998) Endocrinology 139, 3542-3553). However, its mechanism of action is not understood completely. This study delineates the functional significance of DOC-2/DAB2 protein phosphorylation and demonstrates that in vivo activation of protein kinase C (PKC) by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) induces DOC-2/DAB2 phosphorylation, including a serine residue at position 24. Mutation of Ser(24) to Ala reduced DOC-2/DAB2 phosphorylation by PKC. Using a synthetic Ser(24) peptide (APS(24)KKEKKKGSEKTD) or recombinant DOC-2/DAB2 as substrates, PKCbetaII, PKCgamma, and PKCdelta (but not casein kinase II) directly phosphorylated Ser(24) in vitro. This indicates that DOC-2/DAB2 is a PKC-specific substrate. Since expression of wild-type DOC-2/DAB2, but not the S24A mutant, inhibited TPA-induced AP-1 activity in prostatic epithelial cells, phosphorylation of Ser(24) appears to play a critical role in modulating TPA-induced AP-1 activity. Taken together, these data suggest that PKC-regulated phosphorylation of DOC-2/DAB2 protein may help its growth inhibitory function.
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PMID:The role of DOC-2/DAB2 protein phosphorylation in the inhibition of AP-1 activity. An underlying mechanism of its tumor-suppressive function in prostate cancer. 1054 28

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a serine endoprotease with chymotrypsin-like substrate specificity, is a marker used widely for detection of prostate cancer and other prostate diseases, catalyzing hydrolysis of the gel-forming proteins semenogelins I and II, which are synthesized and secreted by the seminal vesicle. In this study we report the use of two single-position minilibraries and RP-HPLC selection to optimize a hexapeptide substrate for PSA, spanning substrate positions P3 to P3'. PSA has been shown previously to prefer tyrosine in position P1 [Denmeade et al. (1997) Cancer Research, 57, 4924-4930]. Here we demonstrate preference for serine in position P1' and strong preference for phenylalanine in position P2. Based on these results we have designed and demonstrated the utility of the optimized fluorogenic PSA substrate 7-methoxy-coumarin-4-acetylGlnPheTyrSerSerAsnLys(epsilon-2,4-dinit rophenyl)amide, 1, which permits continuous monitoring of PSA endopeptidase activity at high sensitivity.
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PMID:Design of synthetic hexapeptide substrates for prostate-specific antigen using single-position minilibraries. 1056 10

Angiostatin, a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis, tumour growth and metastasis, is a biologically active fragment of plasminogen, containing the kringle domains 1-4. It is generated from plasminogen by limited proteolysis. We show that prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a serine proteinase secreted by human prostate and human prostate cancer cells, is able to convert Lys-plasminogen to biologically active angiostatin-like fragments, containing kringles 1-4, by limited proteolysis of peptide bond Glu439-Ala440 in vitro. In an in vitro morphogenesis assay, the purified angiostatin-like fragments inhibited proliferation and tubular formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells with the same efficacy as angiostatin. This finding might help to understand growth characteristics of prostate cancer, which usually has low microvessel density and slow proliferation.
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PMID:Generation of angiostatin-like fragments from plasminogen by prostate-specific antigen. 1060 21

Degenerate polymerase chain reaction against conserved kinase catalytic subdomains identified 15 tyrosine and serine-threonine kinases expressed in surgically removed prostatic carcinoma tissues, including six receptor kinases (PDGFBR, IGF1-R, VEGFR2, MET, RYK, and EPH-A1), six non-receptor kinases (ABL, JAK1, JAK2, TYK2, PLK-1, and EMK), and three novel kinases. Several of these kinases are oncogenic, and may function in the development of prostate cancer. One of the novel kinases is a new member of the sterile 20 (STE20) family of serine-threonine kinases which we have called prostate-derived STE20-like kinase (PSK) and characterized functionally. PSK encodes an open reading frame of 3705 nucleotides and contains an N-terminal kinase domain. Immunoprecipitated PSK phosphorylates myelin basic protein and transfected PSK stimulates MKK4 and MKK7 and activates the c-Jun N-terminal kinase mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. Microinjection of PSK into cells results in localization of PSK to a vesicular compartment and causes a marked reduction in actin stress fibers. In contrast, C-terminally truncated PSK (1-349) did not localize to this compartment or induce a decrease in stress fibers demonstrating a requirement for the C terminus. Kinase-defective PSK (K57A) was unable to reduce stress fibers. PSK is the first member of the STE20 family lacking a Cdc42/Rac binding domain that has been shown to regulate both the c-Jun N-terminal kinase mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway and the actin cytoskeleton.
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PMID:PSK, a novel STE20-like kinase derived from prostatic carcinoma that activates the c-Jun N-terminal kinase mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway and regulates actin cytoskeletal organization. 1066 Jun

Dipeptidylpeptidase IV (DPP IV) is a serine exopeptidase that has been implicated in cell-extracellular matrix interactions and bioactive peptide/cytokine/growth factor metabolism. The objective of this study was to determine if DPP IV activities were changed with development of cancer in the prostate. DPP IV activity was measured in human prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) tissues by biochemical assays with glycylprolyl-p-nitroanalide as substrate in tissue extracts (BPH, n = 8: cancer, n = 7; 2 with Gleason score 5 and 5 with Gleason score 7) and quantitative morphometry of histochemical activities with glycylproline-4-methoxy-beta-naphthylamide as substrate (BPH, n = 9: cancer, n = 13, 1 with Gleason score 4, 10 with Gleason score 6, 2 with Gleason score 8) in frozen-tissue sections. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance. The peptidase activity was detected in epithelial but not stromal cells of BPH and cancer tissues, and it was present as a single band of activity of approximately 160 kDa in electrophoretically separated activity blots of the extracts. DPP IV activity was increased approximately twofold in cancer versus BPH tissues as determined by biochemical and quantitative histochemical methods. In addition, DPP IV activity was increased to a similar extent in BPH glands associated with the cancers. These data indicate that DPP IV activity is increased not only in primary prostatic cancers but also in associated BPH glands, suggesting that there may be some local factors produced by cancer cells that influence adjacent BPH epithelial cells to positively affect the immediate growth environment of the cancer.
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PMID:Dipeptidylpeptidase IV activities are elevated in prostate cancers and adjacent benign hyperplastic glands. 1071 16

Activation of either tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 or Fas induces a low level of programmed cell death in LNCaP human prostate cancer cells. We have shown that LNCaP cells are entirely resistant to gamma-radiation-induced apoptosis, but can be sensitized to irradiation by TNF-alpha. Fas activation also sensitized LNCaP cells to irradiation, causing nearly 40% cell death 72 h after irradiation. Caspase-8 was cleaved and activated after exposure to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha. However, after exposure to anti-Fas antibody caspase-8 cleavage occurred only between the 26-kDa N-terminal prodomain and the 28-kDa C-terminal region that contains the protease components. Although anti-Fas antibody plus irradiation induced apoptosis that could be blocked by the pancaspase inhibitor zVAD, there was no measurable caspase-8 activity after exposure to anti-Fas antibody. The effector caspases-6 and -7, and to a lesser extent caspase-3, were activated by TNF-alpha, but not by anti-Fas antibody. Anti-Fas antibody, like TNF-alpha also activated serine proteases that contributed to cell death. Exposure of LNCaP cells simultaneously to TNF-alpha and anti-Fas antibody CH-11 resulted in marked enhancement of apoptosis that occurred very rapidly and was still further augmented by irradiation. Rapid apoptosis that ensued from combined treatment with TNF-alpha, anti-Fas antibody, and irradiation was completely blocked either by zVAD or expression of dominant negative Fas-associated death domain. Our data shows that there are qualitative differences in caspase activation resulting from either TNF receptor 1 or Fas. Simultaneous activation of these receptors was synergistic and caused rapid epithelial cell apoptosis mediated by the caspase cascade.
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PMID:Tumor necrosis factor-alpha and Fas activate complementary Fas-associated death domain-dependent pathways that enhance apoptosis induced by gamma-irradiation. 1072


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