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Query: UMLS:C0596263 (carcinogenesis)
 64,820 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The GTPase activating proteins (GAP) stimulate the intrinsic GTPase activity of ras-p21 thus converting the protein into its inactive form. We have now analyzed carcinogen-induced mouse liver tumors for the possible occurrence of mutational changes in one of the two known GAP genes, namely p120-GAP. RNA from a total of 21 tumors was reverse transcribed by use of GAP-specific primers, amplified by PCR and sequenced. All known functional domains of p120-GAP were included into the analysis. None of the liver tumors analyzed was found to be mutated within these regions of the gene. Moreover, Southern blot analysis of the gene did not reveal any structural changes. However, at five positions we discovered deviations from the published mouse fibroblast sequence, including two mouse strain-specific sequence polymorphisms.
Carcinogenesis 1992 Oct
PMID:Absence of mutations in the functional parts of the p120-GAP gene in carcinogen-induced mouse liver tumors. 142 50

Transgenic animal technology has been useful for the direct demonstration of the tumorigenic potential of oncogenes in vivo. Over the past eight years a wide variety of oncogenes and proto-oncogenes from viral and cellular sources have been inserted into the germline of mice with subsequent development of neoplasia. Many of the published reports describe similarities between morphologic features of the transgenic mice tumors and those occurring naturally in humans. We discuss the morphologic features of selected transgenic models carrying viral genes and review their applicability to investigations directed toward understanding cancer in general and specifically gastric cancer, neurofibromatosis and leukemia. Examples of the impact of nutrition, interaction with growth factors and initiation with chemical carcinogens are presented. In one of the models functional similarities to the mechanism of oncogenesis in human T-cell leukemia virus type-1 (HTLV-1) lymphoma may exist with activation of cytokine production and subsequent autocrine stimulation. The transgenic model of proximal gastric cancer demonstrates features similar to those seen in carcinogen-induced neoplasia. These studies underscore the vast potential of transgenic models for inquiry into the genetic and epigenetic basis of human carcinogenesis. However, many features of transgenic cancer models differ from cancer in humans and the specific criteria for judging the value of transgenic models remain unclarified. For example, although the tumors arising in the HTLV-1 Tax transgenic mice show numerous similarities to human neurofibromatosis including development of lesions of the iris, the similarities do not necessarily extend to the molecular involvement of neurofibromatosis-1 (NF-1), a gene with structural and functional homology to GTPase activating proteins. Transgenic experiments of the future will ask questions beyond whether a particular gene is capable of initiating the neoplastic process. The ability to construct systems in vivo with a defined starting point that facilitate further controlled manipulation of events resulting in cancer provide great opportunities to dissect the various molecular pathways involved in such a process. Therefore, gene knockout experiments and disruption of gene function will further enhance our ability to understand the multi-factorial process of tumor development.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Transgenic models of human cancer. 166 87

The oncogenes are a set of genes that have been implicated as the basis of cancer. They are the activated forms of proto-oncogenes which are part of the genetic complement of all normal cells. Activation can result from mutations in the global sense i.e. point mutations, nucleotide deletions or insertions, and chromosomal translocations. These mutations induce quantitative or qualitative changes in oncogene expression. Several human oncogenes identified in tumors and established cell lines have been cloned and studied in great detail using gene transfer techniques. Evidence has accumulated supporting the view that a single oncogene can be involved at different stages or steps in a multi-stage carcinogenesis process. Moreover, a single properly activated oncogene can trigger the whole process of malignant conversion of a normal cell. Thus both the one gene--one cancer and the multigene--one cancer hypotheses may be correct. The most frequently activated oncogenes in tumors detected by the NIH3T3 assay belong to the ras family. These ras genes code for a membrane bound protein (ras p21) which has a GTPase activity. The ras p21 encoded by the T24 activated form of the Ha-ras1 oncogene has an impaired GTPase activity. In view of the location of ras p21 and its biological effects it is proposed that the action of p21 is regulated by growth factors through their membrane receptors. Transcriptional enhancers are cis-acting positive regulatory DNA elements present in viral and cellular genomes. Their involvement in the development of certain types of cancer has been strongly suggested from studies with viruses and chromosome translocations. The in vitro construction of genetic hybrids linking viral transcriptional enhancers and cloned human oncogenes, and the subsequent transformation of early passage cells has been helpful in delineating stages in the malignant conversion of normal cells and gaining insights into the mechanism of carcinogenesis. Transforming growth factors (TGFs) are low molecular weight proteins that reversibly induce anchorage independent growth of certain cells such as the NRK cells. At least two types of TGFs, alpha and beta have been identified. Introduction and expression of cloned human Ha-ras genes in mammalian cells trigger TGF release into the medium. This can occur both in stable transformants and in cells shortly after transfection. The latter suggests that TGF release by the transfected cell is the direct result of the oncogene action rather than a consequence of a cellular change during the process of transformation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Mechanism of carcinogenesis: the role of oncogenes, transcriptional enhancers and growth factors. 390 95

Harvey (Ha-MSV) and Kirsten (Ki-MSV) murine sarcoma viruses induce tumours in animals and transform various cells in culture because of the expression of the ras oncogene product, p21 (ref. 1). Proto-oncogenes homologous with these genes are highly conserved evolutionarily and activated ras oncogenes have been detected in many human cancers. Whether c-ras oncogenes are directly responsible for human carcinogenesis is uncertain; however, it is clear that p21 mediates virus-induced transformation, although by an unknown mechanism. Epithelial and fibroblast cell lines transformed with Ha-MSV and Ki-MSV express p21 (ref. 8) and exhibit reduced adenylate cyclase activity. Like the guanine nucleotide regulatory proteins, Ns and Ni, which mediate stimulation and inhibition, respectively, of adenylate cyclase, p21 is a membrane-associated GTP binding protein, which exhibits GTPase activity. These similarities suggest that p21 and the adenylate cyclase regulatory proteins are related in cellular function, and that p21 depresses adenylate cyclase by inhibiting the activity of Ns or acting as Ni. We have therefore now examined the structural and functional similarities between p21 and Ns and Ni and find no evidence that p21 regulates adenylate cyclase activity by acting as one of these regulatory proteins.
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PMID:The ras oncogene product p21 is not a regulatory component of adenylate cyclase. 392 44

Biochemical features of spontaneous hepatic tumors in C3H mice were studied histochemically in comparison with those of neoplastic lesions developed in animals fed dietary phenobarbital (PB) continuously or treated with diethylnitrosamine (DEN) during 11 approximately 14 weeks of age. All 42 spontaneous hepatic tumors that developed in control mice by 74 weeks of age were completely negative for gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma-GTPase) activity. Dietary phenobarbital enhanced hepatic tumorigenesis remarkably, and 32 out of 43 tumors found at 70 weeks showed multifocal gamma-GTPase activity. DEN induced gamma-GTPase-positive islands of hepatocytes, but 12 out of 13 tumors larger than 5 mm in diameter that developed by 60 weeks were gamma-GTPase-negative. The phenomenon of induction of gamma-GTPase activity by PB in "spontaneous" hepatic tumors appears to be important both for elucidating the mechanism of promotion by PB and also for analyzing multisteps of carcinogenesis.
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PMID:Induction of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity by dietary phenobarbital in "spontaneous" hepatic tumors of C3H mice. 610 58

The Eker rat hereditary renal carcinoma is an excellent example of a Mendelian dominant predisposition to a specific cancer in an experimental animal. We recently reported that a germline insertion in the rat homologue of the human tuberous sclerosis (TSC2) gene gives rise to the dominantly inherited cancer in the Eker rat model. The function of the TSC2/Tsc2 gene product (called "tuberine" in the human case) is not yet understood, although it contains a short amino acid sequence homologous to the ras family GTPase-activating proteins (GAP3). In the study, we isolated subtracted cDNA clones having increased expression in Eker renal carcinoma cells, using a modified representational difference analysis method to search for additional genes specifically involved in renal carcinogenesis. Here we identified four genes: the third component of the complement (C3) gene, the fos-related antigen I (fra-1) gene, an unknown gene (designated as being expressed in renal carcinoma: erc) and the calpactine I heavy-chain (Annexin II) gene.
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PMID:Renal carcinogenesis in the Eker rat. 755 44

The Eker rat hereditary renal carcinoma is an excellent example of Mendelian dominant predisposition to a specific cancer in an experimental animal. We recently reported that a germline insertion in the rat homologue of the human tuberous sclerosis gene (TSC2) gives rise to dominantly inherited cancer in the Eker rat model, as well as a tumor suppressor nature for the Tsc2 gene function. We also showed a strong conservation between the rat and human gene products. The molecular function of the Tsc2 gene product (called "tuberin" in the human case) is not yet understood, although it contains a short amino acid sequence homologous to ras family GTPase-activating proteins (Rap1GAP). Here, we describe transcriptional activation domains (AD1 and AD2) in the carboxyl terminus of the Tsc2 product (in exons 30 and 32 and exon 41, respectively). The Eker insertional mutation (intron 30) disrupts their transcriptional activity. Whereas a COOH-terminal truncated Tsc2 protein was localized in the nucleus, the full-length protein is found predominantly in the perinuclear region of cytoplasm. The present demonstration of transcriptional activation domains in the Tsc2 gene provides clues for studying its role in renal carcinogenesis.
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PMID:Presence of potent transcriptional activation domains in the predisposing tuberous sclerosis (Tsc2) gene product of the Eker rat model. 856 46

The actin cytoskeleton is involved in numerous cellular functions such as cell motility, mitogenesis, morphology, muscle contraction, cytokinesis, and establishment of cell polarity. The members of the Rho subfamily of small GTP-binding proteins emerge as key regulators of cytokeleton organization. Rho, Rac, and CDC42 are implicated in the regulation of actin microfilament organization of different cell structures, such as stress fibers linked to focal adhesions and membrane ruffles induced by extracellular stimuli. Rho proteins also regulate the activity of several enzymes involved in the formation of phospholipid derivatives, which could mediate their effect on the cytoskeleton. The activity of Rho proteins is regulated by many nucleotide exchange factors and GTPase-activating proteins, some of which are oncogene products, and other disease-associated proteins. The potential role of these small GTP-binding proteins in carcinogenesis is suggested by the actin reorganization seen in transforming cells and by the need for functional Rho proteins in Ras mitogenic activation.
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PMID:Regulation of cytoskeletal functions by Rho small GTP-binding proteins in normal and cancer cells. 894 66

The Rho family belongs to the Ras-related small GTP-binding protein (G protein) superfamily and regulates various cell functions in which the actomyosin system is involved, including cell morphology, membrane ruffling, cell motility, cell aggregation, cytokinesis, smooth muscle contraction, and yeast budding. Three GDP/GTP exchange proteins (GEPs), named Smg GDS, Dbl, and Rho GDI, and two GTPase activating proteins (GAPs), named Rho GAP and p190 associated with Ras GAP, have been identified. The Rho activity is likely to be regulated by protein kinase C which is linked through phospholipase C to the tyrosine kinase-type membrane receptors and the heterotrimeric G protein-linked receptors. It is likely that both Ras and Rho receive signals from the membrane receptors through different pathways and transduce signals to genes and cytoskeleton, respectively. In carcinogenesis, mutational activation of any component in the Ras signaling pathway may cause abnormal cell proliferation, whereas mutational activation of any component in the Rho signaling pathway may cause invasiveness and metastasis of carcinoma cells.
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PMID:Rho small G protein and cytoskeletal control. 898 86

The Ras family of GTPases is a collection of molecular switches that link receptors on the plasma membrane to signaling pathways that regulate cell proliferation and differentiation. The accessory GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) negatively regulate the cell signaling by increasing the slow intrinsic GTP to GDP hydrolysis rate of Ras. Mutants of Ras are found in 25-30% of human tumors. The most dramatic property of these mutants is their insensitivity to the negative regulatory action of GAPs. All known oncogenic mutants of Ras map to a small subset of amino acids. Gln-61 is particularly important because virtually all mutations of this residue eliminate sensitivity to GAPs. Despite its obvious importance for carcinogenesis, the role of Gln-61 in the GAP-stimulated GTPase activity of Ras has remained a mystery. Our molecular dynamics simulations of the p21ras-p120GAP-GTP complex suggest that the local structure around the catalytic region can be different from that revealed by the x-ray crystal structure. We find that the carbonyl oxygen on the backbone of the arginine finger supplied in trans by p120GAP (Arg-789) interacts with a water molecule in the active site that is forming a bridge between the NH(2) group of the Gln-61 and the gamma-phosphate of GTP. Thus, Arg-789 may play a dual role in generating the nucleophile as well as stabilizing the transition state for PO bond cleavage.
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PMID:The arginine finger of RasGAP helps Gln-61 align the nucleophilic water in GAP-stimulated hydrolysis of GTP. 1137 35


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