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

Telomerase expression is the hallmark of tumor cells in which this ribonucleoprotein complex preserves chromosome integrity by maintaining telomere length and thereby prevents cell death. However, recent data support a role of the combination of p53 and telomerase inactivation in initiating genetic instability that promotes malignant transformation. Through its pleiotropic effects on infected T-cell metabolism, the human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) oncoprotein Tax plays a central role in leukemogenesis. Here, we show that Tax inhibits human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) transcription, which is the rate-limiting factor of telomerase activity. This inhibitory effect, that occurs in competition with c-Myc through a canonical c-Myc binding site within the hTERT promoter, results in a decreased telomerase activity of Tax-expressing cells. This is the first demonstration of hTERT inhibition by an oncogene. Tax, which is only expressed in preleukemic cells, triggers infected T-cell cycle and keeps these cells cycling while inactivating p53. We propose that, in combination with these effects, hTERT repression by Tax at an early phase of carcinogenesis might contribute to the massive ploidy changes associated with the development of HTLV-1-associated malignancies.
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PMID:Inactivation of hTERT transcription by Tax. 1280 80

Malignant transformation from mortal, normal cells to immortal, cancer cells is generally associated with activation of telomerase and subsequent telomere maintenance. A major mechanism to regulate telomerase activity in human cells is transcriptional control of the telomerase catalytic subunit gene, human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT). Several transcription factors, including oncogene products (e.g. c-Myc) and tumor suppressor gene products (e.g. WT1 and p53), are able to control hTERT transcription when over-expressed, although it remains to be determined whether a cancer-associated alteration of these factors is primarily responsible for the hTERT activation during carcinogenic processes. Microcell-mediated chromosome transfer experiments have provided evidence for endogenous factors that function to repress the telomerase activity in normal cells and are inactivated in cancer cells. At least one of those endogenous telomerase repressors, which is encoded by a putative tumor suppressor gene on chromosome 3p, acts through transcriptional repression of the hTERT gene. The hTERT gene is also a target site for viruses frequently associated with human cancers, such as human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV). HPV E6 protein contributes to keratinocyte immortalization and carcinogenesis through trans-activation of the hTERT gene transcription. In at least some hepatocellular carcinomas, the hTERT gene is a non-random integration site of HBV genome, which activates in cis the hTERT transcription. Thus, a variety of cellular and viral oncogenic mechanisms converge on transcriptional control of the hTERT gene. Regulation of chromatin structure through the modification of nucleosomal histones may mediate the action of these cellular and viral mechanisms. Further elucidation of the hTERT transcriptional regulation, including identification and characterization of the endogenous repressor proteins, should lead to better understanding of the complex regulation of human telomerase in normal and cancer cells and may open up new strategies for anticancer therapy.
Carcinogenesis 2003 Jul
PMID:Transcriptional regulation of the telomerase hTERT gene as a target for cellular and viral oncogenic mechanisms. 1280 29

Advanced stages of both cancer and atherosclerosis are characterized by a local increase in tissue mass that may be hard to control. This increase in tissue mass can be attributed to oxidation-sensitive modification of cell cycle-related events, including cellular proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis, which could be secondary to alteration in the activity of tumor suppressor gene and oncogene products. The oncogene c-Myc has classically been considered to be involved in carcinogenesis and has more recently been implicated in both endothelial dysfunction and atherogenesis as well. Consequently, inhibition of c-Myc-dependent signaling has become a novel therapeutic opportunity and challenge in atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases. Antioxidant strategies, RNA synthesis inhibitors such as mithramycin, and gene therapeutic approaches with antisense oligonucleotides against c-Myc are some of the promising strategies. In general, the increased biologic understanding of the participation of cell cycle events and targeting these events may enable to attenuate or prevent some of the complications of vascular and neoplastic diseases.
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PMID:c-Myc oncoprotein: cell cycle-related events and new therapeutic challenges in cancer and cardiovascular diseases. 1285 83

To investigate the relationship among 8-OH-dG and the development of human lung cancer and cancer related genes, an 8-OH-dG-specific monoclonal antibody and biotin-streptavidin immuno-staining were used to detect the 8-OH-dG in 150 cases of human lung cancer tissues, 120 adjacent lung tissues without cancer cells, 40 benign lung lesions and 40 normal lung tissues. The expressions of P53, C-MYC, K-RAS, BCL-2 and hTERT(human telomerase reverse transcriptase) were determined by immunohistochemistry and the relationship among the 8-OH-dG and these genes was analyzed. The 8-OH-dG were positive in 139 of 150 (92.7%) lung cancer specimens, and the percentage of adduct labeling cell in lung cancer specimens was (24.00 +/- 25.11)% (mean +/- SE). 21 of 120 (17.5%) adjacent lung tissues were adduct positive, and the percentage of adduct labeling cell was 2.42 +/- 5.98%. 4 of 40 (10.0%) benign lung lesions were adduct positive, and the percentage of adduct labeling cell was 0.80 +/- 1.30%, whereas 2 of 40 (5.0%) normal lung tissues were weak positive with 8-oh-dG, and the percentage of adduct labeling cell in this group was (0.34 +/- 1.01)%. The level of 8-OH-dG in lung cancer tissues was significantly higher than that of adjacent lung tissues, benign lung lesions and normal lungs (P < 0.01). The lung cancer patients were stratified by sex, age, cell types and smoking history, but these characteristics were not correlated with the level of 8-OH-dG. In the investigation of the relationship between the 8-OH-dG and five cancer related genes, higher 8-OH-dG levels were observed in lung cancer patients with over-expression of K-RAS and BCL-2 than those of negative expressed patients (P-value were 0.035 and 0.034 respectively), whereas the expression of P53, C-MYC and hTERT were not correlated with level of 8-OH-dG. 8-OH-dG was an important biomarker that may reflect the oxidative DNA damages of cells, and 8-OH-dG may affect K-RAS and BCL-2 genes in the carcinogenesis of lung cancer.
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PMID:[Study of 8-OH-dG and its correlation with several cancer related gene in lung cancer tissues]. 1453 88

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is expressed early in colon carcinogenesis and is known to play a crucial role in the progress of the disease. Here we show that the regulation of the expression of this enzyme in a colon cancer cell line, and in patients, is associated with overexpression of the Wnt pathway-associated proteins, Pontin52/TIP49a and LEF-1. Recently shown to be essential for transformation via the c-Myc pathway, Pontin52/TIP49a promotes COX-2 expression in tissue culture and is overexpressed in colon cancer tissue, co-localizing with COX-2 expression in transformed tissue, relative to paired normal tissue.
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PMID:Regulation of COX-2 transcription in a colon cancer cell line by Pontin52/TIP49a. 1467 89

Gamma-radiation-induced thymic lymphomas constitute a heterogeneous group of T-cell lymphomas. Some tumour suppressor genes and oncogenes have been shown to be defective in a fraction of such lymphomas, yet a considerable number of these remain elusive in terms of gene alterations. In the present work we present evidence that gamma-radiation-induced thymic lymphomas in (C57BL/6 J x BALB/c) F1 hybrid mice often exhibit increased levels of Notch1 expression, but, contrary to what was expected, they also exhibit a clearly reduced Notch2 mRNA expression, suggesting a cooperative antagonism of these genes. These results represent the first reported instance for the involvement of Notch2 inactivation in the development of thymic primary tumours while confirming the role of Notch1 as an activated oncogene. Additional analyses revealed that c-Myc over-expression and partial inactivation of Znfn1a1/Ikaros appear to be relevant events some how coupled to alterations in Notch genes inducing these kinds of tumours.
Carcinogenesis 2004 Jul
PMID:Defective expression of Notch1 and Notch2 in connection to alterations of c-Myc and Ikaros in gamma-radiation-induced mouse thymic lymphomas. 1497 35

Effective treatment of malignant carcinomas requires identification of proteins regulating epithelial cell proliferation. To this end, we compared gene expression profiles in murine colonocytes and their c-Myc-transformed counterparts, which possess enhanced proliferative potential. A surprisingly short list of deregulated genes included the cDNA for clusterin, an extracellular glycoprotein without a firmly established function. We had previously demonstrated that in organs such as skin, clusterin expression is restricted to differentiating but not proliferating cell layers, suggesting a possible negative role in cell division. Indeed, its transient overexpression in Myc-transduced colonocytes decreased cell accumulation. Furthermore, clusterin was down-regulated in rapidly dividing human keratinocytes infected with a Myc-encoding adenovirus. Its knockdown via antisense RNA in neoplastic epidermoid cells enhanced proliferation. Finally, recombinant human clusterin suppressed, in a dose-dependent manner, DNA replication in keratinocytes and other cells of epithelial origin. Thus, clusterin appears to be an inhibitor of epithelial cell proliferation in vitro. To determine whether it also affects neoplastic growth in vivo, we compared wild-type and clusterin-null mice with respect to their sensitivity to 7, 12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene /12-Otetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (DMBA/TPA)-induced skin carcinogenesis. We observed that the mean number of papillomas/mouse was higher in clusterin-null animals. Moreover, these papillomas did not regress as readily as in wild-type mice and persisted beyond week 35. The rate of progression toward squamous cell carcinoma was not altered, although those developing in clusterin-null mice were on average better differentiated. These data suggest that clusterin not only suppresses epithelial cell proliferation in vitro but also interferes with the promotion stage of skin carcinogenesis.
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PMID:Myc-transformed epithelial cells down-regulate clusterin, which inhibits their growth in vitro and carcinogenesis in vivo. 1512 50

USF and c-Myc are basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors with similar DNA-binding specificities, but antagonistic effects on cellular transformation. In order to determine how these opposite functions correlate with the transcriptional activities of the two factors on particular downstream targets, we investigated the roles of USF and c-Myc in expression of CDK4, a known direct target of c-Myc. Overexpression of either c-Myc or USF2, but not USF1, stimulated the expression of CDK4 promoter-driven reporter genes in the non-tumorigenic mammary epithelial MCF-10A cells. Dominant-negative mutants specific to either Myc or USF family proteins inhibited reporter gene activity as well as endogenous CDK4 expression, demonstrating involvement of both USF and Myc in CDK4 transcriptional control. In contrast, in two different breast cancer cell lines where USF is transcriptionally inactive and c-Myc is overexpressed, CDK4 promoter activity was no longer responsive to either transcription factor. Accordingly, chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed significantly lower levels of both USF and c-Myc bound to the endogenous CDK4 promoter in breast cancer cells than in MCF-10A cells, with a concomitant decrease in associated histone H3 acetylation. These results suggest that a major switch in the transcriptional control of CDK4 occurs during breast carcinogenesis, with likely alteration of cell cycle regulation.
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PMID:Evidence for a cancer-specific switch at the CDK4 promoter with loss of control by both USF and c-Myc. 1520 53

The routine multidisciplinary management of colon cancer is based mainly on tumor staging, histology, grading and vascular invasion. In this approach, important individual information derived from molecular characteristics of the tumor may be missed, especially since significant heterogeneity of molecular aberrations in cancer cells has been observed, and recognition of every of relationships between them may be of value. K-RAS, C-MYC and C-ERBB2 are protooncogenes taking part in carcinogenesis and tumor progression in the colon. They influence cell proliferation, differentiation and survival. K-RAS point mutation, as well as amplification of C-MYC and C-ERBB2 were searched in 84 primary colon adenocarcinomas resected with curative intent. Multiplex polymerase-chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism were performed to assess codon 12 K-RAS point mutation. Amplification of C-MYC and C-ERBB2 genes was evaluated by densitometry after agarose gel separation of the respective multiplex PCR products. No relation was found among mutated and/or amplified genes, and between searched molecular aberrations and pathoclinical features. In multivariate analysis, nodal status appeared to be the only independent prognostic indicator. In colon adenocarcinoma, codon 12 K-RAS point mutation and amplification of C-MYC and C-ERBB2 seem to occur independently in the process of tumor progression. Amplification of C-ERBB2 tends to associate with more advanced stage of disease. Concomitant occurrence of codon 12 K-RAS mutation, C-MYC and C-ERBB2 amplification was of no prognostic value in respect to survival.
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PMID:K-RAS point mutation, and amplification of C-MYC and C-ERBB2 in colon adenocarcinoma. 1549 79

Murine models of familial adenomatous polyposis harbor a germinal heterozygous mutation on Apc tumor suppressor gene. They are valuable tools for studying intestinal carcinogenesis, as most human sporadic cancers contain inactivating mutations of APC. However, Apc(+/-) mice, such as the well-characterized Apc(Min/+) model, develop cancers principally in the small intestine, while humans develop mainly colorectal cancers. We used a Cre-loxP strategy to achieve a new model of germline Apc invalidation in which exon 14 is deleted. We compared the phenotype of these Apc(Delta14/+) mice to that of the classical Apc(Min/+). The main phenotypic difference is the shift of the tumors in the distal colon and rectum, often associated with a rectal prolapse. Thus, the severity of the colorectal phenotype is partly due to the particular mutation Delta14, but also to environmental parameters, as mice raised in conventional conditions developed more colon cancers than those raised in pathogen-free conditions. All lesions, including early lesions, revealed Apc LOH and loss of Apc gene expression. They accumulated beta-catenin, overexpressed the beta-catenin target genes cyclin D1 and c-Myc, and the distribution pattern of glutamine synthetase, a beta-catenin target gene recently identified in the liver, was mosaic in intestinal adenomas. The Apc(Delta14/+) model is thus a useful new tool for studies on the molecular mechanisms of colorectal tumorigenesis.
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PMID:Colorectal cancers in a new mouse model of familial adenomatous polyposis: influence of genetic and environmental modifiers. 1550 62


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