UMLS:C0699790 - FACTA Search

Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Target Concepts:

Query: UMLS:C0699790 (colon cancer)
28,837 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Antifolates are the oldest of the antimetabolite class of anticancer agents and were one of the first modern anticancer drugs. The first clinically useful antifolate, described in 1947, was 2,4-diamino-pteroylglutamate (4-amino-folic acid; aminopterin; AMT) which yielded the first-ever remissions in childhood leukemia. AMT was soon superseded by its 10-methyl congener, methotrexate (MTX), based on toxicity considerations; MTX remains, with one limited exception, the only antifolate anticancer agent in clinical use to this date. Because of the safety and utility of MTX, considerable effort has been invested in attempting to design more therapeutically selective antifolates or antifolates with a wider tumor spectrum. Initially, the design was based on the burgeoning knowledge of folate-dependent pathways and the determinants of the mechanism of action of MTX. These determinants include transport, the tight-binding inhibition of its target (the folate-dependent enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR)), and metabolism of MTX to poly-gamma-glutamate (Glu(n)) metabolites. These early studies led to the development of other antifolate DHFR inhibitors of two types: (1). "classical" analogs that use the same cellular transport systems as MTX and are also metabolized to Glu(n); and (2). "nonclassical" (i.e., lipophilic) analogs that do not require transport systems and that are not metabolized to Glu(n). Although several of these analogs have undergone clinical trial, none is proved superior to MTX. Detailed examination of the mechanisms of cytotoxicity and selectivity of MTX showed that inhibition of both dTMP synthesis and de novo purine synthesis, secondary to DHFR inhibition, led to DNA synthesis inhibition and subsequent cell death; inhibition of other folate-dependent pathways did not appear necessary for cell death. Further studies showed that the contribution of inhibition of dTMP or purine synthesis to cell death varied in different cell types. These data suggested that inhibition of one of these pathways individually might (at least in some cases) be therapeutically superior to the dual inhibition induced by MTX. Thus in rational design and in structure-based design studies, two new classes of antifolate enzyme inhibitors were elaborated-direct inhibitors of thymidylate synthase (TMPS) and direct inhibitors of one or both of the two folate-dependent enzymes of de novo purine synthesis. Members of each class included both classical and nonclassical types. After preclinical evaluation, several of these have moved into clinical trials. To date only one new TMPS inhibitor has successfully completed clinical trials and been approved for routine use; this drug, Tomudex (D1694, raltitrexed) is currently approved only in Europe and only for the treatment of colon cancer. This still represents a step forward for antifolates, however, since MTX is well-known to be ineffective in colon cancer; thus Tomudex extends the tumor range of antifolates. Antifolate development continues. Based on the immense body of knowledge now extant on antifolates, specific aspects of the mechanism of action have been the focus. Newer antifolates have been described that inhibit more than one pathway in folate metabolism, that have improved delivery, or that inhibit other targets in folate metabolism. These new analogs are in various stages of preclinical and clinical development.
...
PMID:Anticancer antifolates: current status and future directions. 1452 44

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), a fluoropyrimidine analogue, is one of the most commonly used anticancer drugs for the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies. Some studies reported that the cytotoxicity of fluoropyrimidines is mediated, in large part, by inhibition of the thymidylate synthase (TS), an essential DNA synthetic enzyme. The aim of this study was to determine if antisense TS technology could augment the chemosensitivity of human cancer cells to 5-FU. The full length coding region of TS cDNA was inversely cloned into the eukaryotic expression vector pCDL81 and transfected into DLD-1 cells. The expression and activity of TS were significantly suppressed in the antisense TS transfected cells. Interestingly, the transfection of antisense TS alone inhibited the cellular growth in vitro. The chemosensitivity to 5-FU was significantly increased in the transfected cells. The 50% inhibition values of 5-FU on DLD-1/anti-TS were approximately one forth that on parental cells. The augmentation of chemosensitivity to 5-FU was also confirmed in a nude mice model. The tumor growth of DLD-1/anti-TS cells was suppressed significantly more than that of DLD-1 cells by the 5-FU. The expression and activity of TS in human colon cancer cells were effectively inhibited by TS antisense treatment and the effect of 5-FU to cancer cells can be augmented. The antisense TS technology could be promising for treatments of gastrointestinal cancers.
...
PMID:The transfection of thymidylate synthase antisense suppresses oncogenic properties of a human colon cancer cell line and augments the antitumor effect of fluorouracil. 1465 60

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is the most common chemotherapeutic agent used in the treatment of colorectal cancer, yet objective response rates are low. Recently, camptothecin (CPT) has emerged as an effective alternative therapy. Decisive means to determine treatment, based on the likelihood of response to each of these agents, could greatly enhance the management of this disease. Here, the ability of cDNA microarray-generated basal gene expression profiles to predict apoptotic response to 5-FU and CPT was determined in a panel of 30 colon carcinoma cell lines. Genes whose basal level of expression correlated significantly with 5-FU- and CPT-induced apoptosis were selected, and their predictive power was assessed using a "leave one out" jackknife cross-validation strategy. Selection of the 50 genes best correlated with 5-FU-induced apoptosis, but not 50 randomly selected genes, significantly predicted response to this agent. Importantly, this gene expression profiling approach predicted response more effectively than four previously established determinants of 5-FU response: thymidylate synthase and thymidine phosphorylase activity; and p53 and mismatch repair status. Furthermore, reanalysis of the database demonstrated that selection of the 149 genes best correlated with CPT-induced apoptosis maximally and significantly predicted response to this agent. These studies demonstrate that the basal gene expression profile of colon cancer cells can be used to predict and distinguish response to multiple chemotherapeutic agents and establish the potential of this methodology as a means by which rational decisions regarding choice of therapy can be approached.
...
PMID:Gene expression profiling-based prediction of response of colon carcinoma cells to 5-fluorouracil and camptothecin. 1469 96

We have shown previously that metastatic tumors of human colorectal cancer in lung as compared to liver have high levels of thymidylate synthase (TS) mRNA expression that correlated with high levels of E2F-1 mRNA expression. We now report that Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) and DNA PCR analyses of lung and liver metastases of human colon cancer show frequent gains in the region of chromosome 20q and have an increase in gene copy number of E2F-1. In as much as TS is transcriptionally regulated by E2F-1, these results provide an explanation for the high levels of TS mRNA noted in some tumor samples.
...
PMID:Overexpression of E2F-1 in lung and liver metastases of human colon cancer is associated with gene amplification. 1496 10

RNA interference is a post-transcriptional mechanism by which double-stranded RNA specifically silence expression of a corresponding gene. Small interfering double-stranded RNA (siRNA) of 21-23 nucleotides can induce the process of RNA interference. Studies from our laboratory have shown that translation of thymidylate synthase (TS) mRNA is controlled by its own protein end-product TS in a negative autoregulatory manner. Disruption of this process gives rise to increased synthesis of TS and leads to the development of cellular drug resistance to TS-targeted compounds. As a strategy to inhibit TS expression at the mRNA level, siRNAs were designed to target nucleotides 1058-1077 on human TS mRNA. Transfection of TS1058 siRNA into human colon cancer RKO cells resulted in a dose-dependent inhibition of TS expression with an IC(50) value of 10 pM but had no effect on the expression of alpha-tubulin or topoisomerase I. Inhibition of TS expression by TS1058 was maximal at 48 h and remained suppressed for up to 5 days. Pretreatment of RKO cells with TS1058 siRNA suppressed TS protein induction following exposure to raltitrexed. In addition, TS1058 restored chemosensitivity of the resistant RKO-HTStet cell line to various TS inhibitor compounds. On treatment with TS1058, IC(50) values for raltitrexed, 1843U89, and 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine decreased by approximately 15-16-fold. These studies suggest that TS-targeted siRNAs are effective inhibitors of TS expression and may have therapeutic potential by themselves or as chemosensitizers in combination with TS inhibitor compounds.
...
PMID:Small interfering double-stranded RNAs as therapeutic molecules to restore chemosensitivity to thymidylate synthase inhibitor compounds. 1497 67

FdUMP[N] molecules and conjugates are much more effective at inhibiting the proliferation of human tumor cells than is the widely used anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5FU). We have evaluated the inhibition of thymidylate synthase (TS), the extent of DNA damage, cell cycle arrest, and the induction of apoptosis by FdUMP[10] and 5FU in the human colorectal cancer cell line HT29. The magnitude and duration of TS inhibition following exposure of HT29 cells to FdUMP[10] at 1 x 10(-8) M was greater than that which occurred following exposure of these cells to 5FU at 1 x 10(-6) M. FdUMP[10] exposure also resulted in much more extensive DNA damage to HT29 cells than occurred following exposure to 100-fold higher concentrations of 5FU. Although exposure of HT29 cells to both drugs resulted in S-phase arrest, more complete accumulation of cells in S-phase was achieved following FdUMP[10] exposure at much lower drug concentrations. FdUMP[10] was also much more effective at inducing apoptosis in HT29 cells than was 5FU. The results are consistent with FdUMP[10] being much more efficient that 5FU at inducing DNA damage that results in apoptotic cell death in colon cancer cells.
...
PMID:Enhanced DNA-directed effects of FdUMP[10] compared to 5FU. 1504 63

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is the chemotherapeutic drug of choice for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, but resistance to 5-FU remains a major obstacle to successful therapy. We generated 5-FU-resistant derivatives of the HCT116 human colon cancer cell line by serial passage of these cells in the presence of increasing 5-FU concentrations in an attempt to elucidate the biological mechanisms involved in resistance to 5-FU. Two resultant resistant derivatives, HCT116 ResB and ResD, were characterized for resistance phenotypes, genotypes, and gene expression using cells maintained long-term in 5-FU-free media. Compared to parental HCT116 cells that respond to 5-FU challenge by inducing high levels of apoptosis, ResB and ResD derivatives had significantly reduced apoptotic fractions when transiently challenged with 5-FU. ResB and ResD cells were respectively 27- and 121-fold more resistant to 5-FU, had increased doubling times, and significantly increased plating efficiencies compared to the parental cells. Both resistant derivatives retained the wild-type TP53 genotype, TP53 copy number and CGH profile characteristic of the parental line. Alterations in gene expression in the resistant derivatives compared to the parental line were assessed using oligonucleotide microarrays. Overall, the 5-FU-resistant derivatives were characterized by reduced apoptosis and a more aggressive growth phenotype, consistent with the observed up-regulation of apoptosis-inhibitory genes (e.g., IRAK1, MALT1, BIRC5), positive growth-regulatory genes (e.g., CCND3, CCNE2, CCNF, CYR61), and metastasis genes (e.g., LMNB1, F3, TMSNB), and down-regulation of apoptosis-promoting genes (e.g., BNIP3, BNIP3L, FOXO3A) and negative growth-regulatory genes (e.g., AREG, CCNG2, CDKN1A, CDKN1C, GADD45A). 5-FU metabolism-associated genes (e.g., TYMS, DTYMK, UP) and DNA repair genes (e.g., FEN1, FANCG, RAD23B) were also up-regulated in one or both resistant derivatives, suggesting that the resistant derivatives might be able to overcome both 5-FU inhibition of thymidylate synthase and the DNA damage caused by 5-FU, respectively. Development of 5-FU resistance thus appears to encompass deregulation of apoptosis-, proliferation-, DNA repair-, and metastasis-associated regulatory pathways.
...
PMID:Molecular characterizations of derivatives of HCT116 colorectal cancer cells that are resistant to the chemotherapeutic agent 5-fluorouracil. 1506 52

Fas (CD95/Apo-1) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor family. Receptor binding results in activation of caspase 8, leading to activation of proapoptotic downstream molecules. We found that expression of Fas was up-regulated >10-fold in MCF-7 breast and HCT116 and RKO colon cancer cell lines after treatment with IC(60) doses of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and raltitrexed (RTX). Combined treatment with the agonistic Fas antibody CH-11 and either 5-FU or RTX resulted in a highly synergistic induction of apoptosis in these cell lines. Similar results were obtained for another antifolate, Alimta. Induction of thymidylate synthase expression inhibited Fas induction in response to RTX and Alimta, but not in response to 5-FU. Furthermore, thymidylate synthase induction abrogated the synergy between CH-11 and both antifolates but had no effect on the synergistic interaction between 5-FU and CH-11. Inactivation of p53 in MCF-7 and HCT116 cell lines blocked 5-FU- and antifolate-mediated up-regulation of Fas. Furthermore, Fas was not up-regulated in response to 5-FU or antifolates in the p53-mutant H630 colon cancer cell line. Lack of Fas up-regulation in the p53-null and -mutant lines abolished the synergistic interaction between 5-FU and CH-11. Interestingly, synergy was still observed between the antifolates and CH-11 in the p53-null HCT116 and p53-mutant H630 cell lines, although this was significantly reduced compared with the p53 wild-type cell lines. Our results indicate that Fas is an important mediator of apoptosis in response to both 5-FU and antifolates.
...
PMID:The roles of thymidylate synthase and p53 in regulating Fas-mediated apoptosis in response to antimetabolites. 1516 16

Resistance to anticancer drugs such as the widely used antimetabolite 5-fluorouracil (FU) is one of the most important obstacles to cancer chemotherapy. Using GeneChip arrays, we compared the expression profile of different stages of FU resistance in colon cancer cells after in vitro selection of low-, intermediate- and high-resistance phenotypes. Drug resistance was associated with significant changes in expression of 330 genes, mainly during early or intermediate stage. Functional annotation revealed a majority of genes involved in signal transduction, cell adhesion and cytoskeleton with subsequent alterations in apoptotic response, cell cycle control, drug transport, fluoropyrimidine metabolism and DNA repair. A set of 33 genes distinguished all resistant subclones from sensitive progenitor cells. In the early stage, downregulation of collagens and keratins, together with upregulation of profilin 2 and ICAM-2, suggested cytoskeletal changes and cell adhesion remodeling. Interestingly, 6 members of the S100 calcium-binding protein family were suppressed. Acquisition of the intermediate-resistance phenotype included upregulation of the well-known drug resistance gene ABCC6 (ATP-binding cassette subfamily C member 6). The very small number of genes affected during transition to high resistance included the primary FU target thymidylate synthase. Although limited to an in vitro model, our data suggest that resistance to FU cannot be explained by known mechanisms alone and substantially involves a wide molecular repertoire. This study emphasizes the understanding of resistance as a time-depending process: the cell is particularly challenged at the beginning of this process, while acquisition of the high-resistance phenotype seems to be less demanding.
...
PMID:Dissecting progressive stages of 5-fluorouracil resistance in vitro using RNA expression profiling. 1535 31

We investigated on colon cancer cells the effect of geraniol on thymidylate synthase and thymidine kinase expression, two enzymes related to 5-fluorouracil cytotoxicity. The anti-tumoral efficacy of geraniol and 5-fluorouracil were also evaluated on TC-118 human tumors transplanted in Swiss nu/nu mice. Geraniol (150 microM) but not 5-fluorouracil caused a 2-fold reduction of thymidylate synthase and thymidine kinase expression in cancer cells. In nude mice, the combined administration of 5-fluorouracil (20 mg/kg) and geraniol (150 mg/kg) caused a 53% reduction of the tumor volume, whereas a 26% reduction was obtained with geraniol alone, 5-fluorouracil alone showed no effect.
...
PMID:Geraniol, a component of plant essential oils, modulates DNA synthesis and potentiates 5-fluorouracil efficacy on human colon tumor xenografts. 1537 32

<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>