Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C1326912 (tumorigenesis)
 57,481 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The three ras genes code for proteins with a putative role in cellular signal transduction. They belong to a larger family of small guanosine-triphosphate (GTP)-binding proteins. The ras proteins acquire transforming activity when amino acids are substituted at one of a few specific sites, as a result of a point mutation in the gene. In about one third of adenocarcinomas of the lung, a K-ras mutation is present in codon 12 of the gene. Patients with early stages of K-ras mutation-positive tumors have a very unfavorable prognosis, even if apparently radical resection of the tumor has taken place. K-ras mutations are very rare among nonsmokers, and it is reasonable to assume that carcinogens in tobacco smoke directly cause the mutation. The types of ras mutations found in lung cancer are different from those in gastrointestinal malignancies. Colon cancer is mainly associated with mutations leading to substitution of the normal glycine at amino acid position 12 of K-ras by either valine or aspartic acid, and mutations in N-ras are not exceptional. In contrast, the predominant mutation in lung cancer leads to substitution of cysteine in codon 12. Several other members of the ras gene superfamily are also expressed in human lung cancer, but a possible relationship with lung tumorigenesis remains to be established.
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PMID:The ras gene family in human non-small-cell lung cancer. 132 34

The paucity of premalignant material available for study makes it difficult to assign pathogenic roles to the myriad phenotypic abnormalities found in lung cancer. Chemically and transgenically induced primary lung tumors in mice, however, share many of the morphological, histogenic, and biochemical features of human adenocarcinoma. Genetic factors guide the susceptibility to these tumors in both mice and humans. The reproducible natural history of these investigator-initiated lesions allows molecular characterization at each stage of progression, as well as delineation of pharmacological agents which encourage or retard their appearance. Experimental tools which can be used with this mouse model include inbred and recombinant inbred strains that vary in susceptibility to lung tumorigenesis, sensitivity to tumor-promoting agents, and tumor growth characteristics; the ability to isolate the cells of tumor origin with a high degree of purity; immortalized but nontumorigenic cell lines for comparison with neoplastic cell lines; and transgenic mice with an accelerated rate of tumorigenesis for the study of benign to malignant progression over a conveniently short time course. Among the relevant information thus far garnered about mouse lung tumors is the fact that K-ras protooncogene polymorphisms predict susceptibility to tumor development; K-ras mutation is an early event, and the nature of this mutation may determine the benign or malignant fate of the tumors; and the autonomous growth of neoplastic lung epithelial cells is maintained by a resistance to growth-inhibitory signals, and this is mediated by depletion of intracellular receptors and altered signal transduction pathways.
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PMID:Primary lung tumors in mice: an experimentally manipulable model of human adenocarcinoma. 156 98

Cigarette smoking is the major cause of lung cancer in humans. The continuous increase in the prevalence of cigarette smoking worldwide demands a practical means to circumvent this serious health problem. Our research has focused on the development of new chemopreventive agents against lung carcinogenicity of the tobacco-specific nitrosamine 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone. Several aromatic isothiocyanates have been identified as effective inhibitors of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone-induced lung tumorigenesis. Phenethyl isothiocyanate, a natural constituent of cruciferous vegetables, protects F344 rats and A/J mice from 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone-induced lung tumorigenesis. The alkyl chain length in the aromatic isothiocyanates is an important structural feature for the inhibitory potency. The inhibitory efficacy increases as the alkyl chain elongates up to 6 carbon atoms. Thus, 6-phenylhexyl isothiocyanate is approximately 50 to 100 times more potent than phenethyl isothiocyanate. The remarkable efficiency of 6-phenylhexyl isothiocyanate suggests its potential as a chemopreventive agent in intervention trials. The tissue distribution and excretion of phenethyl isothiocyanate were studied in mice. Two major urinary metabolites were identified as the mercaptopyruvic acid and the N-acetylcysteine conjugates. A urinary marker was developed to quantitate the uptake of phenethyl isothiocyanate in humans after consumption of watercress, a cruciferous vegetable rich in gluconasturtiin, the glucosinolate precursor of phenethyl isothiocyanate. Considering the anticarcinogenic activity of phenethyl isothiocyanate, this marker may eventually be useful in assessing the role of dietary phenethyl isothiocyanate uptake in lung cancer risk.
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PMID:New potential chemopreventive agents for lung carcinogenesis of tobacco-specific nitrosamine. 156 3

The protein tyrosine phosphatase gamma (PTP gamma) gene has recently been suggested as a candidate tumor suppressor gene involved in the oncogenesis of human lung and renal cancers, although no direct evidence for PTP gamma mutations has been demonstrated thus far. We explored the status of PTP gamma in 31 human lung cancer cell lines as well as in various other types of human tumor cell lines. Northern blot analysis revealed that two independent cell lines expressed PTP gamma mRNAs with sizes distinct from those in human fetal and adult normal lung. However, our extensive search for mutations in the PTP gamma gene failed to identify any abnormalities in the cytoplasmic region, which contains two protein tyrosine phosphatase-like domains. These results warrant further examination of genetic alterations in the extracellular and transmembrane domains of PTP gamma, which had not been cloned at the time of the present study.
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PMID:Molecular analysis of the protein tyrosine phosphatase gamma gene in human lung cancer cell lines. 159 10

One of the three human retinoic acid receptors, RAR-beta, maps to a region on the short arm of chromosome 3 frequently deleted in lung cancer. Because retinoic acid is required for normal epithelial cell growth and regulation, and loss of a retinoic acid receptor might be expected to contribute to oncogenesis, we examined RAR-beta RNA and DNA in normal lung, 33 lung cancer cell lines and nine primary lung tumors. Normally, RAR-beta is expressed as two transcripts, of sizes 3.1 kb and 2.8 kb, which are strongly induced by retinoic acid. At least 50% of the cell lines and 30% of the tumor samples show altered RAR-beta expression and/or inducibility, including examples of absence or specific loss of one of the RAR-beta transcripts. Abnormalities in the expression patterns of RAR-alpha and RAR-gamma also are found, but at a lower frequency than RAR-beta abnormalities. Southern analysis reveals alteration of the RAR-beta gene in three of the cell lines. Our data suggest that abnormalities in structure and expression of the RAR-beta gene may be involved in the pathogenesis of lung cancer.
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PMID:High frequency of retinoic acid receptor beta abnormalities in human lung cancer. 171 24

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in several nations. Epidemiological studies have indicated that 85% of all lung cancer deaths and 30% of all cancer deaths in the U.S. are associated with tobacco smoking. Various chemicals in tobacco smoke are thought to react with DNA and to ultimately yield heritable mutations. In an effort to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in lung tumorigenesis, we have analyzed proto-oncogene activation in a series of human lung tumors from smokers and spontaneously occurring and chemically induced lung tumors in mice. Approximately 86% of the human lung tumors and greater than 90% of the mouse lung tumors were found to contain activated oncogenes. ras Oncogenes activated by point mutations were detected in many of the human lung adenocarcinomas and virtually all of the mouse lung adenomas and adenocarcinomas. The mutation profiles of the activated K-ras genes detected in the chemically induced mouse lung tumors suggest that the observed mutations result from genotoxic effects of the chemicals. Comparison of the K-ras mutations observed in the human lung adenocarcinomas with mutation profiles observed in the mouse lung tumors suggest that bulky hydrophobic DNA adducts may be responsible for the majority of the mutations observed in the activated human K-ras genes. Other data indicate that approximately 20% of human lung tumors contain potentially novel transforming genes that may also be targets for mutagens in cigarette smoke.
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PMID:Activation of proto-oncogenes in human and mouse lung tumors. 177 85

4-(N-Nitrosomethylamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) is a potent tobacco-specific carcinogenic nitrosamine. At low doses, it induces primarily lung tumours in mice, hamsters and rats, regardless of the route of administration. Its unique organ specificity and potency suggest its possible role in the high incidence of lung cancer in smokers. The goal of this study was to find agents that would potentially prevent NNK tumorigenesis. Previous results led us to test phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) on NNK tumorigenesis in a two-year bioassay in Fischer 344 rats. The NNK-treated group developed 80% lung tumour incidence, whereas NNK-treated rats fed PEITC diets had only 40% lung tumour incidence. Incidences in other organs were not affected by this treatment. We also tested PEITC in a 16-week, short-term bioassay against NNK-induced lung adenomas in A/J mice. Pretreatment of mice with PEITC by gavage at four daily doses of 5 mumol or 25 mumol reduced the formation of NNK-induced lung adenomas by 70% or 100%, respectively. Interestingly, benzyl isothiocyanate and phenyl isothiocyanate, the lower homologues of PEITC, were inactive in this bioassay. Using a protocol similar to that used in the bioassays, PEITC was shown to decrease DNA methylation by NNK in the lungs of rats and mice and suppress the metabolism of NNK by mouse lung microsomes. These results are consistent with the previous data, suggesting that the inhibition of NNK-induced lung tumour formation by PEITC is a consequence of reduced DNA methylation caused by inhibition of NNK metabolism.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Inhibition of tobacco-specific nitrosamine 4-(N-nitrosomethylamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) tumorigenesis with aromatic isothiocyanates. 185 11

DT-diaphorase (DTD) is a flavoprotein which catalyzes obligate two-electron reduction of a diverse group of substrates. We have reported previously that non-tumorigenic mouse lung alveolar type-II pneumocytes have high DTD activity, while cell lines derived from lung tumors do not. In contrast, other investigators, using human lung tissue, reported increased DTD activity in tumors compared with normal tissue. We therefore investigated DTD associated with mouse lung neoplasia in vivo as well as in vitro. Pulmonary tumors had far less DTD activity compared with normal mouse lung. Correspondingly, a tumorigenic mouse lung cell line which arose as a spontaneous transformant of a normal cell line had very low DTD activity compared with non-tumorigenic lung cells. DTD-specific mRNA levels were also much higher in normal cell lines than in neoplastic ones. DTD was localized histochemically in type-II pneumocytes in situ, but was not observed by this technique in normal bronchiolar epithelia or in tumor cells. These data show that, unlike what has been observed in human lung cancer, a marked decrease in DTD content and activity accompanied mouse lung tumorigenesis in vivo and neoplastic transformation in vitro.
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PMID:NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (DT-diaphorase) activity and mRNA content in normal and neoplastic mouse lung epithelia. 190 40

Heredity and environment both operate in the origin of cancer. Dominantly heritable cancer is caused by 'cancer' genes that impart high relative risks but account for only a small part of the incidence of cancer; they are usually recessive in oncogenesis, mutation or loss of the second allele being necessary. Non-hereditary forms of cancer may involve the same genes. Other genes interact with environment in carcinogenesis; these may impart relatively small relative risks, but because their frequencies may be high, the attributable risks can be great, as probably is the case with lung cancer. The process of carcinogenesis is thought to involve 2 or more somatic genetic events in most cases. The genes whose germline mutations cause dominantly inherited cancer can also be mutated somatically to cause non-hereditary cancer. Other genes may influence the numbers of target cells, or the proliferation of once-hit stem cells, without being critical events on the path to cancer. However, such genes could greatly influence the incidence of a cancer. Other genes, such as that for Bloom's syndrome, may affect the rates at which first and second events occur. Finally, other genes may influence the occurrence of events critical for progression and metastasis, such as vascularization of a small tumor.
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PMID:Overview: genes that predispose to cancer. 201 Nov 35

To exclude the carcinogenicity of trace radioactive elements in the mine powder and flue dust and clarify those inorganic chemical elements related to carcinogenesis of lung cancer, 15 non-radioactive inorganic chemical elements (CM1) responsible for mutagenesis, tumorigenesis and promotion of cancer from mine powder and flue dust were mixed for Ames test and carcinoma-inducing-experiment in animals. The results were as follows: 1. Ames test of CM1 showed positivity. 2. Lung cancer-inducing-experiment of CM1 in the hamster was successful with an incidence of 8.8% whereas in the control group, no lung cancer developed which showed that CM1 was related to the development of lung cancer. 3. Hyperplastic cells under light microscope showed Type II alveolar cells and Clara cells under electron microscope. It is possible that hyperplastic, precancerous and malignant cells in the lung are derived from these two kinds of cells. One case of multiple microcarcinoma was found in this experiment.
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PMID:[Experimental study on induction of lung cancer in hamster by fifteen chemical elements in the industrial dust from Yunnan Tin and other mines]. 207 35


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