Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P04637 (p53)
77,613 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Malignant melanoma originates in melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells of the skin and eye, and is one of the most deadly human cancers with no effective cure for metastatic disease. Like many other cancers, melanoma has both environmental and genetic components. For more than 20 years, the melanoma genome has been subject to extensive scrutiny, which has led to the identification of several genes that contribute to melanoma genesis and progression. Three molecular pathways have been found to be nearly invariably dysregulated in melanocytic tumors, including the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK pathway (through mutation of BRAF, NRAS or KIT), the p16 INK4A-CDK4-RB pathway (through mutation of INK4A or CDK4) and the ARF-p53 pathway (through mutation of ARF or TP53). Less frequently targeted pathways include the PI3K-AKT pathway (through mutation of NRAS, PTEN or PIK3CA) and the canonical Wnt signaling pathway (through mutation of CTNNB1 or APC). Beyond the specific and well-characterized genetic events leading to activation of proto-oncogenes or inactivation of tumor suppressor genes in these pathways, systematic high-resolution genomic analysis of melanoma specimens has revealed recurrent DNA copy number aberrations as well as perturbations of DNA methylation patterns. Melanoma provides one of the best examples of how genomic analysis can lead to a better understanding of tumor biology. We review current knowledge of the genes involved in the development of melanoma and the molecular pathways in which these genes operate.
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PMID:The genome and epigenome of malignant melanoma. 1804 49

Serrated colorectal polyps often show DNA hypermethylation and/or BRAF mutations and have been implicated in the "serrated neoplastic pathway." Although similar lesions occur in the appendix, they have never been systematically investigated. We evaluated a study group of 56 serrated polyps, a control group of 17 mucinous cystadenomas, and 4 adenocarcinomas with adjacent serrated polyps of the appendix to better understand their pathogenesis. The study cases were classified as nondysplastic or dysplastic serrated polyps and evaluated for MLH-1, MSH-2, MGMT, beta-catenin, p53, and Ki-67 expression, BRAF and KRAS mutations, and microsatellite instability. Serrated polyps usually occurred in older adults with no sex predilection. Most (59%) lacked dysplasia, but all showed similar molecular features, regardless of the degree of dysplasia present. Decreased MLH-1 (50%, P<0.001) and/or MGMT (59%, P<0.001) expression and BRAF (29%, P=0.007) mutations were significantly more common in serrated polyps, but BRAF mutations were detected in a minority of the extracted DNA in 15/16 cases. Of the 28 cases with decreased MLH-1 expression, none showed high-frequency microsatellite instability. Loss of MLH-1 (25%) or MGMT (50%) expression and BRAF or KRAS mutations (50%) were inconsistently present in adenocarcinomas and were not identified in combination in any cases. We conclude that molecular features of the "serrated neoplastic pathway" are present with similar frequencies among dysplastic and nondysplastic serrated appendiceal polyps and are not highly prevalent in adjacent carcinomas. These features, including BRAF mutations, may be more closely related to a serrated morphology in appendiceal polyps rather than biologically important changes.
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PMID:A comprehensive study of nondysplastic and dysplastic serrated polyps of the vermiform appendix. 1805 32

Werner syndrome is a premature aging syndrome characterized by early onset of cancer and abnormal cellular metabolism of glycosaminoglycan. The WRN helicase plays an important role in the maintenance of telomere function. WRN promoter methylation and gene silencing are common in colorectal cancer with the CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP), which is associated with microsatellite instability (MSI) and mucinous tumors. However, no study has examined the relationship between mucinous differentiation, WRN methylation, CIMP and MSI in colorectal cancer. Utilizing 903 population-based colorectal cancers and real-time PCR (MethyLight), we quantified DNA methylation in WRN and eight other promoters (CACNA1G, CDKN2A, CRABP1, IGF2, MLH1, NEUROG1, RUNX3 and SOCS1) known to be specific for CIMP. Supporting WRN as a good CIMP marker, WRN methylation was correlated well with CIMP-high diagnosis (> or =6/8 methylated promoters), demonstrating 89% sensitivity and 81% specificity. WRN methylation was associated with the presence of any mucinous component and > or =50% mucinous component (P<0.0001). Because both MSI and CIMP were associated with mucinous tumors and WRN methylation, we stratified tumors into 9 MSI/CIMP subtypes, to examine whether the relationship between WRN methylation and mucin still persisted. In each MSI/CIMP subtype, tumors with mucinous component were persistently more common in WRN-methylated tumors than WRN-unmethylated tumors (P=0.004). No relations of WRN methylation with other variables (age, sex, tumor location, poor differentiation, signet ring cells, lymphocytic reactions, KRAS, BRAF, p53, p21 or 18q loss of heterozygosity) persisted after tumors were stratified by CIMP status. In conclusion, WRN methylation is associated with mucinous differentiation independent of CIMP and MSI status. Our data suggest a possible role of WRN methylation in mucinous differentiation, and may provide explanation to the enigmatic association between mucin and MSI/CIMP.
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PMID:WRN promoter methylation possibly connects mucinous differentiation, microsatellite instability and CpG island methylator phenotype in colorectal cancer. 1808 50

This investigation is the first to evaluate simultaneously human papilloma virus (HPV) status, p16(INK4a), and p53 immunoreactivity in epithelial ovarian neoplasms. The results were analyzed and correlated with histological type, histological grade, and survival of patients. Subtypes considered are papillary serous and mucinous. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, performed in our previous study, had already demonstrated a small number of HPV-positive epithelial ovarian neoplasms. No significant correlation was found between the presence of HPV DNA and subtypes of ovarian neoplasms; thus, HPV cannot be considered responsible for epithelial ovarian neoplasm. Since p16 immunoreactivity was present in many other HPV-negative cases of epithelial ovarian neoplasms, this study suggests that p16 overexpression in some neoplasms of the female genital tract is not related to HPV carcinogenesis. A higher p53 expression rate observed between borderline and malignant serous tumors and between serous and mucinous neoplasms can confirm a recent dualistic model of ovarian carcinogenesis. According to this theory, low-grade serous carcinomas (serous intraepithelial carcinomas, serous borderline neoplasm, and ovarian mucinous neoplasms) (type I tumors) develop from mutations of KAS and BRAF, while high-grade serous carcinomas (type II tumors) develop from mutation of p53. In malignant neoplasms, for univariate analysis, patient survival seems to be related to p53, strong and diffuse p16 overexpression, and the stage of development of neoplasms at the diagnosis. In multinomial logistic regression, used to evaluate the role of staging, grading, p16 and p53 immunopositivity as predictor variables of unfavorable outcome of the disease, only p16 positivity was significantly related to the poor prognosis of the cancer.
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PMID:Human papilloma virus (HPV) status, p16INK4a, and p53 overexpression in epithelial malignant and borderline ovarian neoplasms. 1818 Jan 13

Myelodysplasia (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are heterogeneous, closely associated diseases arising de novo or following chemotherapy with alkylating agents, topoisomerase II inhibitors, or after radiotherapy. Whereas de novo MDS and AML are almost always subclassified according to cytogenetic characteristics, therapy-related MDS (t-MDS) and therapy-related AML (t-AML) are often considered as separate entities and are not subdivided. Alternative genetic pathways were previously proposed in t-MDS and t-AML based on cytogenetic characteristics. An increasing number of gene mutations are now observed to cluster differently in these pathways with an identical pattern in de novo and in t-MDS and t-AML. An association is observed between activating mutations of genes in the tyrosine kinase RAS-BRAF signal-transduction pathway (Class I mutations) and inactivating mutations of genes encoding hematopoietic transcription factors (Class II mutations). Point mutations of AML1 and RAS seem to cooperate and predispose to progression from t-MDS to t-AML. Recently, critical genetic effects underlying 5q-/-5 and 7q-/-7 have been proposed. Their association and cooperation with point mutations of p53 and AML1, respectively, extend the scenario of cooperating genetic abnormalities in MDS and AML. As de novo and t-MDS and t-AML are biologically identical diseases, they ought to be subclassified and treated similarly.
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PMID:Genetics of therapy-related myelodysplasia and acute myeloid leukemia. 1820 41

Hsp90 is an evolutionarily conserved and ubiquitously expressed molecular chaperone that mainly modulates, along with a group of co-chaperones, the general platform of protein folding and prevents the nonspecific aggregation of misfolded or unfolded proteins. In the voluminous Hsp90 clientele, a large variety of important regulatory proteins can be identified, including many whose deregulation may lead to cancer initiation and progression, such as the oncogenic clients pp60(v-src), Bcr-Abl, mutated p53, ErbB2 (Her-2), Akt, Flt3, HIF-1alpha and B-Raf. Therefore, inhibition of Hsp90 function offers the prospect of simultaneously disrupting multiple signaling pathways directly implicated in the development of malignant phenotypes. During the last few years, there has been a major focus on the development of Hsp90 specific inhibitors. This started with the discovery that certain natural products could specifically disrupt Hsp90 chaperone activities. The benzoquinone ansamycin antibiotic geldanamycin and its less toxic derivative 17-AAG have been shown to possess strong anti-proliferative and apoptotic activity in cancer cells, whereas 17-AAG has demonstrated potent anti-tumor activity in several human xenograft models, including breast, prostate and colon cancer. In an effort to overcome difficulties with drug toxicity and solubility, a number of novel bioengineered 17-AAG analogues, such as 17-DMAG and IPI-504, and small-molecule inhibitors, including purine and pyrazole derivatives, have emerged from rational drug design followed by high-throughput screening approaches. 17-AAG was the leader inhibitor to enter and successfully complete phase I clinical trials, thus demonstrating that Hsp90 constitutes a valid drug target for cancer therapy. This review includes information on the current model of ternary interactions between Hsp90, client proteins and a vast array of co-chaperones followed by a list of characteristic inhibitors and ongoing clinical trials reported thus far.
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PMID:Drug-mediated targeted disruption of multiple protein activities through functional inhibition of the Hsp90 chaperone complex. 1822 Jul 46

Herein, we describe the clinical, pathologic, immunohistochemical, and molecular features of 3 unique patients with long standing inflammatory bowel disease, all of whom developed numerous discrete hyperplastic/serrated colonic polyps similar to those described in the hyperplastic/serrated polyposis syndrome. The 3 patients (2 with ulcerative colitis and 1 with Crohn ileo-colitis) were evaluated for a variety of clinical, histologic (including the type, location and number of polyps in the colon), and immunohistochemical features [MLH-1, MSH-2, MGMT (O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase), beta-catenin, and p53]. KRAS and BRAF mutation analysis was also performed on a subset of polyps from 2 patients. All patients had moderate-severe pancolitis of more than 10 years duration and had >20 colonic polyps. None had polyps in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Pathologically, a combination of conventional hyperplastic polyps and sessile serrated polyps (adenomas) were present in the 3 cases. In addition, serrated adenomas were present in 2 and conventional adenomas in 1. Two patients also had synchronous adenocarcinoma. All 3 cases showed retention of MLH-1 and MSH-2, and a membranous beta-catenin staining pattern. However, 2 cases showed loss of MGMT in several serrated polyps, and one also in adjacent colitic mucosa. KRAS mutations were detected in 5/11 serrated polyps. However, BRAF mutations were not present in any of the polyps tested. These findings suggest the possibility of a serrated pathway of carcinogenesis in inflammatory bowel disease characterized by silencing of MGMT, most likely by gene promoter methylation, KRAS mutations, and possibly other, as yet, uncharacterized molecular alterations, resulting eventually in progression to adenocarcinoma.
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PMID:Hyperplastic/serrated polyposis in inflammatory bowel disease: a case series of a previously undescribed entity. 1822 33

Mutations in the ERK pathway occur in approximately one-third of all human cancers and most often involve production of mutant RAS or BRAF. Several studies, including our own, have shown that mutations in the BRAF and RAS genes are generally mutually exclusive. This study was performed to determine the relative oncogenic potential of the BRAF and RAS oncogenes. BRAF(V600E)-, H-RAS(G12V)-, and N-RAS(Q61R)-transfected mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) that lack p53 (p53(-/-)) or contain mutations at codon 172 (p53(R172H) and p53(R172P)) were able to induce morphologically transformed foci in p53(-/-) and p53(R172H) MEFs but not in p53(R172P) MEFs. Interestingly, BRAF(V600E) was less potent than mutant H-RAS(G12V) or N-RAS(Q61R) was in cooperating with mutant p53 as the numbers and sizes of foci induced by BRAF(V600E) were significantly lower and smaller. In vitro growth characteristics and anchorage-independent growth of transfected MEFs corroborated the transformed phenotype, and in vivo tumorigenesis confirmed the results. These results indicate that mutant BRAF(V600E) is weakly oncogenic compared with mutant RAS and that they both cooperate with p53(-/-) and p53(R172H) but not with p53(R172P) in oncogenic transformation.
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PMID:Oncogenic potential of BRAF versus RAS. 1828 30

The accepted view of ovarian carcinogenesis is that carcinoma begins in the ovary, undergoes progressive "dedifferentiation" from a well to a poorly differentiated tumor, and then spreads to the pelvic and abdominal cavities before metastasizing to distant sites. It has therefore been reasoned that survival for this highly lethal disease could be improved by developing screening methods that detect disease when it is confined to the ovary. To date, however, no prospective randomized trial of any ovarian cancer screening test(s) has demonstrated a decrease in mortality. We believe that one of the main reasons for this is that the dogma underlying ovarian carcinogenesis is flawed. Based on studies performed in our laboratory during the last decade, we have proposed a model of ovarian carcinogenesis that takes into account the diverse nature of ovarian cancer and correlates the clinical, pathological, and molecular features of the disease. In this model, ovarian tumors are divided into 2 groups designated type I and type II. Type I tumors are slow growing, generally confined to the ovary at diagnosis, and develop from well-established precursor lesions that are termed "borderline" tumors. Type I tumors include low-grade micropapillary serous carcinoma, mucinous, endometrioid, and clear cell carcinomas. They are genetically stable and are characterized by mutations in a number of different genes including KRAS, BRAF, PTEN, and beta-catenin. Type II tumors are rapidly growing highly aggressive neoplasms for which well-defined precursor lesions have not been described. Type II tumors include high-grade serous carcinoma, malignant mixed mesodermal tumors (carcinosarcomas), and undifferentiated carcinomas. This group of tumors has a high level of genetic instability and is characterized by mutation of TP53. The model helps to explain why current screening techniques, aimed at detecting stage I disease, have not been effective. Tumors that remain confined to the ovary for a long period belong to the type I group, but they account for only 25% of the malignant tumors. Most of what is considered ovarian cancer belongs to the type II category, and these are only rarely confined to the ovary. Although the reasons for this are not entirely clear, possible explanations include rapid spread from the ovary early in carcinogenesis and development of carcinoma in extra ovarian sites, notably, the peritoneum and fallopian tube, with secondary involvement of the ovary. The latter tumors are advanced stage at their inception. Therefore, a more realistic end point for the early detection of ovarian cancer is volume and not stage of disease. The model does not replace the histopathologic classification but, by drawing attention to the molecular genetic events that play a role in tumor progression, sheds light on new approaches to early detection and treatment.
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PMID:Pathogenesis of ovarian cancer: lessons from morphology and molecular biology and their clinical implications. 1831 28

The goal of ovarian cancer screening is to detect disease when confined to the ovary (stage I) and thereby prolong survival. We believe this is an elusive goal because most ovarian cancer, at its earliest recognizable stage, is probably not confined to the ovary. We propose a new model of ovarian carcinogenesis based on clinical, pathological, and molecular genetic studies that may enable more targeted screening and therapeutic intervention to be developed. The model divides ovarian cancer into 2 groups designated type I and type II. Type I tumors are slow growing, generally confined to the ovary at diagnosis and develop from well-established precursor lesions so-called borderline tumors. Type I tumors include low-grade micropapillary serous carcinoma, mucinous, endometrioid, and clear cell carcinomas. They are genetically stable and are characterized by mutations in a number of different genes including KRAS, BRAF, PTEN, and beta-catenin. Type II tumors are rapidly growing, highly aggressive neoplasms that lack well-defined precursor lesions; most are advanced stage at, or soon after, their inception. These include high-grade serous carcinoma, malignant mixed mesodermal tumors (carcinosarcomas), and undifferentiated carcinomas. The type II tumors are characterized by mutation of TP53 and a high level of genetic instability. Screening tests that focus on stage I disease may detect low-grade type I neoplasms but miss the more aggressive type II tumors, which account for most ovarian cancers. A more rational approach to early detection of ovarian cancer should focus on low volume rather than low stage of disease.
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PMID:Early detection and treatment of ovarian cancer: shifting from early stage to minimal volume of disease based on a new model of carcinogenesis. 1839 29


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