Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P05231 (interleukin-6)
 23,907 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The androgen receptor (AR), a transcription factor that mediates the action of androgens in target tissues, is expressed in nearly all prostate cancers. Carcinoma of the prostate is the most frequently diagnosed neoplasm in men in industrialized countries. Palliative treatment for non-organ-confined prostate cancer aims to down-regulate the concentration of circulating androgen or to block the transcription activation function of the AR. AR function during endocrine therapy was studied in tumor cells LNCaP subjected to long-term steroid depletion; newly generated sublines could be stimulated by lower concentrations of androgen than parental cells and showed up-regulation of AR expression and activity as well as resistance to apoptosis. Androgenic hormones regulate the expression of key cell cycle regulators, cyclin-dependent kinase 2 and 4, and that of the cell cycle inhibitor p27. Inhibition of AR expression could be achieved by potential chemopreventive agents flufenamic acid, resveratrol, quercetin, polyunsaturated fatty acids and interleukin-1beta, and by the application of AR antisense oligonucleotides. In the clinical situation, AR gene amplification and point mutations were reported in patients with metastatic disease. These mutations generate receptors which could be activated by other steroid hormones and non-steroidal antiandrogens. In the absence of androgen, the AR could be activated by various growth-promoting (growth factors, epidermal growth factor receptor-related oncogene HER-2/neu) and pleiotropic (protein kinase A activators, interleukin-6) compounds as well as by inducers of differentiation (phenylbutyrate). AR function is modulated by a number of coactivators and corepressors. The three coactivators, TIF-2, SRC-1 and RAC3, are up-regulated in relapsed prostate cancer. New experimental therapies for prostate cancer are aimed to down-regulate AR expression and to overcome difficulties which occur because of the acquisition of agonistic properties of commonly used antiandrogens.
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PMID:Androgen receptors in prostate cancer. 1223 44

Human androgen receptor (AR) associates with coactivator or corepressor proteins that modulate its activation in the presence of ligand. Early studies on AR coactivators in carcinoma of the prostate were hampered because of lack of respective antibodies. Investigations at mRNA level revealed that most benign and malignant prostate cells express common coactivators. AR coactivators SRC-1 and TIF-2 are up-regulated in tissue specimens obtained from patients who failed prostate cancer endocrine therapy. Increased expression of these coactivators is associated with enhanced activation of the AR by the adrenal androgen dehydroepiandrosterone. Similar association between AR coactivator expression and high prostate cancer grade and stage was reported for RAC-3 (SRC-3). The transcriptional integrator CBP was detected in clinical specimens representing organ-confined prostate cancer, lymph node metastases and tumour cell lines. Agonistic effect of the nonsteroidal antiandrogen hydroxyflutamide was strongly potentiated in prostate cells transfected with CBP cDNA. A functional homologue of CBP, p300, is implicated in ligand-independent AR activation by interleukin-6. The AR coactivator Tip60, which is up-regulated by androgen ablation, is recruited to the promoter of the prostate-specific antigen gene in the absence of androgen in androgen-independent prostate cancer sublines. It was proposed that the cofactor ARA70 is a specific enhancer of AR action. However, research from other laboratories has demonstrated interaction between ARA70 and other steroid receptors. Although in some cases dominant-negative coactivator mutants inhibited proliferation of prostate cancer cells in vitro, confirmation from in vivo tumour models is missing. In summary, several abnormalities in AR coactivator expression and function are associated with prostate cancer progression.
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PMID:Expression and function of androgen receptor coactivators in prostate cancer. 1566 89

Several options for the endocrine treatment of non-organ-confined prostate cancer are available. They include surgical or medical removal of androgenic hormones or administration of non-steroidal anti-androgens. However, tumour progression after a period of remission of the disease inevitably occurs in virtually all patients. The androgen receptor (AR) is, in various tumour models, implicated in the development of therapy resistance but molecular mechanisms that by-pass the receptor have also been described. Adaptation mechanisms relevant to tumour recurrence include up-regulation of AR mRNA and protein, overexpression of AR coactivators, increased activation of mutated receptors by steroids and anti-androgens, and ligand-independent activation. For research studies, sublines that respond to but do not depend on androgen for their proliferation were generated. Coactivators SRC-1, TIF-2, RAC3, p300, CBP, Tip60, and gelsolin are highly expressed in endocrine therapy-resistant prostate cancer. AR point mutations are increasingly detected in relapsed cancers and contribute to the failure of endocrine therapy in a subgroup of patients. Ligand-independent activation of the AR by HER-2/neu and interleukin-6 is associated with activation of the signalling pathway of mitogen-activated protein kinase. Increased activity of intracellular kinases may affect cellular events in both an AR-dependent and -independent manner. Mitogen-activated protein kinases are strongly phosphorylated in endocrine therapy-resistant prostate tumours. Similarly, activation of the AR by phosphorylated protein kinase B, Akt, has also been reported in prostate cancer. Activation of the Akt pathway contributes to increased survival of prostate tumour cells.
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PMID:Mechanisms of endocrine therapy-responsive and -unresponsive prostate tumours. 1594 99

Endocrine therapy for advanced prostate cancer is based on androgen ablation or blockade of the androgen receptor (AR). AR action in prostate cancer has been investigated in a number of cell lines, their derivatives, and transgenic animals. AR expression is heterogenous in prostate cancer in vivo; it could be detected in most primary tumors and their metastases. However, some cells lack the AR because of epigenetic changes in the gene promoter. AR expression increases after chronic androgen ablation in vitro. In several xenografts, AR upregulation is the most consistent change identified during progression towards therapy resistance. In contrast, the AR pathway may be by-passed during chronic treatment with a nonsteroidal anti-androgen. AR sensitivity in prostate cancer increases as a result of activation of the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. One of the major difficulties in endocrine therapy for prostate cancer is acquisition of agonistic properties of AR antagonists observed in the presence of mutated AR. Enhancement of AR function by associated coactivator proteins has been extensively investigated. Cofactors SRC-1, RAC3, p300/CBP, TIF-2, and Tip60 are upregulated in advanced prostate cancer. Most studies on ligand-independent activation of the AR are focused on Her-2/neu and interleukin-6 (IL-6). On the basis of studies that showed overexpression and activation of the AR in advanced prostate cancer, it was suggested that novel therapies that reduce AR expression will provide a benefit to patients. There is experimental evidence showing that prostate tumor growth in vitro and in vivo is inhibited following administration of chemopreventive drugs or antisense oligonucleotides that downregulate AR mRNA and protein expression.
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PMID:Androgen axis in prostate cancer. 1659 69