Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P06889 (Mol)
 630,302 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Pancreatic cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States. Despite many recent advances in the treatment modalities, the mortality rate still remains very high. Paclitaxel (Taxol) and Caffeine have been used for the treatment of this disease, however the molecular mechanisms of these agents are not fully understood, which may be partly responsible for the failure of these agents in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell lines, HPAC and PANC-1 containing wild-type and mutant p53 respectively, were used to investigate the effects of Taxol and Caffeine on cell growth, and their effects on the modulation of cell cycle and apoptosis related genes. Protein extracts from these cells treated with 100 nM of Taxol or 4 mM of Caffeine were subjected to Western blot analysis for this study. Drug treated cells were also analyzed to calculate the number of cells undergoing apoptosis. Dose and time dependent growth inhibition was observed in both PANC-1 and HPAC cells when treated with either Taxol or Caffeine. Western blot analysis showed an up-regulation of p21WAF1 in both cell lines treated with either Taxol or Caffeine. Furthermore, down-regulation of cyclin B and cdk1 was observed in Taxol and Caffeine treated HPAC cells. However, the results were drastically different in PANC-1 cells where cyclin B was down regulated only by Caffeine treatment and the level of cdk1 protein was undetectable in this cell line. Moreover, up-regulation of p53 and down-regulation of Bcl-2 was observed only in HPAC cells treated with Taxol. Apoptotic cell death analysis showed increasing number of cells undergoing apoptosis between 24 and 48 h of Caffeine treatment, however only Taxol showed greater than 50% cells under-going apoptosis only in HPAC cells. The up-regulation of p21WAF1 and down-regulation of cyclin B and cdk1 suggest their possible roles in G2/M cell cycle arrest caused by both Taxol and Caffeine as reported earlier. From these results we conclude that the differential molecular changes observed in this study may determine the cellular effects of these agents on pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells and that the effects of chemotherapeutic agents may be determined by the endogenous status of p53 mutation and, in turn, may determine the therapeutic effects of these agents in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Int J Mol Med 1999 Nov
PMID:Molecular effects of taxol and caffeine on pancreatic cancer cells. 1053 72

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth most common cancer-related mortality in the United States, and the ninth most common cause of death from cancer worldwide. The opioid growth factor (OGF), [Met5]-enkephalin, inhibits the growth of human pancreatic adenocarcinoma in vitro and in vivo, and acts in a receptor-mediated fashion. Ligand binding assays using PANC-1 human pancreatic tumor cells and [3H]-[Met5]-enkephalin were performed to identify and characterize the receptor responsible for the growth-regulatory effects of OGF in pancreatic cancer. Specific and saturable binding was detected, and a Scatchard analysis revealed that the data were consistent for a single binding site with a binding affinity of 1.2+/-0.3 nM and a binding capacity of 36.4+/-4.1 fmol/mg protein. Subcellular fractionation studies showed that binding was restricted to the nuclear fraction. Competition experiments revealed that cold [Met5]-enkephalin was the most effective ligand at displacing [3H]-[Met5]-enkephalin; ligands for mu, delta, and kappa opioid receptors exhibited little or no competition. Binding was detected in 3 other human pancreatic tumor cell lines. Receptor number in xenografts of Capan-1 was decreased 8.6-fold compared to the same cells grown in tissue culture. Binding to radiolabeled [Met5]-enkephalin was detected in pancreatic cancers obtained from surgical resections. Binding capacity, but not binding affinity, was 7.1-fold greater in normal pancreatic tissues than in pancreatic neoplasia. The function, pharmacological and biochemical characteristics, distribution, and subcellular location of OGF binding in human pancreatic cancer were consistent with the OGF receptor (OGFr). In addition, human pancreatic cancer appears to have a low number of receptors for OGF, having the net effect of diminishing control of cellular replicative events.
Int J Mol Med 2000 Jan
PMID:Identification and characterization of opioid growth factor receptor in human pancreatic adenocarcinoma. 1060 79

In human colorectal cancer, K-ras point mutations occur in approximately 40-50% of the cases, a frequency second only to pancreatic cancer (80-90%). Unlike pancreatic and lung cancers, however, the tumor-suppressive effect of antisense K-ras RNA expression has not been examined for colorectal cancers. A recombinant adenovirus vector expressing an antisense or sense K-ras gene fragment (AxCA-AS-K-ras or AxCA-S-K-ras) was first transduced into seven human colorectal cancer cell lines. Stable expression of antisense or sense K-ras RNA was detected by RNA blot analysis. Western blot analysis confirmed a reduction of up to 25% of K-ras-specific p21 protein in the antisense K-ras-transduced HCT-15 cells. In contrast to our previous findings on pancreatic cancer, the status of K-ras point mutations was not correlated with the growth-suppressive effect of the antisense K-ras vector: both the K-ras-mutation-positive and -negative colorectal cancer cell lines were suppressed for their growth in vitro. There was no growth-inhibitory effect on normal cells such as hepatocytes. Next, to test the efficacy in vivo, HCT-15 cells were inoculated subcutaneously into the left flank of SCID mice, and AxCA-AS-K-ras was injected intratumorally three times after the tumor mass was established. The infection of AxCA-AS-K-ras, but not the control AxCA-S-K-ras, significantly suppressed the growth of the HCT-15 subcutaneous tumor. This study shows that the adenovirus-mediated in vivo gene transfer of the antisense K-ras construct may be a useful therapeutic strategy for colorectal cancer.
Mol Ther 2001 Apr
PMID:Suppression of colorectal cancer growth using an adenovirus vector expressing an antisense K-ras RNA. 1131 9

Pancreatic carcinoma ranks as the eighth most frequent type of solid tumour arising worldwide yet it represents the fourth most frequent cause of death. This discrepancy reflects the current lack of effective treatment available for the pancreatic cancer patient and highlights the urgent need for new therapeutic principles in this area. The last five years have seen an increasing number of novel approaches both in the pre-clinical area as well as in clinical trials for pancreatic cancer treatments. This review summarizes these new developments and attempts to rationalize the possibilities available for the patient at the beginning of the new millennium.
Trends Mol Med 2001 Jan
PMID:Novel clinical strategies for the treatment of pancreatic carcinoma. 1142 87

Oligonucleotides have shown an ability to target specific oncogene transcripts and inhibit their expression in cells, but the degree to which sustained treatment can suppress the levels of an oncogenic protein enough to benefit a patient remains to be determined. This question has been studied in several ways. First, the relationship of antisense DNA inhibition to the predicted secondary structure of human H-RAS oncogene mRNA was examined in transformed mouse cells that form solid tumors. Inhibition of H-Ras expression was sequence-specific, dose-dependent, and correlated with inhibition of focus formation. The efficacy of the first intron antisense sequence in reducing H-Ras expression was greater than that of the initiation codon target. Second, H-RAS transformed solid tumor cells were pretreated in vitro with normal oligonucleotides, after which tumor growth from the treated cells was tested in nude mice. The three days of treatment with the first intron antisense DNA reduced H-Ras cellular levels by more than 90% whereas a nonspecific control DNA reduced H-Ras levels by approx 20%. Tumor growth of cells treated with H-RAS antisense oligonucleotide was significantly reduced for up to 14 d following the end of treatment and implantation into the mice, whereas the nonspecific control DNA had no significant effect. Third, H-RAS transformed bladder cancer cells were implanted into nude mice, after which the mice were treated for 31 d with oligonucleotide phosphorothioates. Tumor growth in mice treated with H-RAS 12th codon antisense oligonucleotide was reduced by about 80% throughout the treatment period, reiterating the sustained effect seen in pretreated tumor cells. However, the scrambled phosphorothioate control inhibited tumor growth by about 60%, illustrating some nonspecific inhibition. Fourth, K-RAS transformed pancreatic cancer cells were treated in culture and in nude mice. Inhibition of K-Ras expression with a phosphorothioate oligonucleotide directed against a 5'-UTR sequence was sequence-specific and dose-dependent. K-RAS transformed pancreatic cancer cells were implanted into nude mice, after which the mice were treated for 14 d with oligonucleotide phosphorothioates. Tumor growth in mice treated with K-RAS 5'-UTR antisense oligonucleotide was reduced by about 50% throughout the treatment period, reiterating the sustained effect seen with H-RAS transformed cells. In this case, the sense phosphorothioate control did not inhibit tumor growth, demonstrating that nonspecific inhibition is not a characteristic of all phosphorothioate sequences. The next logical steps include testing oligonucleotide efficacy against other tumor types, toxicological testing in higher species, and clinical trials in human subjects.
Mol Biotechnol 2001 May
PMID:Oligonucleotide treatment of ras-induced tumors in nude mice. 1143 98

SOX transcription factors with high-mobility-group DNA-binding domain (HMG box) play key roles in embryogenesis. Some members of the SOX family are negative regulators of the WNT-beta-catenin-TCF signaling pathway. We have previously cloned and characterized human SOX17, constituting a subfamily with SOX7 and SOX18. Another group mapped SOX7 gene to human chromosome 8p22, and reported almost ubiquitous expression of 5.0-kb SOX7 mRNA in human normal tissues. Here, expression of SOX7 mRNA was investigated by using SOX7 specific probe, which hybridized to 3.8-kb human SOX7 mRNA, but not to 5.0-kb mRNA. SOX7 mRNA was relatively highly expressed in adult lung, trachea, lymph node, placenta, fetal lung, and heart. In adult heart, SOX7 mRNA was more highly expressed in ventricules, inter-ventricular septum and apex than in atriums. SOX7 mRNA was significantly up-regulated in pancreatic cancer cell lines BxPC-3, PSN-1, Hs766T, and in 4 cases out of 8 cases of primary gastric cancer. SOX7 mRNA was relatively highly expressed in a gastric cancer cell line MKN45, esophageal cancer cell lines TE2, TE3, TE4, TE5, TE7, TE8, TE11, TE12, and TE13. On the other hand, SOX7 mRNA was significantly down-regulated in 7 out of 18 cases of primary colorectal tumors, in 4 out of 9 cases of primary breast cancer, in 4 out of 14 cases of primary kidney tumors, and also in some cases of primary lung and prostate cancer. SOX7 gene might be one of cancer-associated genes on human chromosome 8p22.
Int J Mol Med 2002 Apr
PMID:Expression of human SOX7 in normal tissues and tumors. 1189 28

The diagnostic utility of fluorine-18 2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) for the non-invasive differentiation of focal pancreatic lesions originating from cancer or chronic pancreatitis by combined visual image interpretation and semiquantitative uptake value analysis has been documented. However, in clinical routine some misdiagnosis is still observed. This is because there is potential overlap between the semiquantitative uptake values obtained for active inflammatory lesions and cancer. Therefore, this prospective study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that analysis of dynamic kinetics of focal pancreatic lesions based on FDG PET may more accurately determine the benign or malignant nature of such lesions. Thirty patients (56+/-17 years) were studied dynamically with FDG PET for a period of 60-90 min. Patients were assigned to one of four groups: control, acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer. Two observers, blinded to the clinical data, analysed the time-activity curves of FDG kinetics based on region of interest analysis. The diagnosis predicted by FDG PET was compared with the result of histological examination of the surgical specimen. Analysis of FDG kinetics revealed significant differences in the shape of the time-activity curve for controls, pancreatic cancer and inflammatory disease. Surprisingly, there was no significant difference in the time-activity curve shape for chronic pancreatitis and acute pancreatitis; this is, however, not a clinical issue. Furthermore, acquisition time (60 min vs 90 min) did not affect interpretation of the time-activity curve, so that scanning time may be regularly shortened to 60 min. Interobserver agreement was 1. Based on these findings, non-invasive differentiation between pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis was correctly predicted in all cases, as confirmed by histology. In addition, the specificity was increased compared with that obtained from standardised uptake value analysis. Non-invasive differentiation between pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis may best be achieved based on a dynamic FDG PET study including kinetic analysis. This approach yields results superior to those obtained from a semiquantitative analysis of pancreatic lesions.
Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2002 Feb
PMID:Non-invasive differentiation of pancreatic lesions: is analysis of FDG kinetics superior to semiquantitative uptake value analysis? 1192 86

Ductal pancreatic adenocarcinoma is one of the commonest and most lethal cancers in the Western world. Unfortunately, recent advances in diagnostics, staging, and therapy in pancreatic carcinoma have not resulted in significant improvements in long-term survival. We have previously shown that adenovirus (Ad)-mediated coexpression of interleukin-12 (IL-12) and the costimulatory molecule B7.1 is extremely efficient in inducing regression of highly immunogenic transplanted and nontransplanted tumors. Here, we examined the antitumor efficacy of IL-12- and B7.1-based immunotherapy against a nonimmunogenic murine model of ductal pancreatic cancer. Compared with AdIL-12 treatment alone, single intratumoral injection of AdIL-12/B7.1 led to a prolonged immune response and mediated complete regression in 80% of treated animals. After rechallenge with parental tumor cells, 70% of cured mice remained tumor-free, suggesting that protective immunity had been induced. The antitumoral response was associated with upregulation of H-2K(b) and Abcb2 expression, whereas other components of the proteasome (Abcb3, Psmb9, and Psmb8) were not affected. These data indicate that upregulation of the antigen presentation machinery by AdIL-12/B7.1 may be a therapeutic rationale for nonimmunogenic, therapy-resistant pancreatic cancer.
Mol Ther 2002 Apr
PMID:Improved treatment of pancreatic cancer by IL-12 and B7.1 costimulation: antitumor efficacy and immunoregulation in a nonimmunogenic tumor model. 1194 67

GIPC1/RGS19IP1/GIPC, GIPC2, and GIPC3 are a family of central PDZ-domain proteins with GH1 and GH2 domains. GIPC1 interacts with GTPase-activating protein RGS19/RGS-GAIP, TGFbeta type III receptor, receptor tyrosine kinase TrkA, and integrin alpha6A subunit. Xenopus homologue of human GIPCs interacts with Frizzled-3 class of WNT receptor. We investigated expression of human GIPC1 mRNA in normal tissues, cancer cell lines, and primary tumors. GIP1A probe (nucleotide position 1075-1483 of GIPC1 cDNA) hybridized to GIPC1 mRNA of 1.8 kb in size. GIPC1 mRNA was almost ubiquitously expressed in various normal tissues. Expression level of GIPC1 mRNA was relatively lower in bone marrow and peripheral blood leukocytes. GIPC1 mRNA was relatively highly expressed in gastric cancer cell lines OKAJIMA, TMK1, MKN28, MKN45, MKN74, KATO-III, pancreatic cancer cell line AsPC-1, colorectal cancer cell line SW480, and lung cancer cell line A549. On the other hand, GIPC1 mRNA was almost undetectable in leukemia/lymphoma cell lines HL-60, Raji, and Daudi. Expression of GIPC1 mRNA was down-regulated in 12 out of 14 cases of primary kidney tumors, 10 out of 18 cases of primary colorectal tumors, 3 out of 8 cases of primary gastric cancer, 3 out of 3 cases of primary prostate cancer. Because GIPC1 induces increased expression of TGFbeta type III receptor at the cell surface and enhanced responsiveness to TGFbeta, down-regulation of GIPC1 mRNA in tumors might promote cellular proliferation through interference of TGFbeta signaling.
Int J Mol Med 2002 May
PMID:Expression of human GIPC1 in normal tissues, cancer cell lines, and primary tumors. 1195 58

Strabismus 1 (STB1/VANGL2) and Strabismus 2 (STB2/VANGL1), which have been cloned and characterized using bioinformatics and cDNA-PCR, are human homologues of Drosophila tissue polarity gene strabismus (stbm)/Van Gogh (Vang). STB1 and STB2 are tetra-membrane-spanning proteins with 73.1% total-amino-acid identity. Serine-rich domain and Strabismus-homology (STH1 and STH2) domains are conserved among human STB1, STB2, Xenopus Stbm, and Drosophila Stbm. STH2 domain with the C-terminal Ser/Thr-X-Val motif is implicated in binding with Dishevelled (DVL) proteins. STB1 gene is clustered with CASQ1 gene on human chromosome 1q21-q23, while STB2 gene is clustered with CASQ2 gene on human chromosome 1p13. STB1 and STB2 genes are located around cancer susceptibility loci or recombination hot spots in the human genome. STB1 is moderately expressed in K-562 (leukemia), G-361 (melanoma), and MKN7 (gastric cancer) cells. STB2 is highly expressed in MKN28, MKN74 (gastric cancer), BxPC-3, PSN-1, and Hs766T (pancreatic cancer) cells. On the other hand, STB1 and STB2 are significantly down-regulated in several cancer cell lines and primary tumors. Xenopus homologue of human STB1 and STB2 regulates negatively the WNT - beta-catenin signaling pathway. Loss-of-function mutations of genes encoding negative regulators of WNT - beta-catenin signaling pathway lead to carcinogenesis. Based on functional aspects and human chromosomal loci, STB1 gene and STB2 gene are predicted to be potent tumor suppressor gene candidates. STB1 and STB2 might be suitable targets for tissue engineering in the field of re-generative medicine and for chemoprevention and treatment in the field of clinical oncology.
Int J Mol Med 2002 Jul
PMID:Strabismus (STB)/Vang-like (VANGL) gene family (Review). 1206 Aug 45


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