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Query: UNIPROT:P06889 (Mol)
 630,302 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Many conventional anticancer treatments kill cells irrespective of whether they are normal or cancerous, so patients suffer from adverse side effects due to the loss of healthy cells. Anticancer insights derived from cell cycle research has given birth to the idea of cell cycle G2 checkpoint abrogation as a cancer cell specific therapy, based on the discovery that many cancer cells have a defective G1 checkpoint resulting in a dependence on the G2 checkpoint during cell replication. Damaged DNA in humans is detected by sensor proteins (such as hHUS1, hRAD1, hRAD9, hRAD17, and hRAD26) that transmit a signal via ATR to CHK1, or by another sensor complex (that may include gammaH2AX, 53BP1, BRCA1, NBS1, hMRE11, and hRAD50), the signal of which is relayed by ATM to CHK2. Most of the damage signals originated by the sensor complexes for the G2 checkpoint are conducted to CDC25C, the activity of which is modulated by 14-3-3. There are also less extensively explored pathways involving p53, p38, PCNA, HDAC, PP2A, PLK1, WEE1, CDC25B, and CDC25A. This review will examine the available inhibitors of CHK1 (Staurosporin, UCN-01, Go6976, SB-218078, ICP-1, and CEP-3891), both CHK1 and CHK2 (TAT-S216A and debromohymenialdisine), CHK2 (CEP-6367), WEE1 (PD0166285), and PP2A (okadaic acid and fostriecin), as well as the unknown checkpoint inhibitors 13-hydroxy-15-ozoapathin and the isogranulatimides. Among these targets, CHK1 seems to be the most suitable target for therapeutic G2 abrogation to date, although an unexplored target such as 14-3-3 or the strategy of targeting multiple proteins at once may be of interest in the future.
Mol Cancer Ther 2004 Apr
PMID:G2 checkpoint abrogators as anticancer drugs. 1507 95

Because activation of p53 can trigger cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, it is necessary for a cell to suppress this activation until it is absolutely required for survival. The mechanisms underlying this important regulatory event are poorly understood. Here we show that nucleophosmin (NPM) acts as a natural repressor of p53 by setting a threshold for p53 activation in response to UV radiation. NPM binds to the p53 N terminus and inhibits p53 transcriptional activity by more than 70%. Our data indicate that the levels of NPM in a cell determine the UV dose at which the tumor suppressor p53 can be phosphorylated on Ser15. Moreover, we show that NPM is a substrate for the UV-activated protein kinase ATR and inhibits the UV-induced p53 phosphorylation at Ser15. In addition, NPM forms a complex with p53 and ATR in vivo. These data suggest that NPM is an early responder to DNA damage that prevents premature activation of p53. In normal cells, NPM could contribute to suppressing p53 activation until its functions are absolutely required while in cancer cells overexpression of NPM could contribute to p53 inactivation and tumor progression.
Mol Cell Biol 2004 May
PMID:Nucleophosmin sets a threshold for p53 response to UV radiation. 1508 66

DNA damage checkpoint pathways sense DNA lesions and transduce the signals into appropriate biological responses, including cell cycle arrest, induction of transcriptional programs, and modification or activation of repair factors. Here we show that the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sae2 protein, known to be involved in processing meiotic and mitotic double-strand breaks, is required for proper recovery from checkpoint-mediated cell cycle arrest after DNA damage and is phosphorylated periodically during the unperturbed cell cycle and in response to DNA damage. Both cell cycle- and DNA damage-dependent Sae2 phosphorylation requires the main checkpoint kinase, Mec1, and the upstream components of its pathway, Ddc1, Rad17, Rad24, and Mec3. Another pathway, involving Tel1 and the MRX complex, is also required for full DNA damage-induced Sae2 phosphorylation, that is instead independent of the downstream checkpoint transducers Rad53 and Chk1, as well as of their mediators Rad9 and Mrc1. Mutations altering all the favored ATM/ATR phosphorylation sites of Sae2 not only abolish its in vivo phosphorylation after DNA damage but also cause hypersensitivity to methyl methanesulfonate treatment, synthetic lethality with RAD27 deletion, and decreased rates of mitotic recombination between inverted Alu repeats, suggesting that checkpoint-mediated phosphorylation of Sae2 is important to support its repair and recombination functions.
Mol Cell Biol 2004 May
PMID:The functions of budding yeast Sae2 in the DNA damage response require Mec1- and Tel1-dependent phosphorylation. 1512 37

A network of ATM/ATR-mediated events regulates cell cycle checkpoints and genomic integrity and contributes to the processing of DNA double-strand breaks in both genomic DNA and at telomeres. In yeast and in human cells, investigators, including, and Herbig et al., published in this issue of Molecular Cell, are beginning to decipher the signaling pathways involved at the telomeres.
Mol Cell 2004 May 21
PMID:Telomeres are double-strand DNA breaks hidden from DNA damage responses. 1514

Cellular senescence can be triggered by telomere shortening as well as a variety of stresses and signaling imbalances. We used multiparameter single-cell detection methods to investigate upstream signaling pathways and ensuing cell cycle checkpoint responses in human fibroblasts. Telomeric foci containing multiple DNA damage response factors were assembled in a subset of senescent cells and signaled through ATM to p53, upregulating p21 and causing G1 phase arrest. Inhibition of ATM expression or activity resulted in cell cycle reentry, indicating that stable arrest requires continuous signaling. ATR kinase appears to play a minor role in normal cells but in the absence of ATM elicited a delayed G2 phase arrest. These pathways do not affect expression of p16, which was upregulated in a telomere- and DNA damage-independent manner in a subset of cells. Distinct senescence programs can thus progress in parallel, resulting in mosaic cultures as well as individual cells responding to multiple signals.
Mol Cell 2004 May 21
PMID:Telomere shortening triggers senescence of human cells through a pathway involving ATM, p53, and p21(CIP1), but not p16(INK4a). 1514 91

Although the link between transcription and DNA repair is well established, defects in the core transcriptional complex itself have not been shown to elicit a DNA damage response. Here we show that a cell line with a temperature-sensitive defect in TBP-associated factor 1 (TAF1), a component of the TFIID general transcription complex, exhibits hallmarks of an ATR-mediated DNA damage response. Upon inactivation of TAF1, ATR rapidly localized to subnuclear foci and contributed to the phosphorylation of several downstream targets, including p53 and Chk1, resulting in cell cycle arrest. The increase in p53 expression and the G(1) phase arrest could be blocked by caffeine, an inhibitor of ATR. In addition, dominant negative forms of ATR but not ATM were able to override the arrest in G(1). These results suggest that a defect in TAF1 can elicit a DNA damage response.
Mol Cell Biol 2004 Jun
PMID:Activation of a DNA damage checkpoint response in a TAF1-defective cell line. 1516 97

The checkpoint kinase Chk2 is activated in response to DNA damage through pathways requiring protein kinases ATM and/or ATR. The means by which Chk2 is activated by these kinases still remains to be addressed. Here we describe a cell-free system to study the activation of Chk2. Chk2 produced by a wheat germ extract in vitro transcription/translation system is inactive and can be activated by incubating with a rabbit reticulocyte lysate. This method will be useful for identification of cofactors required for activation of Chk2.
Methods Mol Biol 2004
PMID:Establishment of a cell-free system to study the activation of Chk2. 1518 52

Owing to their importance in normal cell division, DNA damage checkpoint and repair genes are often required for the earliest stages of embryzonic development. For example, conventional deletion of ATR, Chk1, Mad2, NBS, Rad50, BRCA1, BRCA2, or Rad51 leads to developmental arrest prior to gastrulation. While prior to arrest the number of cells extant in these embryos is low, procedures allowing rudimentary analysis of cell cycle checkpoints and genome integrity have been developed through culturing blastocysts in vitro. These procedures provide a small number of proliferating cells that can be analyzed for cell cycle progression, G2/M phase checkpoint responses, and gross chromosome abnormalities by mitotic spread preparation. Experiments such as these may help determine the essential functions of these genes in cell proliferation and early embryonic development. It is interesting to note that recently developed methods to introduce single-copy transgenes into one-cell zygotes via lentiviruses may provide a means to generate Cre/lox-conditional cell lines from these conventional knockouts.
Methods Mol Biol 2004
PMID:Analysis of cell cycle progression and genomic integrity in early lethal knockouts. 1518 55

Cell-free systems derived from Xenopus eggs represent a powerful tool, intermediate between in vitro and in vivo model systems. Here, we describe protocols to prepare cell-free extracts recapitulating several aspects of the DNA damage response, including the DNA damage-dependent activation of ATM/ATR protein kinases and several DNA damage checkpoint signaling pathways that inhibit initiation of DNA replication. We provide protocols to prepare cell-free extracts, DNA templates, protein kinase substrates, and to perform checkpoint assays. In addition, we describe related methods that provide useful readouts of the DNA damage response.
Methods Mol Biol 2004
PMID:Xenopus cell-free extracts to study the DNA damage response. 1518 56

Nitric oxide (NO(.)), which is generated under chronic inflammatory conditions that predispose individuals to cancer, has paradoxical effects. NO(.) can activate p53, which can result in anti-carcinogenic effects, or it can be mutagenic and increase cancer risk. We explored the mechanisms by which NO(.) induced p53 activation in vitro and found that NO(.) induced p53 accumulation and phosphorylation, particularly at ser-15, via ATM and ATR kinases, which then led to cell cycle arrest at G(2)/M. We next examined proteins in these pathways in both inflamed and normal human colon tissue. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) levels and p53-P-ser15 levels were positively correlated with the degree of inflammation and with each other. Additionally, the p53 targets, HDM-2 and p21 (WAF1), were present in ulcerative colitis (UC) colon, but undetectable in normal colon, consistent with activated p53. We also found higher p53 mutant frequencies of both G:C --> A:T transitions at the CpG site of codon 248 and C:G --> T:A transitions at codon 247 in lesional colon tissue from UC cases versus nonlesional tissue from these cases or colon tissue from normal adult controls. Consistent with nitrosative stress and the deamination of 5-methylcytosine, p53 mutations were also detected in sporadic colon cancer tissue and were associated with iNOS activity in these tissues. These studies identified a potential mechanistic link between NO(.) and p53 in UC and sporadic colon cancer.
Environ Mol Mutagen 2004
PMID:Nitric oxide and p53 in cancer-prone chronic inflammation and oxyradical overload disease. 1519 42


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