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Query: UNIPROT:P10415 (Bcl-2)
 33,771 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The protein encoded by the Bcl-2 proto-oncogene has been shown to inhibit programmed cell death and has been primarily studied in hematolymphoid malignancies. Recent work ahs elucidated Bcl-2 expression in nonhematolymphoid malignancies of the lung, prostate, and nasopharynx. Studies of Bcl-2 expression in prostate carcinoma have suggested that its expression may be related to hormonal control. To determine its presence and possible significance in breast carcinoma, a malignancy in which therapy is influenced by hormone receptor status, we used a monoclonal antibody directed against the Bcl-2 gene product to examine Bcl-2 immunoreactivity in a series of paraffin-embedded primary breast tumors. Benign breast tissue showed Bcl-2 positivity in the basal layer and in superficial cells. Twenty-four of 41 (58%) carcinomas were Bcl-2 positive. Staining for Bcl-2 was equivocal in two cases. We identified a strong correlation between Bcl-2 expression and hormone receptor positivity as 23 of 24 (96%) cases that were Bcl-2 positive were estrogen receptor (ER) positive (P = 0.0001) and 21 of 24 (87.5%) were positive for progesterone receptor PR (P = 0.0001). Of 15 Bcl-2-negative cases, 14 (93%) were ER negative and all were PR negative. One case of mucinous carcinoma was ER positive and Bcl-2 negative. Grade 1 and 2 tumors (Scarff-Bloom-Richardson scale) were almost three times as likely to be Bcl-2 positive (90%) as grade 3 tumors (33%) (P = 0.0057). Bcl-2 reactivity appears to be more prevalent in well-differentiated tumors, suggesting that its presence may diminish with loss of differentiation, a hypothesis that is further supported by a subset of cases that were ER negative, Bcl-2 negative, and of poor histological grade. These may be tumors that do not require Bcl-2 inhibition of apoptosis and respond to hormonally independent proliferation factors. Our findings support the hypothesis that Bcl-2 expression may be related to hormonal regulation in breast carcinoma.
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PMID:Bcl-2 immunoreactivity in breast carcinoma correlates with hormone receptor positivity. 808 38

We reviewed recent reports on apoptosis and summarized the presentations at the Shirafu Cancer Symposium, 1993. The study of programmed cell death, apoptosis, has become one of the mainstream in cell biology, particularly in immunology, developmental biology and oncology. To determine whether the apoptotic cell death induced by anti-cancer agents could be inhibited by bcl-2, we established a bcl-2-transfected human small cell lung cancer cell line, SBC-3/Bcl-2. SBC-3/Bcl-2 showed higher resistance to ADM, CPT-11 and MMC compared with the parental line SBC-3. Agarose gel electrophoresis showed typical DNA fragmentation of SBC-3 following treatment with CPT-11 or MMC. In contrast, the same concentration of the drugs did not induce DNA fragmentation in SBC-3/Bcl-2. However, there was no difference in sensitivity to CDDP, VP-16, ACNU, MTX and Taxol between SBC-3 and SBC-3/Bcl-2 (Ohmori, T. et al. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 1993). These studies indicate that bcl-2 can modulate the cytotoxicity of some anti-cancer agents by inhibiting the process of apoptosis. We speculate that some apoptotic pathways are bcl-2-sensitive and others bcl-2-independent.
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PMID:[Anticancer agents and apoptosis]. 810 88

The maintenance of homeostasis in normal tissues reflects a balance between cell proliferation and cell death. The importance of both positive and negative regulators of cell growth has been well documented in neoplasia. Bcl-2 argues for the existence of a new category of oncogenes, regulators of cell death. The bcl-2 gene was identified at the chromosomal breakpoint of t(14; 18) bearing B cell lymphomas. Bcl-2 has proved to be unique among protooncogenes in blocking programmed cell death rather than promoting proliferation. In adults, bcl-2 is topographically restricted to progenitor cells and longlived cells but is much more widespread in the developing embryo. Transgenic mice that overexpress bcl-2 in the B cell lineage demonstrate extended cell survival, and progress to high grade lymphomas. Bcl-2 has been localized to mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and nuclear membranes, also the sites of reactive oxygen species generation. Bcl-2 does not appear to influence the generation of oxygen free radicals but does prevent oxidative damage to cellular constituents including lipid membranes. Bcl-2 deficient mice complete embryonic development and display relatively normal haematopoietic differentiation but undergo fulminant lymphoid apoptosis of thymus and spleen. Moreover, they demonstrate two potentially oxidation related pathologies: polycystic kidney disease and hair hypopigmentation. A family of bcl-2 related genes is emerging that includes Bax, a conserved homolog that heterodimerizes in vivo with bcl-2. A pre-set ratio of Bcl-2/Bax appears to determine the survival or death of cells following an apoptotic stimulus.
Semin Cancer Biol 1993 Dec
PMID:Bcl-2/Bax: a rheostat that regulates an anti-oxidant pathway and cell death. 814 17

The p53 tumor suppressor gene product can induce apoptotic cell death through an unknown mechanism. Here we demonstrate that a temperature-sensitive p53 induces temperature-dependent decreases in the expression of the apoptosis-suppressing gene bcl-2 in the murine leukemia cell M1, while simultaneously stimulating increases in the expression of bax, a gene which encodes a dominant-inhibitor of the Bcl-2 protein. Mice deficient in p53 exhibit increases in Bcl-2 and decreases in Bax protein levels in several tissues as determined by immunohistochemical and immunoblot methods. The findings suggest a potential mechanism by which p53 regulates apoptosis, as well as responses to radiation and chemotherapeutic drugs in cancer.
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PMID:Tumor suppressor p53 is a regulator of bcl-2 and bax gene expression in vitro and in vivo. 818 79

The BHRF1 open reading frame of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) codes for a 191-amino-acid protein that is expressed at high levels in productively infected cells and in certain latently infected cells. The BHRF1-coding sequences are conserved among all EBV isolates examined. BHRF1 shares a distant colinear amino acid sequence homology with the protein coded by the Bcl-2 protooncogene which suppresses apoptotic cell death induced by multiple stimuli. We have established Chinese hamster ovary cell lines which constitutively express the BHRF1 protein and show that this viral protein can protect against apoptosis induced by the DNA-damaging agents cisplatin, etoposide, and mitomycin C. The BHRF1 protein also strongly suppresses DNA fragmentation induced by an adenovirus E1B 19K deletion mutant. These results suggest that the BHRF1 protein is functionally similar to Bcl-2 and adenovirus E1B 19-kDa proteins. Since BHRF1 efficiently suppresses apoptosis induced by anti-cancer agents, its expression may have important implications for the chemotherapy of EBV-induced malignancies.
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PMID:Epstein-Barr virus BHRF1 protein protects against cell death induced by DNA-damaging agents and heterologous viral infection. 818 52

Whether a cell decides to proliferate, undergo growth arrest, or even commit suicide is determined by a multitude of highly potent positive and negative regulatory factors. Mutational perturbation of these factors and the normal pathways through which they regulate either cell proliferation or cell death can induce a pathologic enhancement in cell number, or hyperplasia, and eventually the development of malignant tumors. Serving as valuable animal models for cancer in humans, transgenic mice have been used to demonstrate the dramatic consequences of subverting the normal molecular mechanisms regulating cell proliferation and/or cell death. This review will use three transgenic mouse models to illustrate the consequences of inducing such regulatory imbalances, as well as the utility and versatility of the transgenic approach in cancer research. Three different regulatory factors are considered; transforming growth factor-alpha is discussed as an example of a positive growth regulator, p53 as a negative growth regulator, and Bcl-2 as an inhibitor of programmed cell death.
Semin Cancer Biol 1994 Feb
PMID:Regulatory imbalances in cell proliferation and cell death during oncogenesis in transgenic mice. 818 84

bcl-2 is the first member of a new class of protooncogenes the products of which inhibit programmed cell death (PCD) or apoptosis. We have previously determined that Bcl-2 is expressed in a significant percentage of untreated primary neuroblastoma (NBL) tumors. In these specimens Bcl-2 expression correlated with other markers of poor prognosis suggesting a role for Bcl-2 in the malignant behavior of NBL tumor cells. To investigate this possibility, a Bcl-2-negative human NBL cell line (Shep-1) was transfected with a bcl-2 expression vector (pSFFVneo-bcl-2). Multiple unique clones were isolated which showed variable levels of Bcl-2 protein by quantitative immunoprecipitation. Vector-transfected controls were generated simultaneously. Clones expressing high levels of Bcl-2 were resistant to cisplatin- and etoposide-induced cytotoxicity in a dose-dependent manner. Analysis of propidium iodide-stained nuclei by flow cytometry after cisplatin or etoposide treatment revealed marked DNA degradation in vector-transfected controls whereas bcl-2 transfectants showed a dose-dependent inhibition of DNA degradation. Analysis by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed relatively large fragment DNA degradation (approximately 50 kilobases) in the absence of internucleosomal degradation in vector-transfected control cells treated with either cisplatin or etoposide. In contrast, Bcl-2-expressing cells showed significantly less DNA degradation at all time points. These single gene transfection experiments have revealed that expression of Bcl-2 renders specific NBL cells resistant to chemotherapy-induced PCD and support the hypothesis that Bcl-2 enhances the malignant phenotype of NBL by promoting tumor resistance to chemotherapy agents.
Cancer Res 1994 Jun 15
PMID:Bcl-2 inhibits chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in neuroblastoma. 820 48

The t[14;18] chromosomal translocation is the most common cytogenetic abnormality found in hematolymphoid malignancies. The t[14;18] fuses the bcl-2 gene at 18q21 with the immunoglobulin heavy-chain locus at 14q32, resulting in deregulated expression of bcl-2 and production of high levels of its encoded 26-kD protein in the majority of non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Recent data indicate that somatic point mutations frequently occur in translocated bcl-2 alleles, possibly because of the somatic hypermutation mechanism that is associated with the immunoglobulin gene loci and that normally contributes to antibody diversity. In some cases, these mutations can affect the open reading frame of the bcl-2 gene and thereby alter Bcl-2 proteins. Here, we review the currently available data about the incidence, biological effects, and possible clinical importance of somatic mutations within the translocated bcl-2 genes of human lymphomas and leukemias.
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PMID:Somatic point mutations in the translocated bcl-2 genes of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and lymphocytic leukemias: implications for mechanisms of tumor progression. 822 Jan 13

Expression of the bcl-2 gene becomes deregulated in many non-Hodgkin lymphomas as the result of t(14;18) chromosomal translocations. Because bcl-2 regulates the survival of cells, and because its over-expression is associated with cellular resistance to killing by chemotherapeutic drugs and gamma-irradiation, this gene and its mRNA and protein products represent ideal targets for designing novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer. Here we describe the effects of an 18-mer phosphodiester oligonucleotide that is complementary to the first 6 codons of the bcl-2 mRNA's open reading frame. When tested for inhibition of in vitro protein synthesis using RNAse-H-supplemented reticulocyte lysates and RNA prepared by in vitro transcription of a human bcl-2 cDNA, the bcl-2 antisense (AS) oligomer completely abolished Bcl-2 protein production at 10 microM, but had no effect on the in vitro translation of a chicken bcl-2 RNA that contained three mismatches relative to the oligomer binding site on the human bcl-2 RNA. A control 18-mer having the same base composition as the AS oligomer but with scrambled order (SC) was not inhibitory. Addition of AS and SC oligomers to cultures of a NIH-3T3 fibroblast cell line that had been stably infected with a recombinant retrovirus containing the same human bcl-2 cDNA used for in vitro transcription/translation experiments revealed concentration-dependent reductions in the relative levels of the 26-kD human Bcl-2 protein (as determined by immunoblotting) by the AS but not by the SC oligomer. Similar results were obtained when AS and SC oligomers were applied to a t(14;18)-containing lymphoma cell line SU-DHL-4 that was cultured in low-serum media. When used at 200 microM, the bcl-2 AS oligomer produced 84-95% reductions in Bcl-2 protein levels in SU-DHL-4 cells but had relatively little effect on the levels of other mitochondrial control proteins, suggesting that the inhibitory effects were specific. Treatment of SU-DHL-4 cells with AS oligomer lead to essentially complete loss of bcl-2 mRNA from cells within 1 day of addition to cultures, but presumably because of the long half-life of the Bcl-2 protein (approximately 14 h), commensurate reductions in Bcl-2 protein levels did not occur until 3 days.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Investigations of antisense oligonucleotides targeted against bcl-2 RNAs. 840 Aug 1

We report here that the tat gene product of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 was able to protect lymphoblastoid (Jurkat), epithelial (293) and neuronal (PC12) cell lines from apoptotic death induced by serum withdrawal. The rescue from apoptosis by Tat was reflected by an increased expression of Bcl-2 protein in tat-positive Jurkat cells with respect to mock-transfected Jurkat cells after 3-6 days of serum-free cultures. We propose that the ability of the regulatory human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Tat protein to suppress apoptosis might have important implications in understanding the pathogenesis of frequent neoplastic disorders observed in human immunodeficiency virus type 1-seropositive individuals.
Cancer Res 1993 Oct 01
PMID:Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Tat protein protects lymphoid, epithelial, and neuronal cell lines from death by apoptosis. 840 18


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