Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P10415 (Bcl-2)
 33,771 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The progression of gliomas has been extensively studied at the genomic level using cDNA microarrays. However, systematic examinations at the protein translational and post-translational levels are far more limited. We constructed a glioma protein lysate array from 82 different primary glioma tissues, and surveyed the expression and phosphorylation of 46 different proteins involved in signaling pathways of cell proliferation, cell survival, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and cell invasion. An analysis algorithm was employed to robustly estimate the protein expressions in these samples. When ranked by their discriminating power to separate 37 glioblastomas (high-grade gliomas) from 45 lower-grade gliomas, the following 12 proteins were identified as the most powerful discriminators: IBalpha, EGFRpTyr845, AKTpThr308, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), BadpSer136, insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP) 2, IGFBP5, matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), phosphorylated retinoblastoma protein (pRB), Bcl-2, and c-Abl. Clustering analysis showed a close link between PI3K and AKTpThr308, IGFBP5 and IGFBP2, and IBalpha and EGFRpTyr845. Another cluster includes MMP9, Bcl-2, VEGF, and pRB. These clustering patterns may suggest functional relationships, which warrant further investigation. The marked association of phosphorylation of AKT at Thr308, but not Ser473, with glioblastoma suggests a specific event of PI3K pathway activation in glioma progression.
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PMID:Pathway alterations during glioma progression revealed by reverse phase protein lysate arrays. 1661 7

Drug development in human chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has been limited by lack of a suitable animal model to adequately assess pharmacologic properties relevant to clinical application. A recently described TCL-1 transgenic mouse develops a chronic B-cell CD5(+) leukemia that might be useful for such studies. Following confirmation of the natural history of this leukemia in the transgenic mice, we demonstrated that the transformed murine lymphocytes express relevant therapeutic targets (Bcl-2, Mcl-1, AKT, PDK1, and DNMT1), wild-type p53 status, and in vitro sensitivity to therapeutic agents relevant to the treatment of human CLL. We then demonstrated the in vivo clinical activity of low-dose fludarabine in transgenic TCL-1 mice with active leukemia. These studies demonstrated both early reduction in blood-lymphocyte count and spleen size and prolongation of survival (P = .046) compared with control mice. Similar to human CLL, an emergence of resistance was noted with fludarabine treatment in vivo. Overall, these studies suggest that the TCL-1 transgenic leukemia mouse model has similar clinical and therapeutic response properties to human CLL and may therefore serve as a useful in vivo tool to screen new drugs for subsequent development in CLL.
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PMID:Characterization of the TCL-1 transgenic mouse as a preclinical drug development tool for human chronic lymphocytic leukemia. 1667 Feb 63

The Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK and PI3K/PTEN/AKT signaling cascades play critical roles in the transmission of signals from growth factor receptors to regulate gene expression and prevent apoptosis. Components of these pathways are mutated or aberrantly expressed in human cancer (e.g., Ras, B-Raf, PI3K, PTEN, Akt). Also, mutations occur at genes encoding upstream receptors (e.g., EGFR and Flt-3) and chimeric chromosomal translocations (e.g., BCR-ABL) which transmit their signals through these cascades. These pathways interact with each other to regulate growth and in some cases tumorigenesis. For example, in some cells, PTEN mutation may contribute to suppression of the Raf/MEK/ERK cascade due to the ability of elevated activated Akt levels to phosphorylate and inactivate Raf-1. We have investigated the genetic structures and functional roles of these two signaling pathways in the malignant transformation and drug resistance of hematopoietic, breast and prostate cancer cells. Although both of these pathways are commonly thought to have anti-apoptotic and drug resistance effects on cells, they display different cell-lineage-specific effects. Induced Raf expression can abrogate the cytokine dependence of certain hematopoietic cell lines (FDC-P1 and TF-1), a trait associated with tumorigenesis. In contrast, expression of activated PI3K or Akt does not abrogate the cytokine dependence of these hematopoietic cell lines, but does have positive effects on cell survival. However, activated PI3K and Akt can synergize with activated Raf to abrogate the cytokine dependence of another hematopoietic cell line (FL5.12) which is not transformed by activated Raf expression by itself. Activated Raf and Akt also confer a drug-resistant phenotype to these cells. Raf is more associated with proliferation and the prevention of apoptosis while Akt is more associated with the long-term clonogenicity. In breast cancer cells, activated Raf conferred resistance to the chemotherapeutic drugs doxorubicin and paclitaxel. Raf induced the expression of the drug pump Mdr-1 (a.k.a., Pgp) and the Bcl-2 anti-apoptotic protein. Raf did not appear to induce drug resistance by altering p53/p21Cip-1 expression, whose expression is often linked to regulation of cell cycle progression and drug resistance. Deregulation of the PI3K/PTEN/Akt pathway was associated with resistance to doxorubicin and 4-hydroxyl tamoxifen, a chemotherapeutic drug and estrogen receptor antagonist used in breast cancer therapy. In contrast to the drug-resistant breast cancer cells obtained after overexpression of activated Raf, cells expressing activated Akt displayed altered (decreased) levels of p53/p21Cip-1. Deregulated expression of the central phosphatase in the PI3K/PTEN/Akt pathway led to breast cancer drug resistance. Introduction of mutated forms of PTEN, which lacked lipid phosphatase activity, increased the resistance of the MCF-7 cells to doxorubicin, suggesting that these lipid phosphatase deficient PTEN mutants acted as dominant negative mutants to suppress wild-type PTEN activity. Finally, the PI3K/PTEN/Akt pathway appears to be more prominently involved in prostate cancer drug resistance than the Raf/MEK/ERK pathway. Some advanced prostate cancer cells express elevated levels of activated Akt which may suppress Raf activation. Introduction of activated forms of Akt increased the drug resistance of advanced prostate cancer cells. In contrast, introduction of activated forms of Raf did not increase the drug resistance of the prostate cancer cells. In contrast to the results observed in hematopoietic cells, Raf may normally promote differentiation in prostate cells which is suppressed in advanced prostate cancer due to increased expression of activated Akt arising from PTEN mutation. Thus in advanced prostate cancer it may be advantageous to induce Raf expression to promote differentiation, while in hematopoietic cancers it may be beneficial to inhibit Raf/MEK/ERK-induced proliferation. These signaling and anti-apoptotic pathways can have different effects on growth, prevention of apoptosis and induction of drug resistance in cells of various lineages which may be due to the expression of lineage-specific factors.
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PMID:Roles of the RAF/MEK/ERK and PI3K/PTEN/AKT pathways in malignant transformation and drug resistance. 1685 53

Protein kinase B (PKB), an Ag receptor activated serine-threonine kinase, controls various cellular processes including proliferation and survival. However, PKB function in thymocyte development is still unclear. We report PKB as an important negative regulator of the calcineurin (CN)-regulated transcription factor NFAT in early T cell differentiation. Expression of a hyperactive version of CN induces a profound block at the CD25+CD44- double-negative (DN) 3 stage of T cell development. We correlate this arrest with up-regulation of Bcl-2, CD2, CD5, and CD27 proteins and constitutive activation of NFAT but a severe impairment of Rag1, Rag2, and intracellular TCR-beta as well as intracellular TCR-gammadelta protein expression. Intriguingly, simultaneous expression of active myristoylated PKB inhibits nuclear NFAT activity, restores Rag activity, and enables DN3 cells to undergo normal differentiation and expansion. A correlation between the loss of NFAT activity and Rag1 and Rag2 expression is also found in myristoylated PKB-induced CD4+ lymphoma cells. Furthermore, ectopic expression of NFAT inhibits Rag2 promoter activity in EL4 cells, and in vivo binding of NFATc1 to the Rag1 and Rag2 promoter and cis-acting transcription regulatory elements is verified by chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis. The regulation of CN/NFAT signaling by PKB may thus control receptor regulated changes in Rag expression and constitute a signaling pathway important for differentiation processes in the thymus and periphery.
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PMID:PKB rescues calcineurin/NFAT-induced arrest of Rag expression and pre-T cell differentiation. 1698 94

Sphingomyelin breakdown product ceramide has recently been found to induce an adaptive response and reduce myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. Since activation of MAP kinases plays an essential role in myocardial adaptation to ischemic stress and since ceramide is involved in lipid raft formation where MAP kinases can be translocated in response to stress, we reasoned that preconditioning may potentiate the translocation of MAP kinases into the lipid raft. To test the hypothesis, rats were divided into five groups: (i) control, (ii) ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), (iii) I/R+C-2 ceramide, (iv) adapted and (v) adapted+desipramine, an inhibitor of ceramide formation. Isolated hearts were preperfused for 15 min with Krebs Henseleit bicarbonate (KHB) buffer in the absence or presence of 10 microM desipramine followed by adaptation induced by four cyclic episodes of 5 min ischemia and 10 min reperfusion. For myocardial adaptation to ischemia with ceramide, the hearts were perfused with 1 microM C-2 ceramide. All hearts were then subjected to 30 min ischemia and 2 h of reperfusion. As expected, both ischemic adaptation and ceramide adaptation made the heart resistant to I/R injury as evidenced by improved ventricular performance and reduced myocardial infarct size and cardiomyocyte apoptosis, which were significantly blocked with desipramine indicating the involvement of ceramide in ischemic adaptation. Ceramide also participated in the formation of lipid raft, and desipramine disrupted the raft formation. In the adapted hearts, there was an increased association of the proapoptotic p38MAPKalpha with caveolin-1 while there was a reduced association of anti-apoptotic p38MAPKbeta with caveolin-3 indicating reduced amount of p38MAPKalpha and increased amount of p38MAPKbeta were available to the adapted hearts thereby generating a survival signal. Desipramine decreased the association of P38MAPKalpha and C-2 ceramide increased the association of P38MAPKalpha with the lipid raft. The survival signal was further confirmed by increased phosphorylation of AKT and enhanced induction of expression of Bcl-2 during adaptation and its reversal with desipramine. The results indicated a unique ceramide signaling the ischemic and PC hearts involving lipid rafts, which generated a survival signal by differentially associating the p38MAPKalpha and p38MAPKbeta with the caveolin-1 and caveoli-3, respectively.
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PMID:Generation of survival signal by differential interaction of p38MAPKalpha and p38MAPKbeta with caveolin-1 and caveolin-3 in the adapted heart. 1706 50

Whether resveratrol, a component of red grapes, berries, and peanuts, could suppress the proliferation of multiple myeloma (MM) cells by interfering with NF-kappaB and STAT3 pathways, was investigated. Resveratrol inhibited the proliferation of human multiple myeloma cell lines regardless of whether they were sensitive or resistant to the conventional chemotherapy agents. This stilbene also potentiated the apoptotic effects of bortezomib and thalidomide. Resveratrol induced apoptosis as indicated by accumulation of sub-G(1) population, increase in Bax release, and activation of caspase-3. This correlated with down-regulation of various proliferative and antiapoptotic gene products, including cyclin D1, cIAP-2, XIAP, survivin, Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Bfl-1/A1, and TRAF2. In addition, resveratrol down-regulated the constitutive activation of AKT. These effects of resveratrol are mediated through suppression of constitutively active NF-kappaB through inhibition of IkappaBalpha kinase and the phosphorylation of IkappaBalpha and of p65. Resveratrol inhibited both the constitutive and the interleukin 6-induced activation of STAT3. When we examined CD138(+) plasma cells from patients with MM, resveratrol inhibited constitutive activation of both NF-kappaB and STAT3, leading to down-regulation of cell proliferation and potentiation of apoptosis induced by bortezomib and thalidomide. These mechanistic findings suggest that resveratrol may have a potential in the treatment of multiple myeloma.
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PMID:Resveratrol inhibits proliferation, induces apoptosis, and overcomes chemoresistance through down-regulation of STAT3 and nuclear factor-kappaB-regulated antiapoptotic and cell survival gene products in human multiple myeloma cells. 1716 50

Silymarin consists of a family of flavonoids (silybin, isosilybin, silychristin, silydianin and taxifoline) commonly found in the dried fruit of the milk thistle plant Silybum marianum. Although silymarin's role as an antioxidant and hepatoprotective agent is well known, its role as an anticancer agent has begun to emerge. Extensive research within the last decade has shown that silymarin can suppress the proliferation of a variety of tumor cells (e.g., prostate, breast, ovary, colon, lung, bladder); this is accomplished through cell cycle arrest at the G1/S-phase, induction of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (such as p15, p21 and p27), down-regulation of anti-apoptotic gene products (e.g., Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL), inhibition of cell-survival kinases (AKT, PKC and MAPK) and inhibition of inflammatory transcription factors (e.g., NF-kappaB). Silymarin can also down-regulate gene products involved in the proliferation of tumor cells (cyclin D1, EGFR, COX-2, TGF-beta, IGF-IR), invasion (MMP-9), angiogenesis (VEGF) and metastasis (adhesion molecules). The antiinflammatory effects of silymarin are mediated through suppression of NF-kappaB-regulated gene products, including COX-2, LOX, inducible iNOS, TNF and IL-1. Numerous studies have indicated that silymarin is a chemopreventive agent in vivo against a variety of carcinogens/tumor promoters, including UV light, 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA), phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and others. Silymarin has also been shown to sensitize tumors to chemotherapeutic agents through down-regulation of the MDR protein and other mechanisms. It binds to both estrogen and androgen receptors, and down-regulates PSA. In addition to its chemopreventive effects, silymarin exhibits antitumor activity against human tumors (e.g., prostate and ovary) in rodents. Various clinical trials have indicated that silymarin is bioavailable and pharmacologically safe. Studies are now in progress to demonstrate the clinical efficacy of silymarin against various cancers.
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PMID:Anticancer potential of silymarin: from bench to bed side. 1720 Nov 69

Curcumin (diferulolylmethane), an active ingredient derived from the rhizome of the plant Curcuma longa, has anticancer activity in vitro and in vivo. Although curcumin possesses chemopreventive properties against several types of cancer, the molecular mechanisms by which it inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis are not clearly understood. Our data revealed that curcumin inhibited growth and induced apoptosis in androgen-dependent and -independent prostate cancer cells, but had no effect on normal human prostate epithelial cells. Curcumin downregulated the expression of Bcl-2, and Bcl-XL and upregulated the expression of p53, Bax, Bak, PUMA, Noxa, and Bim. Curcumin upregulated the expression of p53 as well as its phosphorylation at serine 15, and acetylation in a concentration-dependent manner. Acetylation of histone H3 and H4 was increased in cells treated with curcumin, suggesting histone modification may regulate gene expression. Treatment of LNCaP cells with curcumin resulted in translocation of Bax and p53 to mitochondria, production of reactive oxygen species, drop in mitochondrial membrane potential, release of mitochondrial proteins (cytochrome c, Smac/DIABLO and Omi/HtrA2), activation of caspase-3 and induction of apoptosis. Furthermore, curcumin inhibited expression of phosphatidyl-inositol-3 kinase (PI3K) p110 and p85 subunits, and phosphorylation of Ser 473 AKT/PKB. Downregulation of AKT by inhibitors of PI3K (Wortmannin and LY294002) and AKT, or by dominant negative AKT increased curcumin-induced apoptosis, whereas transfection of constitutively active AKT attenuated this effect. Similarly, wild-type phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted from chromosome 10 (PTEN) enhanced curcumin-induced apoptosis and, in contrast, inactive PTEN (G129E and G129R) inhibited curcumin-induced apoptosis. Overexpression of constitutively active AKT inhibited curcumin-induced p53 translocation to mitochondria, and Smac release to cytoplasm, whereas inhibition of AKT by dominant negative AKT enhanced curcumin-induced p53 translocation to mitochondria and Smac release. Our study establishes a role for AKT in modulating the direct action of p53 on the caspase-dependent mitochondrial death pathway and suggests that these important biological molecules interact at the level of the mitochondria to influence curcumin sensitivity. These properties of curcumin strongly suggest that it could be used as a cancer chemopreventive agent.
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PMID:Involvement of Bcl-2 family members, phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase/AKT and mitochondrial p53 in curcumin (diferulolylmethane)-induced apoptosis in prostate cancer. 1733 30

The aim of this study was to verify the hypothesis that beta-carotene may prevent 7-ketocholesterol (7-KC)-induced apoptosis in human macrophages. Therefore, THP-1 macrophages were exposed to 7-KC (5-50 microM) alone and in combination with beta-carotene (0.25-1 microM). 7-KC inhibited the growth of macrophages in a dose- and a time-dependent manner by inducing an arrest of cell cycle progression in the G0/G1 phase and apoptosis. Concomitantly, p53, p21, and Bax expressions were increased by 7-KC, whereas the levels of AKT, Bcl-2, and Bcl-xL were decreased. beta-Carotene prevented the growth-inhibitory effects of 7-KC in a dose- and time-dependent manner as well as the effects of 7-KC on the expression of cell cycle- and apoptosis-related proteins. 7-KC also enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production through an increased expression of NAD(P)H oxidase (NOX-4). The effects of 7-KC were counteracted by the addition of the NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitor DPI or by cotransfection of siNOX-4 mRNA. beta-Carotene prevented 7-KC-induced increase in ROS production and in NOX-4 expression, as well as the phosphorylation of p38, JNK, and ERK1/2 induced by 7-KC. These data suggest a possible antiatherogenic role of beta-carotene through the prevention of 7-KC toxicity in human macrophages.
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PMID:Redox regulation of 7-ketocholesterol-induced apoptosis by beta-carotene in human macrophages. 2537 21

Tetra-O-methyl nordihydroguaiaretic acid (M4N) was shown to induce G2 arrest and suppress human xenograft tumor growth by inhibiting Cdc2 and survivin. We examined the effect of M4N on leukemia and found that M4N inhibited growth and induced cell death in leukemic cell lines and blasts from AML patients. However, no significant changes in Cdc2 and survivin levels and G2 arrest were observed. Cell death and growth inhibition were dependent neither on XIAP, Bcl-2, and Bcl-X(L) levels nor on caspase-8. M4N did not promote cell differentiation in HL-60 cells. Interestingly, significant inhibition of AKT phosphorylation was observed in M4N treated OCI-AML3 cells. Collectively, our data showed that M4N inhibited cell growth and induced cell death in both leukemic cell lines and AML patient sample via a mechanism not mediated by Cdc2 and survivin inhibition and suggested that the extrinsic and the mitochondrial apoptotic pathways are not essential.
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PMID:Tetra-O-methyl nordihydroguaiaretic acid inhibits growth and induces death of leukemia cells independent of Cdc2 and survivin. 1745 37


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