Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P10721 (c-kit)
 6,575 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Mastocytosis is characterized by accumulations of mast cells in various organs (1). Most cases are indolent and confined to the skin, where discrete mast cell infiltrates are associated increased epidermal melanin, a clinical picture known as urticaria pigmentosa (UP). Other forms of mastocytosis combine UP with aggressive involvement of other organs or with haemotologic abnormalities (1-4). It is not known whether all forms of mastocytosis are true neoplasms or whether some might represent reactive hyperplasias (5-7). The c-KIT proto-oncogene encodes a type III receptor tyrosine kinase (KIT) that is critical to the development and survival of mast cells and melanocytes (8-11). The ligand for KIT (KL) can stimulate mast cell development, proliferation, and mediator release (9,12-17), as well as melanocyte proliferation and pigment production (18-20). To determine the role of c-KIT in the pathogenesis of mastocytosis, we examined tissue and cells isolated from a patient with UP and aggressive systemic mastocytosis with massive splenic involvement. We found a mutation that results in constitutive activation and expression of c-KIT in mast cells of both skin and spleen. This is the first in situ demonstration of an activation c-KIT mutation in neoplastic cells. It also demonstrates the clonal and neoplastic nature of this form of mastocytes.
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PMID:Somatic c-KIT activating mutation in urticaria pigmentosa and aggressive mastocytosis: establishment of clonality in a human mast cell neoplasm. 858 24

Mastocytosis is a disease characterized by an abnormal proliferation of tissue mast cells. The events primarily responsible for mast cell proliferation in mastocytosis are largely unknown, but a derangement of the network involving c-kit receptor and its natural ligand (stem cell factor, which promotes mast cell growth and differentiation in man) is likely to have a primary role in this disease. Mastocytosis comprises a wide spectrum of clinical conditions determined by the degree of mast cell proliferation, the organ systems involved, the age at onset and the association with hematologic diseases. Mastocytosis can occur in a pediatric or an adult form. In both groups of patients, the disease may be limited to the skin (cutaneous mastocytosis) or be systemic, involving predominantly the bone marrow and the gastrointestinal tract. The symptoms in patients with mastocytosis are generally related to the increased release of mast-cell-derived mediators, such as histamine, prostaglandin D2, peptide leukotrienes, platelet-activating factor, heparin and proteolytic enzymes. The measurement of these chemical mediators (histamine, tryptase and prostaglandin D2 and their metabolites) in body fluids is useful for the diagnosis and the laboratory evaluation of patients with systemic mastocytosis. As little is known about the pathogenesis of the different forms of mastocytosis, the treatment of the majority of these patients is largely symptomatic.
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PMID:Clinical advances in mastocytosis. 878 45

Mastocytosis are a group of diseases characterized by abnormal proliferation of mast cells. Various forms are observed in respect to the organ system involving, clinical manifestations, and association with hematological disorders. The c-kit proto-oncogene encodes for a receptor tyrosine kinase, which plays a crucial role in hematopoiesis, especially in mast cell growth and differentiation. Mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain of c-kit have been reported in murine and human malignant cell lines, and more recently in some cases of human mast cell diseases. The biochemical and clinical aspects of these mutations are reviewed with special emphasis on the experiments which demonstrate their role in oncogenesis and mast cell proliferation.
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PMID:C-kit mutations and mast cell disorders. A model of activating mutations of growth factor receptors. 916 10

Mastocytosis represents a mast cell proliferative disease that generally runs a benign clinical course, with spontaneous remissions mostly by puberty in childhood-onset disease, although rare forms, particularly in adult-onset disease, can be associated with (pre)malignant hematologic disorders and very rarely present as mast cell leukemia or malignant mastocytosis. Reasons for this divergent clinical behavior of childhood- versus adult-onset disease are unknown. Recently, two activating mutations in the intracellular domain of the proto-oncogene c-kit, which encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor for the mast cell growth factor stem cell factor, have been detected in the human leukemic mast cell line HMC-1. We have therefore studied lesional skin biopsies from patients with adult- and childhood-onset indolent mastocytosis for the presence of these codon 560 and 816 mutations. C-kit coding DNA sequences were amplified and analyzed by mutation-specific restriction analyses, and mutated polymerase chain reaction products were additionally cloned and sequenced. The codon 816 mutation was found in all six samples from adult patients, but not in any of the 11 specimens from children. In addition, the codon 560 mutation could be demonstrated for the first time in indolent mastocytosis, namely in two of four specimens from adult patients, but not in those from two children. These data thus provide a possible explanation for the divergent clinical behavior of adult- versus childhood-onset indolent mastocytosis, with the first being associated with an activating mutation, possibly as part of a neoplastic process, and the latter representing most likely a reactive process of an as yet unknown pathogenesis.
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PMID:Identification of activating c-kit mutations in adult-, but not in childhood-onset indolent mastocytosis: a possible explanation for divergent clinical behavior. 985 47

Mastocytosis is a neoplastic disease caused at least in part by somatic mutations of the c-KIT proto-oncogene resulting in constitutive activation of its protein product, KIT, the receptor tyrosine kinase for stem cell factor. KIT stimulates mast cell proliferation and prevents apoptosis of neoplastic mast cells. To develop potential therapies for mastocytosis we used indolinones, small molecules that inhibit tyrosine kinases. Four indolinone derivatives (SU4984, SU6663, SU6577, and SU5614) inhibited wild-type KIT, but variably inhibited constitutively activated KIT mutants. SU4984, SU6577, and SU5614 were effective against KIT with juxtamembrane activating mutations, whereas only SU6577 could suppress KIT containing either juxtamembrane or kinase domain activating mutations. Furthermore, SU4984, SU6577, and SU5614 killed neoplastic mast cells expressing a juxtamembrane-mutated KIT, whereas SU4984 and SU6577 killed neoplastic mast cells expressing KIT bearing a kinase domain mutation. These data show a direct correlation between inhibition of constitutively activated KIT and the death of neoplastic mast cells, and point to specific tyrosine kinase inhibitors as a potential therapy aimed directly at a cause of mastocytosis.
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PMID:Indolinone derivatives inhibit constitutively activated KIT mutants and kill neoplastic mast cells. 1065 4

Mast cells (MC) are tissue elements derived from hematopoietic stem cells. Their differentiation and proliferation processes are under the influence of cytokines, including one of utmost importance known as stem cell factor (SCF). SCF receptor is encoded by the protooncogene c-kit, belongs to the type III receptor tyrosine kinase subfamily, and is also expressed on other hematopoietic or non-hematopoietic cells. Ligation of c-kit receptor by SCF induces its dimerization, followed by induction of multiple intracellular signaling pathways leading to cell proliferation and activation. Mastocytosis, a relatively rare group of diseases characterized by accumulation of MC in various tissues, are found isolated or sometimes associated with other hematological malignancies in humans. Although the initial events leading to mastocytosis are not yet unraveled, alterations of the c-kit gene have been described. Particularly interesting are acquired mutations resulting in a constitutively activated receptor, possibly involved in the increased numbers of MC in tissues. For this reason, future strategies might be envisaged to target specifically the mutated c-kit and/or its intracellular signaling.
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PMID:c-Kit and c-kit mutations in mastocytosis and other hematological diseases. 1067 May 73

Mastocytosis is characterized by abnormal infiltration of mast cells into various organs. An activating mutation in c-kit, involving an A --> T substitution at nucleotide 2648 has recently been described in some patients with mastocytosis. We describe a 12-year-old girl with this mutation in her bone marrow cells at diagnosis with a myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) without evidence of mastocytosis, and then in peripheral blood mononuclear cells 1 year later after the emergence of mastocytosis. The role of the c-Kit receptor and its ligand stem cell factor (SCF) in the pathogenesis of the disease was analysed in marrow cell clonogenic assays. We show that the genetic abnormalities in the patient resulted in factor-independent growth and hypersensitivity of primitive progenitors to SCF, with increased production of mast cells. Increased apoptosis and cluster formation, consistent with the myelodysplastic nature of the disorder, accompanied accumulation of abnormal cells with increasing concentrations of SCF.
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PMID:Mastocytosis cells bearing a c-kit activating point mutation are characterized by hypersensitivity to stem cell factor and increased apoptosis. 1079 76

Mastocytosis is a rare disease characterized by a primary pathological increase in mast cells in different tissues, which may present in a variety of clinical patterns. Major advances have been made in recent years in the understanding of the pathogenesis of mastocytosis. This review is aimed at familiarizing dermatologists with these recent findings, and at exploring their possible implications for the diagnosis and treatment of the condition. The heterogeneous clinical presentation of mastocytosis is detailed with respect to the type of skin lesions, age at onset, family history, organ systems involved, associated haematological disorders and prognosis. Recent genetic findings also indicate different pathogenetic forms of mastocytosis, as adult patients and those with associated haematological diseases usually express activating mutations of the stem cell factor receptor c-kit, whereas most cases of childhood-onset and familial mastocytosis seem to lack these mutations. Despite the presence of c-kit mutations, patients with cutaneous lesions generally have a good prognosis, even when there is involvement of other organs. Some patients, particularly those with childhood-onset disease, experience spontaneous remission, mostly by puberty. c-kit mutations do not explain the initial cause of mastocytosis, and their prognostic significance is as yet unclarified, as is the pathogenesis in patients without the mutations. Furthermore, these novel findings have as yet not resulted in a more effective treatment of the cause of the disease, so that counselling, prevention of exposure to mast cell secretory stimuli, and symptomatic treatment remain the mainstays of current patient management.
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PMID:Mastocytosis: recent advances in defining the disease. 1129 25

Mastocytosis is a heterogeneous group of hematopoietic disorders characterized by abnormal growth and accumulation of mast cells (MC) in one or more organs. Clinical symptoms occur as a result of the release of chemical mediators and/or of pathologic infiltration of MC in various tissues. Although the initial events leading to mastocytosis have not yet been unraveled, acquired alterations in the c-kit gene coding for the receptor of stem cell factor (SCF), a major cytokine involved in MC growth, have been described in a significant number of patients. Of particular interest are point mutations resulting in a constitutively activated SCF receptor. Such mutations are probably involved in the abnormal (SCF-independent) proliferation of MC in these patients. New therapeutic strategies may be envisaged to inhibit the deregulated kinase activity of these mutant forms of c-kit.
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PMID:Kit and c-kit mutations in mastocytosis: a short overview with special reference to novel molecular and diagnostic concepts. 1191 18

Mastocytosis is a rare stem cell disorder characterized by abnormal growth and accumulation of mast cells in one or more organ systems. Clinical heterogeneity is a hallmark of mastocytosis. Recent observations of activating mutations in c-kit may help to understand the abnormal growth of mast cells in mastocytosis. However, this mutation alone does not explain the entire clinical heterogeneity of the disease. Reticulin fibrosis is also commonly associated with systemic mastocytosis. Mast cells are known to be the source of fibrogenic cytokines, including platelet-derived growth factor, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). Immunohistochemical studies show a close correlation between the mast cell expression of bFGF and the reticulin fibrosis of mastocytosis lesions. The study of cytokine receptor expression also demonstrates that the TGF beta receptor I (RI)-negative cases of mastocytosis are prognostically less favorable than the TGF beta RI-positive cases. This finding may be related to the fact that the TGF beta R complex functions as a tumor suppressor gene in neoplastic cells.
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PMID:Mastocytosis and fibrosis: role of cytokines. 1191 21


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