Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P43146 (tumour suppressor)
 5,935 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The cloning of the gene that causes neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), a hereditary tumour syndrome typically associated with brain tumours such as vestibular schwannomas and meningiomas, represents another successful application of the "positional cloning" approach--that is, the isolation of a hereditary disease gene of unknown function, based on the determination of its chromosomal location in the human genome. The NF2 gene is homologous to a family of genes whose products, including moesin, ezrin, radixin and protein 4.1, appear to have an important role in bridging the cell membrane and the intracellular cytoskeletion. Mutation analyses have revealed that the NF2 tumour suppressor gene is frequently mutated not only in vestibular schwannomas and meningiomas from NF2 patients, but also in their sporadic counterparts, which represent approximately one third of all human brain tumours. Furthermore, malignant human tumours seemingly unrelated to the NF2 syndrome, such as malignant melanomas (derived from the neural crest) and malignant mesotheliomas (derived from pleural mesoderm), also frequently have mutations or deletions at the NF2 locus, suggesting a broader role of the NF2 gene in the initiation and progression of human neoplasms.
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PMID:The neurofibromatosis 2 (NF2) tumour suppressor gene: implications beyond the hereditary tumour syndrome? 871 20

Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) is a dominantly inherited disease characterized by the formation of bilateral acoustic schwannomas and other benign tumours associated with the central nervous system. The NF2 protein, also known as merlin or schwannomin, is a recently cloned tumour suppressor and is mutated or inactivated in most schwannomas and meningiomas. Homology analysis indicates that merlin is most closely related to members of the protein 4.1 superfamily especially ezrin, radixin and moesin, the ERM proteins. ERM proteins link membrane proteins to the cytoskeleton. It has been speculated that disruption of a similar membrane-linking role for merlin is involved in the development of tumours. This review focuses on what is now known of the organization and role of merlin's functional domains and how its activity might be regulated. Recent evidence of post-translational regulatory mechanisms which offer hope for new drug intervention strategies to help alleviate this debilitating disease are asses sed.
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PMID:The tumour suppressor protein NF2/merlin: the puzzle continues. 1114 74

Caspr/paranodin is an essential neuronal component of paranodal axoglial junctions, associated with contactin/F3. Its short intracellular domain contains a conserved motif (GNP motif) capable of binding protein 4.1 domains [FERM domains (four point one, ezrin, radixin, moesin)]. Schwannomin/merlin is a tumour suppressor expressed in many cell types, including in neurons, the function and partners of which are still poorly characterized. We show that the FERM domain of schwannomin binds to the paranodin GNP motif in glutathione S-transferase (GST)-pull down assays and in transfected COS-7 cells. The two proteins co-immunoprecipitated in brain extracts. In addition, paranodin and schwannomin were associated with integrin beta1 in transfected cells and in brain homogenates. The presence of paranodin increased the association between integrin beta1 and schwannomin or its N-terminal domain, suggesting that the interactions between these proteins are interdependent. In jimpy mutant mice, which display a severe dysmyelination with deficient paranodal junctions, the interactions between paranodin, schwannomin and integrin beta1 were profoundly altered. Our results show that schwannomin and integrin beta1 can be associated with paranodin in the central nervous system. Since integrin beta1 and schwannomin do not appear to be enriched in paranodes they may be quantitatively minor partners of paranodin in these regions and/or be associated with paranodin at other locations.
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PMID:Association of Caspr/paranodin with tumour suppressor schwannomin/merlin and beta1 integrin in the central nervous system. 1255 84

Drosophila discs large (Dlg) has been shown to be an essential regulator of cell polarity and attachment, and is classified as a potential tumour suppressor in higher eukaryotes. Human Dlg is expressed in epithelial cells at sites of cell-cell contact and acts as a negative regulator of cell growth. Although hDlg has been shown to be phosphorylated during mitosis, little is known about its activity during this stage of the cell cycle. To investigate this further we have analysed in detail the pattern of hDlg expression during mitotic cell division. In early mitosis there is a marked increase in membrane-bound hDlg which is then retained throughout mitosis, while during cytokinesis, there is a specific concentration of hDlg at the midbody. Using mutants of Dlg we show that this is mediated by sequences in the carboxy terminal region of Dlg, but it does not require the SH3 or PDZ domains, and is independent of binding to protein 4.1. Finally, using a mutant of Dlg that consists of just this carboxy terminal region of the protein, we show that it can compete with endogenous hDlg for midbody accumulation, and this mutant also gives rise to altered cell growth. We conclude that localisation of Dlg to the midbody indicates a role for Dlg at this critical point in cytokinesis.
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PMID:Redistribution of the discs large tumor suppressor protein during mitosis. 1456 86

Lung cancer including non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) represents a leading cause of cancer death in Western countries. Yet, understanding its pathobiology to improve early diagnosis and therapeutic strategies is still a major challenge of today's biomedical research. We analyzed a set of differentially regulated genes that were identified in skin cancer by a comprehensive microarray study, for their expression in NSCLC. We found that ferm domain containing protein 3 (FRMD3), a member of the protein 4.1 superfamily, is expressed in normal lung tissue but silenced in 54 out of 58 independent primary NSCLC tumours compared to patient-matched normal lung tissue. FRMD3 overexpression in different epithelial cell lines resulted in a decreased clonogenicity as measured by colony formation assay. Although cell attachment capabilities and cell proliferation rate remained unchanged, this phenotype was most likely owing to induced apoptosis. Our data identify FRMD3 as a novel putative tumour suppressor gene suggesting an important role in the origin and progression of lung cancer.
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PMID:FRMD3, a novel putative tumour suppressor in NSCLC. 1726 17