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Query: UNIPROT:Q86TM3 (cage)
 29,987 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The breast cancer susceptibility gene product BRCA1 is a tumour suppressor but the biochemical and biological functions that underlie its role in carcinogenesis remain to be determined. Here, we characterise the solution properties of the highly conserved C terminus of BRCA1, consisting of a tandem repeat of the BRCT domain (BRCT-tan), that plays a critical role in BRCA1-mediated tumour suppression. The overall free energy of unfolding of BRCT-tan is high (14.2 kcal mol(-1) at 20 degrees C in water) but unfolding occurs via an aggregation-prone, partly folded intermediate. A representative set of cancer-associated sequence variants was constructed and the effects on protein stability were measured. All of the mutations were highly destabilising and they would be expected to cause loss of function for this reason. Over half could not be purified in a soluble form, indicating that these residues are critical for maintaining structural integrity. The remaining mutants exhibited much greater aggregation propensities than the wild-type, which is most likely a consequence of their reduced thermodynamic stability relative to the partly folded intermediate. The mutations characterised here are located at different sites in the BRCT-tan structure that do not explain fully their effects on the protein's stability. Thus, the results indicate an important role for biophysical studies in assessing the significance of sequence variants and in determining how they cause disease.
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PMID:Characterisation of the BRCT domains of the breast cancer susceptibility gene product BRCA1. 1209 1

Inadequate attention has been paid to the frequent and often extensive cancer-associated DNA hypomethylation. This hypomethylation usually includes undermethylation of certain DNA repeats in constitutive heterochromatin, although it is not limited to such sequences. Many cancers display an overall deficiency in the levels of genomic 5-methylcytosine compared to a variety of normal postnatal somatic tissues. The immunodeficiency, centromeric region instability, facial anomalies (ICF) syndrome, a rare recessive DNA methyltransferase deficiency disease, results in a small decrease in the extent of global genomic methylation. In ICF, DNA hypomethylation is targeted to the satellite DNA in juxtacentromeric (centromere-adjacent) heterochromatin of chromosomes 1 and 16 (1qh and 16qh), which are prone to rearrangements in ICF lymphoid cells. Also, 1qh and 16qh DNA sequences frequently are hypomethylated in human cancers and rearrangements in their vicinity are overrepresented in cancers. These often lead to chromosome arm imbalances and gene dosage imbalances that could participate in carcinogenesis. Studies of ICF cells suggest that hypomethylation in the normally highly methylated 1qh and 16qh regions predisposes to heterochromatin decondensation in these regions, which in turn leads to elevated levels of rearrangements. Studies of ICF cells also suggest that some of these rearrangements, namely multiradial chromosomes with multiple arms joined in the pericentromeric region, may be unstable intermediates in formation of more stable pericentromeric rearrangements in cancer. Microarray gene expression analysis on ICF and normal lymphoblastoid cell lines suggests that this hypomethylation also may affect gene expression elsewhere in the genome.
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PMID:DNA hypomethylation, cancer, the immunodeficiency, centromeric region instability, facial anomalies syndrome and chromosomal rearrangements. 1216 5

A multistep model of carcinogenesis has recently been proposed for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas. In this model, noninvasive precursor lesions in the pancreatic ductules accumulate genetic alterations in cancer-associated genes eventually leading to the development of an invasive cancer. The nomenclature for these precursor lesions has been standardized as pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia or PanIN. Despite the substantial advances made in understanding the biology of invasive pancreatic adenocarcinomas, little is known about the initiating genetic events in the pancreatic ductal epithelium that facilitates its progression to cancer. Telomeres are distinctive structures at the ends of chromosomes that protect against chromosomal breakage-fusion-bridge cycles in dividing cells. Critically shortened telomeres can cause chromosomal instability, a sine qua non of most human epithelial cancers. Although evidence for telomeric dysfunction has been demonstrated in invasive pancreatic cancer, the onset of this phenomenon has not been elucidated in the context of noninvasive precursor lesions. We used a recently described in situ hybridization technique in archival samples (Meeker AK, Gage WR, Hicks JL, Simon I, Coffman JR, Platz EA, March GE, De Marzo AM: Telomere length assessment in human archival tissues: combined telomere fluorescence in situ hybridization and immunostaining. American Journal of Pathology 2002, 160:1259-1268) for assessment of telomere length in tissue microarrays containing a variety of noninvasive pancreatic ductal lesions. These included 82 PanIN lesions of all histological grades (24 PanIN-1A, 23 PanIN-1B, 24 PanIN-2, and 11 PanIN-3) that were selected from pancreatectomy specimens for either adenocarcinoma or chronic pancreatitis. Telomere fluorescence intensities in PanIN lesions were compared with adjacent normal pancreatic ductal epithelium and acini (62 of 82 lesions, 76%), or with stromal fibroblasts and islets of Langerhans (20 of 82 lesions, 24%). Telomere signals were strikingly reduced in 79 (96%) of 82 PanINs compared to adjacent normal structures. Notably, even PanIN-1A, the earliest putative precursor lesion, demonstrated a dramatic reduction of telomere fluorescence intensity in 21 (91%) of 23 foci examined. In chronic pancreatitis, reduction of telomere signal was observed in all PanIN lesions, whereas atrophic and inflammatory ductal lesions retained normal telomere length. Telomere fluorescence intensity in PanIN lesions did not correlate with proliferation measured by quantitative Ki-67-labeling index or topoisomerase IIalpha expression. Thus, telomere shortening is by far the most common early genetic abnormality recognized to date in the progression model of pancreatic adenocarcinomas. Telomeres may be an essential gatekeeper for maintaining chromosomal integrity, and thus, normal cellular physiology in pancreatic ductal epithelium. A critical shortening of telomere length in PanINs may predispose these noninvasive ductal lesions to accumulate progressive chromosomal abnormalities and to develop toward the stage of invasive carcinoma.
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PMID:Telomere shortening is nearly universal in pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia. 1241 2

The high risk HPVs (such as HPV-16 and HPV-18) that are associated with specific anogenital cancers encode two oncoproteins E6 and E7, which are expressed in the HPV positive cancers. The E7 protein functions in cellular transformation, at least in part, through interactions with pRB and the other pRB related 'pocket proteins'. The major target of the E6 oncoprotein encoded by the genital tract, cancer associated human papillomaviruses is p53. Several lines of evidence suggest that E6 and E7 have additional targets important to the oncogenic potential of the virus. Work from a number of laboratories has focused on determining other activities of HPV relevant to carcinogenesis and identifying additional cellular targets of E6 and E7. This paper will review the state of the field at the time of the 19th International Papillomavirus Workshop in September 2001 with respect to the HPV encoded oncoproteins.
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PMID:Human papillomavirus immortalization and transformation functions. 1244 61

Certain types of human papillomaviruses have been etiologically associated with malignant lesions, most notably with cervical cancer. The major oncoproteins of these cancer-associated viruses are encoded by the viral E6 and E7 genes. Thorough characterization of these oncoproteins and their interaction with cellular proteins has shown that both E6 and E7 exploit the ubiquitin-proteasome system to degrade and, thus, to functionally inactivate negative cell-regulatory proteins including members of the p110(RB) family and p53. This act of piracy is assumed to contribute to both the efficient propagation of HPVs and HPV-induced carcinogenesis.
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PMID:Human papillomavirus-induced carcinogenesis and the ubiquitin-proteasome system. 1250 57

Up-regulated cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 expression and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2)synthesis contribute causally to the early stages of colorectal neoplasia and carcinogenesis, yet COX-2 expression is barely detectable in normal and premalignant colorectal epithelium. Rather, COX-2 expression in nonmalignant colonic tissue is probably confined to subepithelial cells, such as fibroblasts. We established a panel of 33 primary subepithelial fibroblast strains from human colonoscopic biopsies of normal colon (group I), normal segments of colons that harbored synchronous advanced neoplasms in remote segments (group II), advanced neoplasms (group III), and segments of active ulcerative colitis (group IV). In group I strains, mean basal and peak PGE2 levels after 24 h of interleukin (IL)-1beta stimulation were 5.4 +/- 1.1 and 32.8 +/- 4.9 ng/mg protein, respectively. Mean IL-1beta-stimulated peak levels in groups II, III, and IV strains were, respectively, 6-, 9-, and 7-fold greater than that in group I (P < 0.001 for each comparison), and inductions of COX-2 mRNA and protein were consistent with these findings. IL-1beta-mediated stimulation of PGE2 was fully blocked in the presence of a nonselective COX inhibitor (indomethacin) or a selective COX-2 inhibitor (NS-398). IL-1beta treatment elicited from group I (normal) and group III (cancer-associated) fibroblasts, respectively, approximately 2- and 3-fold inductions of COX-2 transcriptional activity and approximately 1.4- and 1.7-fold inductions of COX-2 promoter activity. This modestly greater COX-2 transcription rate could not alone account for the dramatically higher levels of COX-2 mRNA and protein and PGE2 in cancer-associated compared with normal fibroblasts. However, incubation of fibroblasts with PGE2 after IL-1beta stimulation prolonged COX-2 mRNA half-life from approximately 1 to 9 h. Our results strengthen the evidence that fibroblasts and other mesenchymal cells are the source of COX-2 expression in normal and premalignant colorectal tissue. Group II fibroblasts from normal segments of colons that harbored synchronous remote advanced neoplasms behaved like group III fibroblasts from advanced neoplasms and not group I fibroblasts from normal colons. We hypothesize that the effects of modestly greater COX-2 transcription in groups II-IV fibroblasts yield corresponding modest increases in PGE2 synthesis whose effects are progressively amplified through robust stabilization of COX-2 mRNA.
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PMID:Cyclooxygenase-2 expression and prostanoid biogenesis reflect clinical phenotype in human colorectal fibroblast strains. 1254 11

WNT signals play key roles in carcinogenesis and embryogenesis through the specification of cell fate and polarity. Dishevelled (DVL) proteins are WNT signaling molecules implicated in beta-catenin pathway and PCP pathway. Xenopus Dapper and Frodo are Dvl-binding proteins, showing 89.8% total-amino-acid identity. Here, we identified and characterized human homologs of Xenopus Dapper and Frodo using bioinformatics. Human DAPPER1 gene was located within human genome draft sequence NT_025892.9 (nucleotide position 39378960-39387891 in the forward orientation), and human DAPPER2 gene within NT_007302.10 (nucleotide position 660279-672480 in the reverse orientation). DAPPER1 (799-amino-acids) and DAPPER2 (774-amino-acids) showed 28.8% total-amino-acid identity. Seven DAPPER homologous (DAPH) domains, including DAPH2 (leucine zipper), DAPH3 (serine rich) and DAPH7 (PDZ binding), were conserved between DAPPER1 and DAPPER2. Phylogenetic analysis of vertebrate Dapper proteins revealed that Xenopus Dapper and Frodo are orthologs of human DAPPER1. DAPPER1 mRNA was expressed in amnion, fetal brain, eye, heart, adult brain medulla, gastric cancer (signet ring cell features), RER+ colon tumor, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, germ cell tumor, chondrosarcoma, and parathyroid tumor. DAPPER2 mRNA was expressed in placenta, genitourinary tract tumor, and endometrial adenocarcinoma. DAPPER1 and DAPPER2 genes were mapped to human chromosome 14q22.3 and 6q27, respectively. Human chromosome 14q22.3 is deleted in astrocytoma, while human chromosome 6q27 is deleted in breast, ovarian, and gastric cancer. Based on evolutionary and functional conservation of WNT signaling molecules as well as human chromosomal localization, DAPPER1 and DAPPER2 genes are predicted to be potent cancer-associated genes.
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PMID:Identification and characterization of human DAPPER1 and DAPPER2 genes in silico. 1263 86

Epigenetics represents a new frontier in cancer research. Methylation is the best studied of the epigenetic mechanisms that regulate gene expression. Regulation of gene expression by means of methylation has been reported for tumor suppressor genes, oncogenes, viral promoters, and age-related genes. In this review, the regulation of viral gene expression by methylation is discussed, with particular emphasis on: (1) the virus-specific factors that bind to promoter regions; (2) the implications of this knowledge for designing viral vectors that can be used to deliver genes for the purpose of gene therapy; and (3) the use of this knowledge for the early detection and prevention of cancer. Since methylation can be reversed by a variety of exogenous agents, great potential exists to develop interventions that target cancer-associated aberrant methylation in an effort to reverse or prevent carcinogenesis.
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PMID:Viral genes and methylation. 1272 22

Malignant transformation from mortal, normal cells to immortal, cancer cells is generally associated with activation of telomerase and subsequent telomere maintenance. A major mechanism to regulate telomerase activity in human cells is transcriptional control of the telomerase catalytic subunit gene, human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT). Several transcription factors, including oncogene products (e.g. c-Myc) and tumor suppressor gene products (e.g. WT1 and p53), are able to control hTERT transcription when over-expressed, although it remains to be determined whether a cancer-associated alteration of these factors is primarily responsible for the hTERT activation during carcinogenic processes. Microcell-mediated chromosome transfer experiments have provided evidence for endogenous factors that function to repress the telomerase activity in normal cells and are inactivated in cancer cells. At least one of those endogenous telomerase repressors, which is encoded by a putative tumor suppressor gene on chromosome 3p, acts through transcriptional repression of the hTERT gene. The hTERT gene is also a target site for viruses frequently associated with human cancers, such as human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV). HPV E6 protein contributes to keratinocyte immortalization and carcinogenesis through trans-activation of the hTERT gene transcription. In at least some hepatocellular carcinomas, the hTERT gene is a non-random integration site of HBV genome, which activates in cis the hTERT transcription. Thus, a variety of cellular and viral oncogenic mechanisms converge on transcriptional control of the hTERT gene. Regulation of chromatin structure through the modification of nucleosomal histones may mediate the action of these cellular and viral mechanisms. Further elucidation of the hTERT transcriptional regulation, including identification and characterization of the endogenous repressor proteins, should lead to better understanding of the complex regulation of human telomerase in normal and cancer cells and may open up new strategies for anticancer therapy.
Carcinogenesis 2003 Jul
PMID:Transcriptional regulation of the telomerase hTERT gene as a target for cellular and viral oncogenic mechanisms. 1280 29

Cell-cell adhesion determines the polarity of cells and participates in the maintenance of the cell societies called tissues. Cell-cell adhesiveness is generally reduced in human cancers. Reduced intercellular adhesiveness allows cancer cells to disobey the social order, resulting in destruction of histological structure, which is the morphological hallmark of malignant tumors. Reduced intercellular adhesiveness is also indispensable for cancer invasion and metastasis. A tumor-suppressor gene product, E-cadherin, and its undercoat proteins, catenins, which connect cadherins to actin filaments, are located at lateral borders, concentrating on adherens junctions, of epithelial cells and establish firm cell-cell adhesion. The E-cadherin cell adhesion system in cancer cells is inactivated by various mechanisms that reflect the morphological and biological characteristics of the tumor. Silencing of the E-cadherin gene by DNA hypermethylation around the promoter region occurs frequently, even in precancerous conditions. In diffuse infiltrating cancers, mutations are found in the genes for E-cadherin and alpha- and beta-catenins. At the invading front of cancers, the E-cadherin cell adhesion system is inactivated by tyrosine phosphorylation of beta-catenin; an oncogene product, c-erbB-2 protein, is found to associate directly with beta-catenin. The E-cadherin cell adhesion system cross-talks with the Wingless/Wnt signaling pathway through beta-catenin, and expression of genes, which participate in cancer morphogenesis, may be regulated in conjunction with the Wingless/Wnt signaling pathway. Dysadherin, a newly identified cancer-associated cell membrane glycoprotein, down-regulates E-cadherin and promotes cancer metastasis. In conclusion, inactivation of the E-cadherin cell adhesion system by both genetic and epigenetic mechanisms plays a significant role during multistage human carcinogenesis.
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PMID:Cell adhesion system and human cancer morphogenesis. 1284 64


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