Search results for "Protein"
showing 10 items of 21431 documents
Repurposing of Bromocriptine for Cancer Therapy
2018
Bromocriptine is an ergot alkaloid and dopamine D2 receptor agonist used to treat Parkinson’s disease, acromegaly, hyperprolactinemia, and galactorrhea, and more recently diabetes mellitus. The drug is also active against pituitary hormone-dependent tumors (prolactinomas and growth-hormone producing adenomas). We investigated, whether bromocriptine also inhibits hormone-independent and multidrug-resistant (MDR) tumors. We found that bromocriptine was cytotoxic towards drug-sensitive CCRF-CEM, multidrug-resistant CEM/ADR5000 leukemic cells as well as wild-type or multidrug-resistant ABCB5-transfected HEK293 cell lines, but not sensitive or BCRP-transfected multidrug-resistant MDA-MB-231 brea…
Molecular Determinants of Sensitivity or Resistance of Cancer Cells Toward Sanguinarine.
2018
For decades, natural products represented a significant source of diverse and unique bioactive lead compounds in drug discovery field. In Clinical oncology, complete tumors remission is hampered by the development of drug-resistance. Therefore, development of cytotoxic agents that may overcome drug resistance is urgently needed. Here, the natural benzophenanthridine alkaloid sanguinarine has been studied for its cytotoxic activity against multidrug resistance (MDR) cancer cells. We investigated the role of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters BCRP/ABCG2, P-glycoprotein/ABCB1 and its close relative ABCB5 in drug resistance. Further drug resistance mechanisms analyzed in this study wer…
Evaluation of an amino acid residue critical for the specificity and activity of human Gb3/CD77 synthase
2016
Human Gb3/CD77 synthase (α1,4-galactosyltransferase) is the only known glycosyltransferase that changes acceptor specificity because of a point mutation. The enzyme, encoded by A4GALT locus, is responsible for biosynthesis of Gal(α1–4)Gal moiety in Gb3 (CD77, Pk antigen) and P1 glycosphingolipids. We showed before that a single nucleotide substitution c.631C > G in the open reading frame of A4GALT, resulting in replacement of glutamine with glutamic acid at position 211 (substitution p. Q211E), broadens the enzyme acceptor specificity, so it can not only attach galactose to another galactose but also to N-acetylgalactosamine. The latter reaction leads to synthesis of NOR antigens, which are…
Role of AxyZ Transcriptional Regulator in Overproduction of AxyXY-OprZ Multidrug Efflux System in Achromobacter Species Mutants Selected by Tobramycin
2017
ABSTRACT AxyXY-OprZ is an RND-type efflux system that confers innate aminoglycoside resistance to Achromobacter spp. We investigated here a putative TetR family transcriptional regulator encoded by the axyZ gene located upstream of axyXY-oprZ . An in-frame axyZ gene deletion assay led to increased MICs of antibiotic substrates of the efflux system, including aminoglycosides, cefepime, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines, and erythromycin, indicating that the product of axyZ negatively regulates expression of axyXY-oprZ . Moreover, we identified an amino acid substitution at position 29 of AxyZ (V29G) in a clinical Achromobacter strain that occurred during the course of chronic respiratory tract…
Multifactorial Modes of Action of Arsenic Trioxide in Cancer Cells as Analyzed by Classical and Network Pharmacology
2018
Arsenic trioxide is a traditional remedy in Chinese Medicine since ages. Nowadays, it is clinically used to treat acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) by targeting PML/RARA. However, the drug’s activity is broader and the mechanisms of action in other tumor types remain unclear. In this study, we investigated molecular modes of action by classical and network pharmacological approaches. CEM/ADR5000 resistance leukemic cells were similar sensitive to As2O3 as their wild-type counterpart CCRF-CEM (resistance ratio: 1.88). Drug-resistant U87.MG ΔEGFR glioblastoma cells harboring mutated epidermal growth factor receptor were even more sensitive (collateral sensitive) than wild-type U87.MG cells (…
Retinoic Acid affects Lung Adenocarcinoma growth by inducing differentiation via GATA6 activation and EGFR and Wnt inhibition
2016
AbstractA fundamental task in cancer research aims at the identification of new pharmacological therapies that can affect tumor growth. Differentiation therapy might exploit this function not only for hematological diseases, such as acute promyelocytic leukemia (APML) but also for epithelial tumors, including lung cancer. Here we show that Retinoic Acid (RA) arrests in vitro and in vivo the growth of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKI) resistant Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). In particular, we found that RA induces G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in TKI resistant NSCLC cells and activates terminal differentiation programs by modulating the expression of GATA6, a key transcription factor involved …
Quantitative patterns of Hsps in tubular adenoma compared with normal and tumor tissues reveal the value of Hsp10 and Hsp60 in early diagnosis of lar…
2016
Large bowel carcinogenesis involves accumulation of genetic alterations leading to transformation of normal mucosa into dysplasia and, lastly, adenocarcinoma. It is pertinent to elucidate the molecular changes occurring in the pre-neoplastic lesions to facilitate early diagnosis and treatment. Heat shock proteins (Hsps), many of which are molecular chaperones, are implicated in carcinogenesis, and their variations with tumor progression encourage their study as biomarkers. There are many reports on Hsps and cancer but none to our knowledge on their systematic quantification in pre-neoplastic lesions of the large bowel. We performed immunohistochemical determinations of Hsp10, Hsp60, Hsp70, …
Engineering of a DNA Polymerase for Direct m6A Sequencing
2017
Methods for the detection of RNA modifications are of fundamental importance for advancing epitranscriptomics. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant RNA modification in mammalian mRNA and is involved in the regulation of gene expression. Current detection techniques are laborious and rely on antibody-based enrichment of m6A-containing RNA prior to sequencing, since m6A modifications are generally "erased" during reverse transcription (RT). To overcome the drawbacks associated with indirect detection, we aimed to generate novel DNA polymerase variants for direct m6A sequencing. Therefore, we developed a screen to evolve an RT-active KlenTaq DNA polymerase variant that sets a mark for…
Polyphosphate as a donor of high-energy phosphate for the synthesis of ADP and ATP.
2017
Here, we studied the potential role of inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) as an energy source for ADP and ATP formation in the extracellular space. In SaOS-2 cells, we show that matrix vesicles are released into the extracellular space after incubation with polyP. These vesicles contain both alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and adenylate kinase (AK) activities (mediated by ALPL and AK1 enzymes). Both enzymes translocate to the cell membrane in response to polyP. To distinguish the process(es) of AMP and ADP formation during ALP hydrolysis from the ATP generated via the AK reaction, inhibition studies with the AK inhibitor A(5')P5(5')A were performed. We found that ADP formation in the extracellular …
IL10 promoter haplotypes may contribute to altered cytokine expression and systemic inflammation in celiac disease
2018
Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune/inflammatory condition triggered by dietary gluten intake in genetically predisposed individuals. Though associations with MHC class II HLA-DQ2 or -DQ8 are the primary and necessary genetic predisposition for CD, >97% of genetically predisposed individuals never develop CD. Cytokines were measured in the serum of CD patients and controls. Possible associations with IL10 promoter variants were investigated. Cytokine expression from PBMCs was monitored in response to gluten exposure, or CD3/TCR complex stimulation in the absence or presence of recombinant IL-10. Serum cytokines varied between patients with CD at the time of diagnosis, after dietary elimina…