The cortical cytoskeleton network connects the actin cytoskeleton to various membrane proteins, influencing cell adhesion, polarity, migration and response to extracellular signals. Previous studies have suggested changes in the expression of specific components in prostate cancer, especially of 4.1 proteins (encoded by EPB41 genes) which form nodes in this network. »
09/22/10

Fibronectin 1 (FN1) is a glycoprotein involved in cellular adhesion and migration processes. The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of FN1 in development of renal cell cancer and to determine a prognostic relevance for optimal clinical management. »
09/22/10

Dysregulation of epidermal growth factor and insulin-like growth factor signaling play important roles in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), leading to frequent activation of their downstream targets, the ras/raf/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) pathways. Salirasib is an S-prenyl-cysteine analog that has been shown to block ras and/or mTOR activation in several non hepatic tumor cell lines. We investigated in vitro the effect of salirasib on cell growth as well as its mechanism of action in human hepatoma cell lines (HepG2, Huh7, and Hep3B) and its in vivo effect in a subcutaneous xenograft model with HepG2 cells. »
09/22/10

Malignant transformation of melanocytes is frequently attended by a switch in cadherin expression profile as shown for E- and N-cadherin. For P-cadherin, downregulation in metastasizing melanoma has been demonstrated, and over-expression of P-cadherin in melanoma cell lines has been shown to inhibit invasion. The strong invasive and metastatic nature of cutaneous melanoma implies a deregulated interplay between intercellular adhesion and migration-related molecules. »
09/22/10

Cancer arises from normal cells through the stepwise accumulation of genetic alterations. Cancer development can be studied by direct genetic manipulation within experimental models of tumorigenesis. Thereby, confusion by the genetic heterogeneity of patients can be circumvented. Moreover, identification of the critical changes that convert a pre-malignant cell into a metastatic, therapy resistant tumor cell, however, is one necessary step to develop effective and selective anti-cancer drugs. Thus, for the current study a cell culture model for malignant transformation was used: Primary human fibroblasts of the BJ strain were sequentially transduced with retroviral vectors encoding the genes for hTERT (cell line BJ-T), simian virus 40 early region (SV40 ER, cell line BJ-TE) and H-Ras V12 (cell line BJ-TER). »
09/22/10

Osteopontin (OPN) is a secreted glycophosphoprotein that is overexpressed in various tumors, and high levels of OPN have been associated with poor prognosis of cancer patients. In patients with head and neck cancer, high OPN plasma levels have been associated with poor prognosis following radiotherapy. Since little is known about the relationship between OPN expression and radiosensitivity, we investigated the cellular and radiation induced effects of OPN siRNA in human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. »
09/17/10

Cisplatin based chemotherapy cures over 80 % of metastatic testicular germ cell tumours (TGCT). In contrast, almost all other solid cancers in adults are incurable once they have spread beyond the primary site. Cell lines derived from TGCTs are hypersensitive to cisplatin reflecting the clinical response. Earlier findings suggested that a reduced repair capacity might contribute to the cisplatin hypersensitivity of testis tumour cells (TTC), but the critical DNA damage has not been defined. This study was aimed at investigating the formation and repair of intrastrand and interstrand crosslinks (ICLs) induced by cisplatin in TTC and their contribution to TTC hypersensitivity. »
09/16/10

The canonical Wnt signaling is concurrently important for osteoblast differentiation and myeloma cell proliferation. Its activation in myeloma cells and its inhibition in osteoblasts and their progenitors have been identified in the previous studies. Osteoblast progenitors and myeloma cells from a myeloma patient share the same bone marrow (BM) microenvironment, but respond differently to DKK-1 secreted by myeloma cells. The mechanisms remain unclear. »
09/16/10

The HOX11/TLX1 (hereafter referred to as HOX11) homeobox gene was originally identified at a t(10;14)(q24;q11) translocation breakpoint, a chromosomal abnormality observed in 5-7% of T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemias (T-ALLs). We previously reported a predisposition to aberrant spindle assembly checkpoint arrest and heightened incidences of chromosome missegregation in HOX11-overexpressing B lymphocytes following exposure to spindle poisons. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate cell cycle specific expression of HOX11. »
09/16/10

Differentiation-inducing factor-1 (DIF-1) is a putative morphogen that induces cell differentiation in Dictyostelium discoideum. DIF-1 inhibits proliferation of various mammalian tumor cells by suppressing the canonical Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway. To assess the potential of a novel cancer chemotherapy based on the pharmacological effect of DIF-1, we investigated whether DIF-1 exhibits anti-angiogenic effects in vitro and in vivo. »
09/16/10