Secreted proteins induced by growth factors and inhibitors

Tumor growth and angiogenesis induced by a secreted binding protein for fibroblast growth factors.

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is a strong inducer of angiogenesis and thus may play an important role in the growth of solid tumors. However, bFGF is usually found immobilized on the extracellular matrix, and it is only partly understood how it is solubilized to reach and activate its extracellular receptors. We studied the potential contribution to this process by a secreted binding pr...

HDAC Inhibitors and Heat Shock Proteins (Hsps)

Epigenetic alterations, including DNA acetylation, hypermethylation and hypomethylation, and the associated transcriptional changes of the affected genes are central to the evolution and progression of various human cancers, including pancreatic cancer. Cancer-associated epigenetic alterations are attractive therapeutic targets because such epigenetic alterations, unlike genetic changes, are po...

Natural peptides and proteins: potent tyrosinase inhibitors

Background and objectives: Tyrosinase is a copper containing oxidase which is crucial for controlling the production of melanin in creatures such as bacteria, fungi, plants and mammals. It is involved in the first two steps of melanin biosynthesis and leads to pigmentation and different types of cancer such as melanoma. Also, it is responsible for browning of fruits and vegetab...

Transfected cathepsin D stimulates high density cancer cell growth by inactivating secreted growth inhibitors.

Cathepsin D, a lysosomal protease, is overexpressed in primary breast cancer and associated with increased risk of metastasis. We have shown previously by transfection in rat tumor cells that overexpression of cathepsin D increased both experimental metastasis in nude mice and in vitro proliferation under low-serum conditions. In this study, we used the transfected cell lines to investigate the...

Phospholipases A Induced by Group IIA and Group X Secreted Factors from Human Lung Macrophages Production of Vascular Endothelial Growth