All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA), the most biologically active metabolite of vitamin A, controls cell proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation depending on the cellular context. These activities point to ATRA as a candidate for cancer therapy. A pivotal effect of the molecule is the modulation of p27, a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor (CDKI). Here, we investigate the mechanisms by wh...

Cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix (ECM) is a requirement for proliferation that is typically lost in malignant cells. In the absence of adhesion, nontransformed cells arrest in G1 with increased levels of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27. We have reported previously that the degradation of p27 requires its phosphorylation on Thr-187 and is mediated by Skp2, an F-box protein tha...

PURPOSE Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-2 is a potent mitogen of corneal endothelial cells (CECs). Results in an earlier study showed that FGF-2 activates phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase to stimulate the cell cycle machinery. The current study was designed to determine whether adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) antagonizes FGF-2 by inhibiting PI 3-kinase/Akt pathways, thus leading to regula...

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is sustained by the extensive proliferation of leukemic stem and progenitor cells, which give rise to the population of leukemic blasts with defective differentiation and low proliferative capacity. We have recently shown that ligation of CD44, a cell surface molecule present on AML cells, with specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) inhibits their proliferation. Howe...

Low or absent expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27(Kip1) serves as an excellent malignant marker for prostate and other human cancers. The level of p27(Kip1) is regulated primarily by the ubiquitin E3 ligase SCF(SKP2) through ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis. Expression of the F-box protein SKP2 is inversely correlated with p27 in many cancers. To determine the role of SCF(SKP...

Rationale: Adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a metabolic and redox sensor, is reported to suppress cell proliferation of nonmalignant and tumor cells. Whether AMPK alters vascular neointima formation induced by vascular injury is unknown. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the roles of AMPK in the development of vascular neointima hyperplasia and to elucida...

Antiestrogens, such as the drug tamoxifen, inhibit breast cancer growth by inducing cell cycle arrest. Antiestrogens require action of the cell cycle inhibitor p27(Kip1) to mediate G1 arrest in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cells. We report that constitutive activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway alters p27 phosphorylation, reduces p27 protein levels, reduc...

p27kip, as a cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor (CDKI), plays a pivotal role in the regulation of cell cycle progression and hepatocarcinogenesis. Herein, we revealed that p27 exhibited apparent nucleolar distribution and interacted with nucleolar protein nucleostemin (NS) in Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Furthermore, subcellular fractionation experiments demonstrated that nucleolar p27 ...

We constructed a dual regulated expression vector cassette (pDuoRex) whereby two heterologous genes can be independently regulated via streptogramin- and tetracycline-responsive promoters. Two different constructs containing growth-promoting and growth-inhibiting genes were stably transfected in recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells that express the streptogramin- and tetracycline-depen...