The ligands of the epidermal growth factor family and their receptors, the ErbB proteins, have been linked to the development of different types of cancer. Particular attention has focused on ErbB2, whose activation may occur by receptor overexpression or by ligand-induced oligomerization with other ErbB receptors. Whether these two modes of ErbB2 activation cause the same biological responses ...

Measurements of either HER2 gene overexpression or its gene-coded protein (p185) are clinically useful for predicting prognosis in breast cancer. The measurements are also useful for identifying metastatic breast cancer patients who may benefit from Herceptin treatment. Since fine needle aspiration (FNA) of the breast has become an increasingly popular technique for obtaining tissue specimens, ...

HER2/neu positive breast tumors predict a high mortality and comprise 25-30% of breast cancer. We have shown that Flavokawain A (FKA) preferentially reduces the viabilities of HER2 overexpressing breast cancer cell lines (i.e. SKBR3 and MCF7/HER2) versus those with less HER2 expression (i.e. MCF7 and MDA-MB-468). FKA at cytotoxic concentrations to breast cancer cell lines also has minimal effec...

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in men in developed countries. ErbB2, a tyrosine kinase receptor overexpressed in many human cancer types, contributes to prostate cancer progression by activating the androgen receptor in a steroid poor environment, thus promoting androgen-independent cell growth. The consequent development of hormone refractory tumors is a major obstac...

A sterically stabilized paclitaxel-loaded liposome tailored to target human breast cancer cells was developed, thereby promoting the efficiency of intracellular delivery of paclitaxel through receptor-mediated endocytosis. Results indicated that the targeting moiety (thiolated Herceptin) was successfully coupled to the distal reactive maleimide terminus of the poly (ethylene glycol)-phospholipi...

ErbB2 is a prognostic factor and target of therapy for many carcinomas. In contrast with the other ErbB receptors, ErbB2 lacks a soluble direct ligand, but it is the preferred co-receptor for the ErbB family members, forming heterodimers with more potent and prolonged signalling activity than that of homodimers. We recently produced a new anti-ErbB2 antibody, Erb-hcAb, by fusion of Erbicin, a h...

Normal micelle microemulsion method was utilized for fabrication of organically modified silica (ORMOSIL) nanoparticles. The void and dye-doped nanoparticles were synthesized in nonpolar core of two different surfactants including Aerosol OT and Tween 80. The nanoparticles were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and zeta potential analysis. Our resul...

We investigated the potential of the pH-sensitive dye, CypHer5E, conjugated to Herceptin (pH-Her) for the sensitive detection of breast tumors in mice using noninvasive time-domain near-infrared fluorescence imaging and different methods of data analysis. First, the fluorescence properties of pH-Her were analyzed as function of pH and/or dye-to-protein ratio, and binding specificity was confirm...

BACKGROUND Accelerated glucose uptake for anaerobic glycolysis is one of the major metabolic changes found in malignant cells. This property has been exploited for imaging malignancies and as a possible anticancer therapy. The nonmetabolizable glucose analog 2-deoxyglucose (2 DG) interferes with glucose metabolism leading to breast cancer cell death. AIMS To determine whether 2DG can synergiz...

Sodium dodecyl sulfate capillary gel electrophoresis (reduced and nonreduced) is often used as a purity release assay for monitoring clips in monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Our criteria for the development of acid hydrolysis of Trastuzumab for injection (Cipla 302) included quantification of clips by both reduced and nonreduced capillary gel electrophoresis thereby comparing its similarity with ...