PURPOSE Low-molecular-weight cyclin E (LMW-E) in breast cancer cells induces genomic instability and resistance to inhibition by p21, p27, and fulvestrant therapy. Here, we sought to determine if LMW-E renders breast cancer cells unresponsive to aromatase inhibitors (AI), elucidate the mechanism of such resistance, and ascertain if inhibitors of LMW-E-associated kinase activity could overcome t...

Hyaluronan (HA), a large nonsulfated glycosaminogycan in the extracellular matrix, whose degraded fragments termed as low molecular weight hyaluronan (LMW-HA), has been reported as an important regulator of angiogenesis. However, little is known about the influence of LMW-HA on lymphangiogenesis. In this study, we try to explore the in vitro effects of LMW-HA on lymphangiogenesis and identify t...

Cyclin E, a key coordinator of the G1 to S transition in the cell cycle, may be deregulated in several malignancies, including breast cancer. The most significant aberration in cyclin E is its elastase mediated proteolytic cleavage into tumor specific low molecular weight isoforms (LMW-Es). LMW-Es are biochemically hyperactive and biologically drive tumorigenesis in transgenic mouse models. Add...

The bread-making quality of wheat is strongly influenced by multiple low molecular weight glutenin subunit (LMW-GS) proteins expressed in the seeds. However, the organization, recombination and expression of LMW-GS genes and their functional mechanism in bread-making are not well understood. Here we report a systematic molecular analysis of LMW-GS genes located at the orthologous Glu-3 loci (Gl...

Quantitative measurements have been made of the interaction of human complement subcomponent C l q with mucopolysaccharides. The binding of Clq to heparin was quantitatively examined by utilizing an assay that employs a ‘‘%labeled low molecular weight heparin glycosaminoglycan (LMW-Hep) (Mr = 8500). Two classes of binding sites were detected. The first class of sites bound 2.02 mol of LMW-Hep/m...

The low molecular weight (LMW) isoforms of cyclin E are unique to cancer cells. In breast cancer, such alteration of cyclin E is a very strong predictor of poor patient outcome. Here we show that alteration in binding properties of these LMW isoforms to CDK2 and the CDK inhibitors (CKIs), p21 and p27, results in their functional hyperactivity. The LMW forms of cyclin E are severalfold more effe...

We found an acid extract of normal dog kidneys to contain two distinct molecular weight forms of renin-like activity. Gel filtration chromatography showed peaks of activity as estimated molecular weights of 65,000 and 41,000. The high molecular weight fraction (HMW) comprised only 1% of the total activity of the extract. Both HMW and low molecular weight (LMW) fractions were inhibited by anti-h...

The development of multidrug resistance (MDR) limits the efficacy of continuous chemotherapeutic treatment in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase (LMW-PTP) is up-regulated in several cancers and has been associated to poor prognosis. This prompted us to investigate the involvement of LMW-PTP in MDR. In this study, we investigated the role of LMW...

We produced low-molecular-weight heparin/protamine micro (nano) particles (LMW-H/P MPs·NPs) as a carrier for heparin-binding growth factors (GFs), such as fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-2 and various GFs in platelet-rich plasma (PRP). A mixture of LMW-H (MW: approximately 5000 Da, 6.4 mg/ml) and protamine (MW: approximately 3000 Da, 10 mg/ml) at a ratio of 7:3 (vol:vol) yields a dispersion of m...