Heparan sulfate (HS) is one of the factors that has been suggested to be associated with angiogenesis and invasion of glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive and fast-growing brain tumor. However, it remain Show more
Heparan sulfate (HS) is one of the factors that has been suggested to be associated with angiogenesis and invasion of glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive and fast-growing brain tumor. However, it remains unclear how HS of endothelial cells is involved in angiogenesis in glioblastoma and its prognosis. Thus, we investigated the effect of endothelial cell HS on GBM development. We generated endothelial cell-specific knockout of The endothelial cell-specific HS reduction in the vascular endothelium of the brain suppressed GBM growth and neovascularization in mice. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12672-021-00444-3. Show less
The presence of Mrap1 and Mrap2 orthologs in the genome of the elephant shark (es), a cartilaginous fish, presented an opportunity to evaluate the potential interactions between these accessory protei Show more
The presence of Mrap1 and Mrap2 orthologs in the genome of the elephant shark (es), a cartilaginous fish, presented an opportunity to evaluate the potential interactions between these accessory proteins and melanocortin receptors of a cartilaginous fish. RT-PCR analysis indicated that Mrap1 mRNA was present in interrenal, brain, and pituitary tissue with mRNA for Mc2R, Mc3R, Mc4R, and Mc5r. Co-expression of esMrap1 cDNA with esMc2r cDNA or esMc5r cDNA in CHO cells increased sensitivity to stimulation with ACTH(1-24) 10 fold and 100 fold, respectfully, but had no effect on sensitivity to stimulation with DesAc-αMSH [i.e., ACTH(1-13)NH Show less
Special AT-rich sequence binding protein 2 (SATB2) is an evolutionarily conserved transcription factor that has multiple roles in neuronal development, osteoblast differentiation, and craniofacial pat Show more
Special AT-rich sequence binding protein 2 (SATB2) is an evolutionarily conserved transcription factor that has multiple roles in neuronal development, osteoblast differentiation, and craniofacial patterning. SATB2 binds to the nuclear matrix attachment region, and regulates the expression of diverse sets of genes by altering chromatin structure. Recent studies have reported that high expression of SATB2 is associated with favorable prognosis in colorectal and laryngeal cancer; however, it remains uncertain whether SATB2 has tumor-suppressive functions in cancer cells. In this study, we examined the effects of SATB2 expression on the malignant characteristics of colorectal cancer cells. Expression of SATB2 repressed the proliferation of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, and also suppressed their migration and invasion. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5 (ERK5) is a mitogen-activated protein kinase that is associated with an aggressive phenotype in various types of cancer. SATB2 expression reduced the activity of ERK5, and constitutive activation of ERK5 restored the proliferation, anchorage-independent growth, migration and invasion of SATB2-expressing cells. Our results demonstrate the existence of a novel regulatory mechanism of SATB2-mediated tumor suppression via ERK5 inactivation. Show less