The Protease Inhibitor Bikunin, a Novel Anti-Metastatic Agent
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H. Kobayashi
Abstract
Bikunin is a Kunitz-type protease inhibitor predominantly found in human amniotic fluid. In cancers, administration of bikunin may block tumor cell invasion by a direct inhibition of tumor cell-associated plasmin activity as well as by inhibiting urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) expression at the gene and protein levels, possibly through suppression of CD44 dimerization and/or the MAP kinase signaling cascade. Treatment of cancer patients with bikunin may be beneficial in the adjuvant setting to delay the onset of metastasis development and/or in combination with cytotoxic agents to improve treatment efficacy in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.
Copyright © 2003 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
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- Synchronization of the Molecular Clockwork by Light- and Food-Related Cues in Mammals
- Identification of Rhythmic Subsystems in the Circadian Cycle of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism under Thermoperiodic Perturbations
- Age-Dependent Effects of Conditioning on Cholinergic and Vasopressin Systems in the Rat Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
- The Magnetofection Method: Using Magnetic Force to Enhance Gene Delivery
- The Protease Inhibitor Bikunin, a Novel Anti-Metastatic Agent
- Transcriptional Regulation of the Urokinase Receptor (u-PAR) – A Central Molecule of Invasion and Metastasis
- Identification and Characterization of KAT, a Novel Gene Preferentially Expressed in Several Human Cancer Cell Lines
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- Treatment of Tumor Cells with Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Results in Altered Recruitment of Methyl-CpG Binding Proteins to a Methylated CpG Island
- Intra- and Interspecies Interactions between Prion Proteins and Effects of Mutations and Polymorphisms
- Contribution of the Absolutely Conserved B8Gly to the Foldability of Insulin
- Fabin, a Novel Calcyon-Like and Glucanase-Like Protein with Mitogenic, Antifungal and Translation-Inhibitory Activities from Broad Beans
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Articles in the same Issue
- The Circadian Clock of the Unicellular Eukaryotic Model Organism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
- Cardiovascular Control by the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus: Neural and Neuroendocrine Mechanisms in Human and Rat
- Synchronization of the Molecular Clockwork by Light- and Food-Related Cues in Mammals
- Identification of Rhythmic Subsystems in the Circadian Cycle of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism under Thermoperiodic Perturbations
- Age-Dependent Effects of Conditioning on Cholinergic and Vasopressin Systems in the Rat Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
- The Magnetofection Method: Using Magnetic Force to Enhance Gene Delivery
- The Protease Inhibitor Bikunin, a Novel Anti-Metastatic Agent
- Transcriptional Regulation of the Urokinase Receptor (u-PAR) – A Central Molecule of Invasion and Metastasis
- Identification and Characterization of KAT, a Novel Gene Preferentially Expressed in Several Human Cancer Cell Lines
- Trichostatin A and Structurally Related Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Induce 5-Lipoxygenase Promoter Activity
- Treatment of Tumor Cells with Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Results in Altered Recruitment of Methyl-CpG Binding Proteins to a Methylated CpG Island
- Intra- and Interspecies Interactions between Prion Proteins and Effects of Mutations and Polymorphisms
- Contribution of the Absolutely Conserved B8Gly to the Foldability of Insulin
- Fabin, a Novel Calcyon-Like and Glucanase-Like Protein with Mitogenic, Antifungal and Translation-Inhibitory Activities from Broad Beans
- Quantification of Elastase-Like Activity in 13 Human Cancer Cell Lines and in an Immortalized Human Epithelial Cell Line by RP-HPLC
- Differences in the Activation Mechanism between the α and β Subunits of Human Meprin