Current Signal Transduction Therapy - Volume 1, Issue 2, 2006

Based on recent research neuroinflammation is more than just a pathological mechanism in neurodegenerative diseases. As representatives for the cytokine family we will review the functions of Interleukin-6 and Tumor Necorosis Factor with respect to their role in neuroprotection and neurodegeneration. Both cytokines have been found to be strongly upregulated during diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke or P Read More

The identification of the causes of cancer at the cellular level has led to the discovery of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR)/Ras/Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway as a target for the development of anti-cancer strategies. A variety of therapeutic approaches to inhibit the EGFR/Ras/MAP module are currently being tested in clinical trials or have even been approved for the treatment of some tu Read More

Mechanical ventilation can be lifesaving, but may initiate and perpetuate ventilator-induced lung injury. This has many manifestations, from pneumothorax to multi-system organ failure. Although the precise underlying mechanisms have not yet been elucidated, various signalling pathways are thought to be involved and shall be discussed in this review. A key component in the pathogenesis of lung injury is 'biotrau Read More

Apoptosis, the cell's intrinsic death program, is a key regulator of tissue homeostasis. Thus, any imbalance between cell death and proliferation may favor tumor formation. Moreover, killing of cancer cells by cytotoxic therapies currently used in clinical oncology such as chemotherapy or γ-irradiation is primarily mediated by triggering apoptosis as well as other forms of cell death in cancer cells. Accordingly, defects in apopt Read More

T-cell zeta chain expression, phosphorylation and degradation and their role in T-cell signal transduction and immune response regulation in health and disease. Zeta chain is a stable constituent of the antigen specific T-cell receptor and its phosphorylation is one of the earliest and key events in the T-cell signal transduction. Zeta chain phosphorylation is strictly controlled by the action of sarcomafamily kinases and also by phosp Read More

Erythropoietin (Epo) plays an essential role in the regulation of erythropoiesis by stimulating growth, preventing apoptosis, and promoting terminal differentiation of erythroid progenitors. The Epo receptor belongs to the cytokine receptor superfamily. Epo and its receptor have been localized to several nonhematopoietic tissues and cells, including the central and peripheral nervous systems, endothelial cells and heart. Epo exerts Read More

Androgen-independent (AI) progression remains the main obstacle to improving the survival of patients with prostate cancer. Recently, we characterized changes in gene expression profile during AI progression in the prostate cancer model systems as well as the clinical specimens, and identified several genes, including bcl-2, bcl-xL, clusterin, insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP)-2, IGFBP-5 and heat shock pro Read More

For many years the mechanisms of intrinsic or acquired drug resistance have been the major object for molecular oncologists and clinicians, because resistance to chemotherapy critically limits the outcome of cancer treatment. Initially, the interaction of a drug with its molecular target that yields a lethal lesion has been studied - at the target level or upstream of this interaction (drug influx and efflux, detoxification, DNA Read More