...F. Sánchez-Jiménez; R. Montañez; F. Correa-Fiz; P. Chaves; C. Rodríguez-Caso; J.L. Urdiales; J.F. Aldana; M.A. Medina Evidence is growing in favour of a relationship between cancer and chronic inflammation, and particularly of the role of a polyamine and histamine metabolic interplay involved...

...L. Persson The production of polyamines has been shown to be an effective target for a drug against the West African form of sleeping sickness caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense . T. brucei belongs to the group of protozoan parasites classed as trypanosomatids. Parasitic species of this group...

... or tumour growth. Since the intestine has the highest metabolic activity of all the internal organs, a tumour will initially compete with the gut for nutrients and energy-providing molecules. The polyamines represent a class of molecules where the demand in the body increases during tumour growth. A tumour...

...A. Lentini; P. Mattioli; B. Provenzano; A. Abbruzzese; M. Caraglia; S. Beninati Protein-bound γ-glutamylpolyamines have highlighted a new pathway in polyamine metabolism. Human foreskin keratinocytes offer a suitable model for this study. Indeed, they develop polymerized envelopes...

...F.R. Saunders; H.M. Wallace Colorectal cancer is one of a number of cancers that may be amenable to prevention. The NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) have been shown to be effective chemopreventative agents in humans, but their mechanism of action is not clear. The polyamines...

... is a single-binding, centre-gated pore rather than a channel. 1 To whom correspondence should be addressed (email antonio.toninello@unipd.it ). 26 10 2006 © 2007 The Biochemical Society 2007 agmatine amino acid guanidine compound mitochondrion polyamine transport RLM...

... ( N 1 , N 12 -diethyl-1,12-diamino-3,6,9-triazadodecane) are described. Possible applications of SpmTrien and its derivatives to the investigation of the enzymes of polyamine metabolism and spermine cellular functions, including interaction with DNA, are discussed. 1 To whom correspondence should...

... by a mechanism involving NOS2 (nitric oxide synthase 2), as elimination of NOS2 alleles suppresses this phenotype. DFMO (difluoromethylornithine), a specific inhibitor of polyamine synthesis, also inhibits dietary arginine-induced colon carcinogenesis in C57BL/6J- Apc Min /J mice. The primary consequence...

...E. Agostinelli; G. Tempera; L. Dalla Vedova; M. Condello; G. Arancia Cytotoxic products of polyamines generated in situ by an enzyme-catalysed reaction may be useful as a new avenue in combating cancer. This study demonstrated that MDR (multidrug-resistant) cancer cells (colon adenocarcinoma...

...N. Babbar; T. Murray-Stewart; R.A. Casero, Jr The induction of polyamine catabolism by specific anti-tumour polyamine analogues has increased interest in the roles polyamine catabolism play in cell growth, death and response to various anti-tumour agents. The relatively recent finding...

...A. Keren-Paz; Z. Bercovich; C. Kahana ODC (ornithine decarboxylase) is a central regulator of cellular polyamine synthesis. ODC is a highly regulated enzyme stimulated by a variety of growth-promoting stimuli. ODC overexpression leads to cellular transformation. Cellular ODC levels are determined...

...@molbiol.umu.se ). 29 9 2006 © 2007 The Biochemical Society 2007 glycolysis lymphomagenesis Myc nucleotide biogenesis polyamine E-boxes are present in thousands of genes, but not all are known to be direct transcriptional targets of Myc. Various studies have focused on finding true...

...R.G. Schipper; L.P. van den Heuvel; A.A.J. Verhofstad; R.A. De Abreu Both polyamine metabolism and DNA methylation play an important role in normal and malignant growth. Specific enzyme inhibitors or drugs that interfere with these metabolic pathways have proven to be potential anticancer agents...

...F.G. Berger; D.L. Kramer; C.W. Porter While polyamine homoeostasis is clearly important in maintenance of normal cell function, the roles of these cations, as well as the enzymes that regulate their metabolism, in the neoplastic process are not clear. In particular, the polyamine catabolic enzyme...

... to synthesis of polyamines or radical formation. SAM is regenerated from demethylated SAM via the methionine cycle, which involves folate. Imbalance of this cycle in humans, e.g. through folate shortage via dietary insufficiency, alcohol abuse, arsenic poisoning or hereditary factors, leads to depletion of SAM...

...P. Kong Thoo Lin; A.M. Dance; C. Bestwick; L. Milne A number of polyamine derivatives have demonstrated potential as therapeutic agents. For example, 1,12-bisethylspermine and bisnaphthalimide (elinafide) are currently in phase I clinical trials for the treatment of certain cancers. Here...

... translation, orchestrated by upstream open reading frames (uORFs) and RNA secondary structure. S-Adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (AdoMetDC) is a key enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis and both mammalian and plant AdoMetDCs are translationally regulated by uORFs in response to polyamine levels by distinct...

... the cell cycle. Polyamine biosynthesis varies bicyclically during the cell cycle with peaks in enzyme activities at the G 1 /S and S/G 2 transitions. The enzyme activities are regulated at transcriptional, translational and post-translational levels. When cells are seeded in the presence of drugs...

...N. Babbar; E.W. Gerner Polyamines are downstream mediators of genetic risk factors in human intestinal cancers. The adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) tumour-suppressor gene, which is mutated in essentially all human colon cancers, regulates the expression of several e-box transcription factors...

... Meeting of the Biochemical Society, held at Imperial College, London, 16–18 December 2002 18 November 2002 Copyright 2003 Biochemical Society 2003 Crithidia fasciculata polyamine 26 S proteasome protein degradation Abbreviations used: ODC, ornithine decarboxylase...

...R.G. Schipper; J.C. Romijn; V.M.J.I. Cuijpers; A.A.J. Verhofstad The importance of polyamines in prostatic growth and differentiation has prompted studies to evaluate the clinical relevance of the ornithine decarboxylase/polyamine system in prostatic cancer. These studies show that differences...

...H.M. Wallace The naturally occurring polyamines are found in all living cells, where they fulfil a number of critical functions in relation to cell growth. The quest to identify these functions has been the subject of five independent colloquia hosted by the Biochemical Society and today still...

...O. Heby; S.C. Roberts; B. Ullman Molecular, biochemical and genetic characterization of ornithine decarboxylase, S -adenosylmethionine decarboxylase and spermidine synthase establishes that these polyamine-biosynthetic enzymes are essential for growth and survival of the agents that cause African...

...V. Milovic; L. Turchanowa In colon cancer, the activities of polyamine-synthesizing enzymes and polyamine content are increased 3–4-fold over that found in the equivalent normal colonic mucosa, and polyamines have even been attributed as markers of neoplastic proliferation in the colon. Furthermore...

...R.A. Casero, Jr.; Y. Wang; T.M. Stewart; W. Devereux; A. Hacker; Y. Wang; R. Smith; P.M. Woster Interest in polyamine catabolism has increased since it has been directly associated with the cytotoxic response of multiple tumour types to exposure to specific anti-tumour polyamine analogues. Human...