AP-1 and colorectal cancer.
Activator protein-1 (AP-1) is a transcription factor that consists of either a Jun-Jun homodimer or a Jun-Fos heterodimer. AP-1 regulates the expression of multiple genes essential for cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Numerous reports suggest that AP-1 plays an important role in various human diseases. Among them, the roles relating to human cancers have been strongly suggested for a long time. In human cancers, colorectal cancer is still a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. Since there are some reports about the role of AP-1 in colorectal cancer response to a number of stimuli, such as cytokines and growth factors, and oncogenictransformation, therapeutic inhibition of AP-1 activity has attracted considerable interest. Here, we demonstrate the biological properties of AP-1 and its role in colorectal cancer, and discuss a possibility of an AP-1 inhibitor, an adenovirus dominant-negative mutant of c-Jun, as a therapeutic agent for gene therapy.
Ashida
Reiko
R
Department of Gastroenterology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University, 1-4-3 Asahimachi, Abeno-ku, Osaka 545-8585, Japan.
Tominaga
Kazunari
K
Sasaki
Eiji
E
Watanabe
Toshio
T
Fujiwara
Yasuhiro
Y
Oshitani
Nobuhide
N
Higuchi
Kazuhide
K
Mitsuyama
Shokei
S
Iwao
Hiroshi
H
Arakawa
Tetsuo
T
D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun / Q000235:genetics; D018808:Transcription Factor AP-1 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun; D018808:Transcription Factor AP-1