BACKGROUND Genes for human epidermal growth factor receptors B1 (ErbB1) and B2 (ErbB2) were amplified in breast and ovarian cancers. Both of them were associated with aggressive disease and worse prognosis. The ErbB1 or ErbB2 status of a tumor may provide an indication of the response to ErbB1 and ErbB2 -targeted therapies. For accurate and rapid assessment of amplification of ErbB1 and ErbB2 o...

ErbB2 is a receptor tyrosine kinase belonging to the family of epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptors which is generally involved in cell differentiation, proliferation, and tumor growth, and activated by heterodimerization with the other members of the family. We show here that type IV pilus-mediated adhesion of Neisseria meningitidis onto endothelial cells induces tyrosyl phosphorylation and...

INTRODUCTION. Muc4(SMC) is a cell surface glycoprotein composed of two non-covalently bound subunits: an O-glycosylated mucin subunit, ASGP-1, and a mainly N-glycosylated transmembrane subunit ASGP-2 that anchors the molecule to the plasma membrane. The latter serves as an intramembrane ligand for the receptor tyrosine kinase ErbB2 via an EGF-like domain. This interaction occurs shortly after s...

ERBB2 amplification and overexpression are strongly associated with invasive cancer with high recurrence and poor prognosis. Enhanced ErbB2 signaling induces cysteine cathepsin B and L expression leading to their higher proteolytic activity (zFRase activity), which is crucial for the invasion of ErbB2-positive breast cancer cells in vitro. Here we introduce a simple screening system based on zF...

Modest clinical outcomes of dendritic cell (DC) vaccine trials call for novel strategies. In this study, we have created a chimeric CD40 molecule that incorporates a single chain Fv (scFv) molecule specific for human ErbB2 antigen and fusing to the membrane spanning and cytosolic domains of murine CD40. After adenoviral transfer to bone marrow-derived DC, this chimeric receptor (CR) induced nuc...

Our recent studies revealed that cell clusters overlying focal myoepithelial cell layer disruption (FMCLD) had a significantly higher frequency of genetic instabilities and expression of invasion-related genes than their adjacent counterparts within the same duct. Our current study attempted to assess whether these cell clusters would also have elevated c-erbB2 expression. Human breast tumors (...

In this review, we address clinical aspects and mechanisms of ventricular dysfunction induced by anticancer drugs targeted to the ErbB2 receptor. ErbB2 antagonists prolong survival in cancer, but also interfere with homeostatic processes in the heart. ErbB2 is a coreceptor for ErbB4, which is activated by neuregulin-1. This epidermal growth factor-like growth factor is released from endothelial...

We have previously shown that mammary epithelial specific expression of the activated erbB2 allele under the control of the endogenous promoter in mice resulted in the formation of mammary adenocarcinomas. To assess whether mammary tumorigenesis in this model is influenced by the developmental window of expression, we generated mice that expressed the activated erbB2 allele in the germ line. Al...

Expression of ErbB2 protein is inversely correlated with the prognosis in cancer patients. Consequently, strategies targeting ErbB2 remain an attractive option in treating several types of malignancies, including oral cancer. In addition, many studies have shown that emodin and emodin derivatives are able to inhibit growth of ErbB2-overexpressing tumor cells. In this study, a series of computer...

We previously reported that microRNA-205 (miR-205) is downregulated by overexpression of the receptor tyrosine kinase ErbB2 and that ectopic transfection of miR-205 precursor decreases ErbB2 tumorigenicity in soft agar. In this study, we further analyzed the regulatory mechanisms linking ErbB2 overexpression and miR-205 downregulation. In ErbB2-overexpressing breast epithelial cells, miR-205 ex...