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Polyamines are ubiquitous polycations essential for all cellular life. The most common polyamines in eukaryotes, spermine, spermidine, and putrescine, exist in millimolar intracellular concentrations that are tightly regulated through biosynthesis, catabolism, and transport. Polyamines interact with, and regulate, negatively charged macromolecules, including nucleic acids, proteins, and ion channels. Accordingly, alterations in polyamine metabolism affect cellular proliferation and survival through changes in gene expression and transcription, translation, autophagy, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. Dysregulation of these multifaceted polyamine functions contribute to multiple disease processes, thus their metabolism and function have been targeted for preventive or therapeutic intervention. The correlation between elevated polyamine levels and cancer is well established, and ornithine decarboxylase, the rate-limiting biosynthetic enzyme in the production of putrescine, is a bona fide transcriptional target of the Myc oncogene. Furthermore, induced polyamine catabolism contributes to carcinogenesis that is associated with certain forms of chronic infection and/or inflammation through the production of reactive oxygen species. These and other characteristics specific to cancer cells have led to the development of polyamine-based agents and inhibitors aimed at exploiting the polyamine metabolic pathway for chemotherapeutic and chemopreventive benefit. In addition to cancer, polyamines are involved in the pathologies of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, parasitic and infectious diseases, wound healing, ischemia/reperfusion injuries, and certain age-related conditions, as polyamines are known to decrease with age. As in cancer, polyamine-based therapies for these conditions are an area of active investigation. With recent advances in immunotherapy, interest has increased regarding polyamine-associated modulation of immune responses, as well as potential immunoregulation of polyamine metabolism, the results of which could have relevance to multiple disease processes. The goal of this Special Issue of Medical Sciences is to present the most recent advances in polyamine research as it relates to health, disease, and/or therapy.

protein synthesis in cancer --- neuroblastoma --- epigenetics --- Drosophila imaginal discs --- pneumococcal pneumonia --- transgenic mice --- spermidine/spermine N1-acetyl transferase --- ?-difluoromethylornithine --- MYC --- skeletal muscle --- protein expression --- curcumin --- colorectal cancer --- autophagy --- human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) --- melanoma --- tumor immunity --- Snyder-Robinson Syndrome --- Streptococcus pneumoniae --- B-lymphocytes --- autoimmunity --- spermine oxidase --- cell differentiation --- diferuloylmethane --- immunity --- antizyme --- transgenic mouse --- polyamine --- hirsutism --- chemoprevention --- CRISPR --- transglutaminase --- polyamine analogs --- NF-?B --- spermine synthase --- atrophy --- aging --- oxidative stress --- mast cells --- African sleeping sickness --- pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma --- eflornithine --- carcinogenesis --- ornithine decarboxylase --- polyamine transport inhibitor --- putrescine --- neutrophils --- spermidine --- untranslated region --- spermine --- polyphenol --- M2 macrophages --- polyamine transport system --- metabolism --- difluoromethylorthinine --- DFMO --- antizyme inhibitors --- capsule --- polyamine transport --- eosinophils --- MCF-7 cells --- difluoromethylornithine --- polyamine metabolism --- mutant BRAF --- polyamines --- cadaverine --- proteomics --- airway smooth muscle cells --- breast cancer --- X-linked intellectual disability --- complementation --- T-lymphocytes --- bis(ethyl)polyamine analogs --- antizyme 1 --- cancer --- osteosarcoma

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Every minute, 34 new patients are diagnosed with cancer globally. Although over the past 50 years treatments have improved and survival rates have increased dramatically for several types of cancers, many remain incurable. Several aggressive types of blood and solid cancers form when mutations occur in a critical cellular signaling pathway, the JAK-STAT pathway; (Janus Kinase-Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription). Currently, there are no clinically available drugs that target the oncogenic STAT3/5 proteins in particular or their Gain of Function hyperactive mutant products. Here, we summarize targeting approaches on STAT3/5, as the field moves towards clinical applications as well as we illuminate on upstream or downstream JAK-STAT pathway interference with kinase inhibitors, heat shock protein blockers or changing nuclear import/export processes. We cover the design paradigms and medicinal chemistry approaches to illuminate progress and challenges in understanding the pleiotropic role of STAT3 and STAT5 in oncogenesis, the microenvironment, the immune system in particular, all culminating in a complex interplay towards cancer progression.

multiple myeloma --- STAT3 --- S3I-1757 --- nanoparticle --- CD38 --- siRNA/RNAi --- polyethylenimine --- PEI --- lipopolyplex --- siRNA delivery --- glioma --- glioblastoma --- STAT5 --- AKT --- ERK1/2 --- prolactin --- androgens --- prostate cancer --- knockout --- escape mechanisms --- stem/progenitor cells --- cell hierarchy --- cancer --- CD4+ T cells --- CD8+ T cells --- myeloid cells --- immune check point --- hepatitis C virus (HCV) --- cirrhosis --- hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) --- endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress --- oxidative stress (OS) --- unfolded protein response (UPR) --- microRNA-122 (miR-122) --- nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) --- signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) --- hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4A) --- solid cancers --- cell cycle --- apoptosis --- inflammation --- mitochondria --- stemness --- tumor suppression --- melanoma --- autoimmune disease --- immunotherapy --- tumor–immune cell interactions --- breast cancer --- PD-L1 --- M2 macrophages --- NK cells --- STAT3 inhibitor XIII --- hedging --- transaction costs --- dynamic programming --- risk management --- post-decision state variable --- cancer progression --- cancer-stem cell --- cytokine --- therapy resistance --- metastasis --- immunosuppression --- tumor microenvironment --- proliferation --- tyrosine kinase 2 --- JAK family of protein tyrosine kinases --- signal transducer and activator of transcription --- cytokine receptor signaling --- gain-of-function mutation --- tumorigenesis --- ADAM17 --- interleukin-6 --- trans-signaling --- epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) --- shedding --- metalloprotease --- tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) --- inflammation associated cancer --- colon cancer --- lung cancer --- SH2 domain --- mutations --- autosomal-dominant hyper IgE syndrome --- inflammatory hepatocellular adenomas --- T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia --- T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia --- growth hormone insensitivity syndrome --- nuclear pore complex --- nuclear transport receptors --- nucleocytoplasmic shuttling --- targeting --- tumor-associated macrophages --- adoptive T cell therapy --- immune suppression --- STAT transcription factors --- JAK --- STAT --- T-PLL --- T-cell leukemia --- meta-analysis --- STAT5B signaling --- small-molecule inhibitors --- cancer models --- companion animals --- comparative oncology --- pharmacological inhibitor --- STAT5 signaling --- chemotherapy resistance --- myeloid leukemia --- heat shock proteins --- chaperones --- stabilization --- targeted therapy --- ovarian cancer --- hematopoietic cancers --- therapeutic targeting --- pharmacological inhibitors --- mTOR --- Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes --- lymphocytes --- lymphoma --- T-cells --- RHOA --- NGS --- MPN --- JAK2 V617F --- neoplastic stem cells --- n/a --- tumor-immune cell interactions