Since NO-cGMP pathway exhibits a diverse role in cancer, we were interested in evaluating the role of the NO-receptor sGC and other components of the pathway in regulation of the tumor cell proliferation. Our results demonstrate a differential expression of the sGC subunits, NOS-1 and PKG mRNA and protein levels in various human cancer models. In contrast to sGC alpha(1), robust levels of sGC beta(1) were observed in OVCAR-3 (ovarian) and MDA-MB-468 (breast) cancer cells which correlated well with the sGC

activity and a marked increase in cGMP levels upon exposure to the combination of a NO donor and a sGC activator. NOC-18 (DETA NONOate; NO donor), BAY41-2272 (3-(4-amino-5-cyclopropylpyrimidin-2-yl)-1-(2-fluorobenzyl)-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine): Fedratinib purchase sGC activator), NOC-18 + BAY41-2272, IBMX (3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine; phosphodiesterase inhibitor) and 8-bromo-cGMP (cGMP analog) caused growth inhibition and apoptosis in various cancer cell lines. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in growth inhibition, we evaluated the effect of activators/inhibitors on ERK phosphorylation. Our studies indicate that BAY41-2272 or the combination NOC-18 HDAC inhibitor + BAY41-2272 caused inhibition of the basal ERK1/2 phosphorylation in OVCAR-3 (high sGC activity), SK-OV-3

and SK-Br-3 (low sGC activity) cell lines and in some cases the inhibition was rescued by the sGC inhibitor ODQ (1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one). These studies suggest that the effects of activators/inhibitors

of NO-sGC-cGMP in tumor cell proliferation is mediated by both cGMP-dependent and independent mechanisms. Published Selleckchem Elacridar by Elsevier Inc.”
“Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is one of the most pathogenic members of the Alphavirus genus in the Togaviridae family. The pathogenesis of this virus depends strongly on the sequences of the structural proteins and on the mutations in the RNA promoter encoded by the 5′ untranslated region (5′ UTR) of the viral genome. In this study, we performed a detailed investigation of the structural and functional elements of the 5′-terminal promoter and analyzed the effect of multiple mutations introduced into the VEEV 5′ UTR on virus and RNA replication. The results of this study demonstrate that RNA replication is determined by two synergistically functioning RNA elements. One of them is a very 5′-terminal AU dinucleotide, which is not involved in the stable RNA secondary structure, and the second is a short, G-C-rich RNA stem. An increase or decrease in the stem’s stability has deleterious effects on virus and RNA replication. In response to mutations in these RNA elements, VEEV replicative machinery was capable of developing new, compensatory sequences in the 5′ UTR either containing 5′-terminal AUG or AU repeats or leading to the formation of new, heterologous stem-loops.