Autocrine production of IL-11 mediates tumorigenicity in hypoxic cancer cells.

IL-11 and its receptor, IL-11Ra, are expressed in human cancers; however, the functional role of IL-11 in tumor progression is not known. We found that IL11 is a hypoxia-inducible, VHL-regulated gene in human cancer cells and that expression of IL11 mRNA was dependent, at least in part, on HIF-1. A cooperative interaction between HIF-1 and AP-1 mediated transcriptional activation of the IL11 promoter.

Development of HIF-1 inhibitors for cancer therapy.

Intratumour hypoxia has long been considered a driving force of tumour progression and a negative prognostic factor in human cancers. The discovery of hypoxia inducible factors (HIFs), which mediate transcriptional responses to changes in oxygen levels, has renewed enthusiasm for the discovery and development of targeted therapies exploiting the hypoxic tumour microenvironment. In spite of an ever increasing number of putative small molecule inhibitors of HIF, only few progress through pre-clinical and early clinical development.

Kinase-dependent and -independent roles of EphA2 in the regulation of prostate cancer invasion and metastasis.

Ligand-activated Eph tyrosine kinases regulate cellular repulsion, morphology, adhesion, and motility. EphA2 kinase is frequently up-regulated in several different types of cancers, including prostate, breast, colon, and lung carcinomas, as well as in melanoma. The existing data do not clarify whether EphA2 receptor phosphorylation or its simple overexpression, which likely leads to Eph kinase-independent responses, plays a role in the progression of malignant prostate cancer.