Oncogene database

2920

CXCL2

chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 2;CXCL2;chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 2

C-X-C motif chemokine 2|GRO2 oncogene|MGSA beta|MIP2-alpha|gro-beta|growth-regulated protein beta|macrophage inflammatory protein 2-alpha|melanoma growth stimulatory activity beta

4q21

protein-coding

AIM: To determine the association between serum levels of growth-related gene product beta (GRObeta) and clinical parameters in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). METHODS: Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, serum GRObeta levels were measured in ESCC patients (n = 72) and healthy volunteers (n = 83). The association between serum levels of GRObeta and clinical parameters of ESCC was analyzed statistically. RESULTS: The serum GRObeta levels were much higher in ESCC patients than in healthy controls (median: 645 ng/L vs 269 ng/L, P < 0.05). Serum GRObeta levels were correlated positively with tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging, but not with gender or the histological grade of tumors in ESCC patients. The sensitivity and specificity of the assay for serum GRObeta were 73.61% and 56.63%, respectively. CONCLUSION: GRObeta may function as an oncogene product and contribute to tumorigenesis and metastasis of ESCC.

Interleukin-8 (IL-8), growth-related oncogene (GRO) alpha, GRObeta, GROgamma, neutrophil-activating peptide-2 (NAP-2), epithelial cell-derived neutrophil activating peptide- 78 (ENA-78), and granulocyte chemoattractant protein-2 are potent neutrophil chemoattractants 40-90% identical in amino acid sequence that comprise a subgroup of human CXC chemokines defined by the conserved sequence motif glutamic acid-leucine-arginine (ELR). Two human chemotactic receptor subtypes for IL-8, named IL-8 receptors (IL8R) A and B, have been cloned. They are 78% identical in amino acid sequence, coexpressed in neutrophils, and distinguished by their different selectivities for GROalpha and NAP-2. Their selectivity for other ELR+ CXC chemokines has not been previously reported. By measuring calcium flux in human embryonic kidney 293 cells transfected with plasmids encoding IL8RA or IL8RB, we have now defined receptor selectivity for GRObeta, GROgamma, and ENA-78. The rank order of agonist potency, based on inspection of the mean effective concentration values (EC50), for IL8RB was GROgamma (1 nM) > IL-8 (4 nM) approximately GROalpha (5 nM) approximately GRObeta (4 nM) approximately NAP-2 (7 nM) > ENA-78 (11 nM), and for IL8RA was IL-8 (4 nM) >>> ENA-78 (40 nM) approximately NAP-2 (45 nM) > GROalpha (63 nM) approximately GROgamma (65 nM) >> GRObeta. The maximal response of IL8RA to IL-8 was at least 2-fold greater than the other five chemokines. ALL six agonists for IL8RB competed for high affinity 125I-IL-8, -GROalpha, -NAP-2, and -ENA-78 binding sites at IL8RB. GROalpha, GRObeta, GROgamma, NAP-2, and ENA-78 competed weakly for the high affinity IL-8 binding site at IL8RA. Thus, IL8RA and IL8RB are both highly selective for IL-8 and have similar sequences but differ dramatically in their selectivity for ALL other ELR+ CXC chemokines tested. These findings have important implications for developing novel neutrophil-specific anti-inflammatory drugs directed against the CXC chemokine signaling system.

A number of CXC chemokines competed with similar, nanomolar affinity against 125I-interleukin-8 (IL-8) binding to ORF-74, a constitutively active seven-transmembrane receptor encoded by human herpesvirus 8. However, in competition against 125I-labeled growth-related oncogene (GRO)-alpha, the ORF-74 receptor was highly selective for GRO peptides, with IL-8 being 10,000-fold less potent. The constitutive stimulating activity of ORF-74 on phosphatidylinositol turnover was not influenced by, for example, IL-8 binding. In contrast, GRO peptides acted as potent agonists in stimulating ORF-74 signaling, whereas IP-10 and stromal cell-derived factor-1alpha surprisingly acted as inverse agonists. These peptides had similar pharmacological properties with regard to enhancing or inhibiting, respectively, the stimulatory effect of ORF-74 on NIH-3T3 cell proliferation. Construction of a high affinity zinc switch through introduction of two His residues at the extracellular end of transmembrane segment V enabled Zn2+ to act as a prototype non-peptide inverse agonist, which eliminated the constitutive signaling. It is concluded that ORF-74, which is believed to be causally involved in the formation of highly vascularized tumors, has been optimized for agonist and inverse agonist modulation by the endogenous angiogenic GRO peptides and angiostatic IP-10 and stromal cell-derived factor-1alpha, respectively. ORF-74 could serve as a target for the development of non-peptide inverse agonist drugs as demonstrated by the effect of Zn2+ on the metal ion site-engineered receptor.