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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: BACKGROUND, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Adrenal Gland Neoplasms, Animals, Apoptosis, Blotting, Western, Cell Cycle, Cell Movement, Cell Proliferation, Enzyme Inhibitors, Hexokinase, Humans, Lung Neoplasms, Male, Mice, Mice, Inbred BALB C, Mice, Nude, Neuroblastoma, RNA, Messenger, RNA, Small Interfering, Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Tumor Cells, Cultured, Wound Healing, Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays.
user
Is hexokinase 2 a determinant of neuroblastoma metastasis? Context: Intersecting a genome-wide expression profile of metastatic and nonmetastatic human neuroblastoma xenograft variants with expression profiles of tumours from stage 1 and 4 neuroblastoma patients, we previously characterised hexokinase 2 (HK2) as a gene whose expression was upregulated in both metastatic neuroblastoma variants and tumours from stage 4 neuroblastoma patients. Local and metastatic neuroblastoma cell variants as well as metastatic neuroblastoma cells genetically manipulated to downregulate the expression of HK2 were utilised for in vitro and in vivo examinations of the involvement of HK2 in neuroblastoma. Hexokinase 2 expression and its activity levels were increased in neuroblastoma metastatic variants as compared with the local variants. The upregulation of HK2 confers upon the metastatic cells high resistance to the antiproliferative effect of the HK2 inhibitor 3-BrPa and to the chemotherapy agent Deferoxamine. The inhibition of HK2 transcript lowered the proliferation and motility of sh-HK2 cells as compared with sh-control cells. Mice that were inoculated with sh-HK2 cells had a lower incidence of local tumours, smaller tumour volumes and a diminished load of lung metastasis compared with mice inoculated with sh-control cells.
assistant
Hexokinase 2 plays a significant role in shaping the malignant phenotype of neuroblastoma and influences the progression of this disease. Final Decision: yes