Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.22.61 (caspase-8)
 6,833 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

San-Zhong-Kui-Jian-Tang (SZKJT; Japanese name: Sanshu-kaigen-to), a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, has been used for treating patients with various cancers. This study first investigates the anticancer effect of SZKJT in two human breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231. SZKJT exhibited effective cell growth inhibition by inducing cancer cells to undergo G0/G1 phase arrest and apoptosis. Blockade of cell cycle was associated with increased p21/WAF1 levels, and reduced amounts of cyclinD1, cyclinD2 in a p53-independent manner. SZKJT treatment triggered the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway indicated by changing Bax/Bcl-2 ratios, cytochrome c release and caspase-9 activation, but did not act on Fas/Fas ligand pathways and the activation of caspase-8. Further investigation revealed that SZKJT's inhibition of cell growth effect was also evident in a nude mice model. Taken together, our study suggests that the induction of p21/WAF1 and activity of the mitochondrial apoptotic system may participate in the antiproliferative activity of SZKJY in human breast cancer cells.
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PMID:San-Zhong-Kui-Jian-Tang, a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, inhibits the proliferation of human breast cancer cell by blocking cell cycle progression and inducing apoptosis. 1714 69

Apoptosis induced by rhein, an active component of senna, has been reported in various human cancer cells, however, its molecular mechanisms are not precisely known. In this study, the mechanisms of apoptosis by which rhein acts on human cervical cancer Ca Ski cells were examined. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that rhein induced the abrogation of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and cleavage of Bid protein. Rhein also induced an increase in the levels of Fas, p53, p21 and Bar, but a decrease in the level of Bcl-2. The activities of both caspase-8 and -9 were enhanced by rhein, promoting caspase-3 activation, leading to DNA fragmentation, thus, indicating that rhein-induced apoptosis is caspase-dependent. In addition, rhein induced an increase in the level of cytoplasmic Ca2+, which was inhibited by BAPTA (a calcium chelator). BAPTA attenuated the MMP abrogation and significantly dinimished the occurrence of rhein-induced apoptosis in Ca Ski cells. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that rhein-induced apoptosis occurs via a caspase-dependent and mitochondria-dependent pathway which is closely related to the level of cytoplasmic Ca2+ in Ca Ski cells.
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PMID:The role of Ca+2 on rhein-induced apoptosis in human cervical cancer Ca Ski cells. 1735 57

N'-(11H-Indolo[3,2-c]quinolin-6-yl)-N,N-dimethylethane-1,2-diamine (IQDMA), an indoloquinoline derivative, synthesized in our laboratory, has been demonstrated to be an effective anti-tumor agent in human leukemia cells. Treatment of K562 cells with IQDMA resulted in G2/M phase cell cycle arrest, presumably involving the concomitant up-regulation of p21 and apoptosis through up-regulation of FasL and sequential activation of caspase-8 and caspase-3. In contrast to the lack of appreciable effect on the phosphorylation of ERK and p38 MAPK, activation of JNK was noted when K562 cells were exposed to IQDMA. Moreover, IQDMA-mediated G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis were reversed after treatment with the JNK-specific inhibitors, SP600125 and JNK inhibitor 1. Further investigation showed that SP600125 reduced the activation of FasL, caspase-3, caspase-8, and led to a marked decline of p21. Taken together, our data show that JNK plays an important role in IQDMA-mediated G2/M arrest and apoptosis of K562 cancer cells.
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PMID:Involvement of c-Jun N-terminal kinase in G2/M arrest and FasL-mediated apoptosis induced by a novel indoloquinoline derivative, IQDMA, in K562 cells. 1739 22

Silurus asotus (catfish) egg lectin (SAL) has potent affinity to Gal alpha-linked carbohydrate chains of not only glycoproteins but also glycosphingolipids such as globotriaosylceramide (Gb3). SAL selectively bound to Gb3 localized in glycosphingolipid-enriched microdomain (GEM) of Gb3-expressing (Gb3(+)) Burkitt's lymphoma cells. Since treatment of Gb3(+) cells with SAL caused an increase in externalization of phosphatidylserine via activation of P-glycoprotein, and apoptotic volume decrease via activation of G-protein activated K(+) channel-1, SAL may function as an inducer of early apoptotic signal; however, neither caspase-8 and -3 activation nor DNA fragmentation was observed. We therefore investigated whether cell proliferation and viability were altered in SAL-treated Raji cells. SAL caused reduction of Raji cell proliferation without cytotoxicity. Although SAL did not induce apoptotic cell death to Gb3-expressing cells, it functionally behaved as a regulator of cell proliferation. SAL activated the suppression system of cell proliferation, such as down-regulation of c-myc and cdk4, and up-regulation of p21 and p27, inducing G1 arrest of the cell cycle, and consequently inhibited cell proliferation of Raji cells. Therefore, we conclude that SAL leads the cells to early apoptotic status but not late apoptotic (necrotic) status via binding to Gb3 existing in GEM, and that this binding is a prerequisite condition to induce cell cycle stop signal.
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PMID:[Regulation of globotriaosylceramide (Gb3)-mediated signal transduction by rhamnose-binding lectin]. 1740 83

Guggulsterone is a plant polyphenol traditionally used to treat obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis, and osteoarthritis, possibly through an anti-inflammatory mechanism. Whether this steroid has any role in cancer is not known. In this study, we found that guggulsterone inhibits the proliferation of wide variety of human tumor cell types including leukemia, head and neck carcinoma, multiple myeloma, lung carcinoma, melanoma, breast carcinoma, and ovarian carcinoma. Guggulsterone also inhibited the proliferation of drug-resistant cancer cells (e.g., gleevac-resistant leukemia, dexamethasone-resistant multiple myeloma, and doxorubicin-resistant breast cancer cells). Guggulsterone suppressed the proliferation of cells through inhibition of DNA synthesis, producing cell cycle arrest in S-phase, and this arrest correlated with a decrease in the levels of cyclin D1 and cdc2 and a concomitant increase in the levels of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 and p27. Guggulsterone-induced apoptosis as indicated by increase in the number of Annexin V- and TUNEL-positive cells, through the downregulation of anti-apoptototic products. The apoptosis induced by guggulsterone was also indicated by the activation of caspase-8, bid cleavage, cytochrome c release, caspase-9 activation, caspase-3 activation, and PARP cleavage. The apoptotic effects of guggulsterone were preceded by activation of JNK and downregulation of Akt activity. JNK was needed for guggulsterone-induced apoptosis, inasmuch as inhibition of JNK by pharmacological inhibitors or by genetic deletion of MKK4 (activator of JNK) abolished the activity. Overall, our results indicate that guggulsterone can inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis through the activation of JNK, suppression of Akt, and downregulation of antiapoptotic protein expression.
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PMID:Guggulsterone inhibits tumor cell proliferation, induces S-phase arrest, and promotes apoptosis through activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase, suppression of Akt pathway, and downregulation of antiapoptotic gene products. 1747 22

EWS-Fli1 plays important roles in oncogenesis of Ewing's family tumors (EFTs). We have reported that EWS-Fli1 inhibits p21(waf1/cip1) and p27(kip1) expressions, which are degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Bortezomib efficiently up-regulated p21(waf1/cip1) and p27(kip1) expression, and induced apoptosis accompanied by the expression of cleaved-PARP, DR4 and activated caspase-8 in EFT cells. Since most EFTs deaths result from the tumor being resistant to chemotherapeutic drugs, the effects of novel anti-tumor reagents on drug-resistant tumors were next investigated. The results demonstrated that the drug-resistant EFT clones were cross-resistant to bortezomib probably due to the over-expression of the efflux pumps, P-glycoprotein and MRP1. We further investigated whether the efflux pump inhibitors would modulate the effects of bortezomib. The combination of P-gp-specific or MRP1-specific inhibitors could enhance the anti-tumor effects of bortezomib on the drug-resistant clones. These data suggest that bortezomib might be a substrate of P-gp and MRP1. Although bortezomib would be effective on the primary EFTs, it is necessary to pay attention to the resistance to bortezomib in clinical trials for the advanced cases. The combination of bortezomib and the efflux pump inhibitors might be a promising method as a novel molecular target therapy for advanced EFTs.
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PMID:The mechanism of cross-resistance to proteasome inhibitor bortezomib and overcoming resistance in Ewing's family tumor cells. 1778 11

Statins are a class of low molecular weight drugs that inhibit the rate-limiting enzyme of the mevalonate pathway 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase. Statins have been approved and effectively used to control hypercholesterolemia in clinical setting. Recent study showed statin's antitumor activity and suggested a potential role for prevention of human cancers. In this study, we did cell viability, DNA fragmentation, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling assays to evaluate the action of statins on prostate cancer cells and used Western blotting and RhoA activation assay to investigate the underlying molecular mechanism of action. Our data showed that lovastatin and simvastatin effectively decreased cell viability in three prostate cancer cell lines (PC3, DU145, and LnCap) by inducing apoptosis and cell growth arrest at G(1) phase. Both lovastatin and simvastatin induced activation of caspase-8, caspase-3, and, to a lesser extent, caspase-9. Both statins suppressed expression of Rb, phosphorylated Rb, cyclin D1, cyclin D3, CDK4, and CDK6, but induced p21 and p27 expression in prostate cancer cells. Furthermore, lovastatin and simvastatin suppressed RhoA activation and c-JUN expression, but not cyclooxygenase-2 expression. Our data showed that the antitumor activity of statins is due to induction of apoptosis and cell growth arrest. The underlying molecular mechanism of statin's action is mediated through inactivation of RhoA, which in turn induces caspase enzymatic activity and/or G(1) cell cycle. Future studies should focus on examining statins and other apoptosis-inducing drugs (e.g., cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors or curcumin) together to assess their efficacy in prevention of prostate cancer.
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PMID:Statin induces apoptosis and cell growth arrest in prostate cancer cells. 1819 14

Despite the depth of knowledge concerning the pathogenesis of acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML), long-term survival remains unresolved. Therefore, new agents that act more selectively and more potently are required. In that line, we have recently characterized a novel diterpene ester, called 3-hydrogenkwadaphnin (3-HK), with capability to induce both differentiation and apoptosis in various leukemia cell lines. These effects of 3-HK were mediated through inhibition of inosine 5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase, a selective up-regulated enzyme in cancerous cells, especially leukemia. However, it remains elusive to understand how cells display different fates in response to 3-HK. Here, we report the distinct molecular signaling pathways involved in forcing of 3-HK-treated U937 cells to undergo differentiation and apoptosis. After 3-HK (15 nM) treatment, a portion of U937 cells adhered to the culture plates and showed macrophage criteria while others remained in suspension and underwent apoptosis. The differentiated cells arrested in G(0)/G(1) phase of cell cycle and showed early activation of ERK1/2 pathway (3 h) along with ERK-dependent p21(Cip/WAF1) (p21) up-regulation and expression of p27(Kip1) and Bcl-2. In contrast, the suspension cells underwent apoptosis through Fas/FasL and mitochondrial pathways. The occurrence of apoptosis in these cells were accompanied with caspase-8-mediated p21 cleavage and delayed activation (24 h) of JNK1/2 and p38 MAPK. Taken together, these results suggest that distinct signaling pathways play a pivotal role in fates of drug-treated leukemia cells, thus this may pave some novel therapeutical utilities.
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PMID:Distinct MAPK signaling pathways, p21 up-regulation and caspase-mediated p21 cleavage establishes the fate of U937 cells exposed to 3-hydrogenkwadaphnin: differentiation versus apoptosis. 1839 70

The seed of Strychnos nux-vomica (Loganiaceae) has been used in traditional Oriental medicine as a folk remedy for the treatment of cancer. However, the mechanism responsible for the anticancer effects of Strychni Semen is not clearly understood. The study tested whether and how the water extract of Strychni Semen (ESS) treatment would affect the growth of AGS human gastric carcinoma cells. ESS was found to inhibit the growth of AGS cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Cell cycle analysis showed G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis in AGS cells following ESS treatment. ESS-mediated G2/M arrest was found to be associated with up-regulation of cyclin A, Cdc2, tumor suppressor p53 and cyclin dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor p21(WAF1/CIP1), whereas the expressions of other G2/M regulatory proteins, including cyclin B1 and Cdk2, were down-regulated compared with the control. The induction of apoptotic cell death by ESS was associated with down-regulation of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and up-regulation of pro-apoptotic Bax expression. Further results indicate that caspase-3, caspase-8 and caspase-9 are all activated by ESS, together with cleavage of downstream caspase-3 target proteins. Taken together, the results of this study suggest the involvement of multiple signaling pathways targeted by ESS in mediating G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in AGS cells, and warrant further investigation.
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PMID:Induction of G2/M arrest and apoptosis by water extract of Strychni Semen in human gastric carcinoma AGS cells. 1844 45

Although it has been previously reported that bee venom (BV) can induce apoptosis in many cancer cell lines, there is no information on the effect of BV on human cervical cancer cells and its molecular mechanisms of action are not fully elucidated. In this study, the possible mechanisms of apoptosis by which BV acts on human cervical cancer Ca Ski cells were investigated. BV induced morphological changes and decreased the percentage of viable Ca Ski cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that BV induced the production of reactive oxygen species, increased the level of cytoplasmic Ca2+, reduced mitochondrial membrane potential which led to cytochrome c release, and promoted the activation of caspase-3 which then led to apoptosis. BV also induced an increase in the levels of Fas, p53, p21 and Bax, but a decrease in the level of Bcl-2. The activities of both caspase-8 and caspase-9 were enhanced by BV, promoting caspase-3 activation, leading to DNA fragmentation. Based on the DNA fragmentation and DAPI staining, BV-induced apoptosis was mitochondrial-dependent and caspase-dependent. BV also promoted the expression of AIF and Endo G in the Ca Ski cells. Both AIF and Endo G proteins were released from the mitochondria, and then induced apoptosis which was not through activation of caspase. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that BV-induced apoptosis occurs via a Fas receptor pathway involving mitochondrial-dependent pathways and is closely related to the level of cytoplasmic Ca2+ in Ca Ski cells.
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PMID:Bee venom induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human cervical epidermoid carcinoma Ca Ski cells. 1850 26


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