Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.22.62 (caspase-9)
7,507 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cisplatin, an effective anticancer agent, can induce tumor cell apoptosis via caspase-dependent and-independent pathways. However, the precise mechanism that regulates the pathways remains unclear. In this study, we showed that micro-calpain mediated both caspase-dependent and-independent pathways during cisplatin-induced apoptosis in human lung adenocarcinoma cells. After cisplatin treatment, calpain activation, as measured by a fluorescent substrate, was an early event, taking place well before apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) release and caspase-9/-3 activation. Confocal imaging of cells transfected with AIF-GFP demonstrated that AIF release occurred about 9 hr after cisplatin treatment. The increase of micro-calpain activity proved to be a crucial event in the apoptotic machinery, as demonstrated by the significant protection of cell death in samples suppressed the endogenous micro-calpain expression level, as well as cotreated with the calpain inhibitors, calpeptin and PD150606. Inhibition of mu-calpain not only significantly reduced caspase-9/-3 activities but also completely blocked AIF redistribution. Our study also showed that endogenous mitochondrial micro-calpain could directly induce the truncation and release of AIF, while caspases and cathepsins were not necessary for this process. In conclusion, the study demonstrated that activation of micro-calpain played an essential role in regulating both caspase-dependent and AIF-mediated caspase-independent apoptotic pathways in cisplatin-induced apoptosis.
...
PMID:Micro-calpain regulates caspase-dependent and apoptosis inducing factor-mediated caspase-independent apoptotic pathways in cisplatin-induced apoptosis. 1970 11

This study is the first to investigate the anticancer effect of tricetin in human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells. Results reveal that tricetin inhibits MCF-7 cells by blocking cell cycle progression in the G2/M phase and inducing apoptosis. Cell cycle blockade is associated with increased activation of ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM). Activation of ATM by tricetin phosphorylated p53 at serine 15, resulting in increased stability of p53 by decreasing p53 and murine double minute-2 (MDM2) interaction. In addition, tricetin-mediated G2/M phase arrest was also associated with decreases in the amounts of cyclin B, cyclin A, cdc2 and cdc25C, and increases in the phosphorylation of Chk2, cdc25C and cdc2. The specific ATM inhibitor caffeine significantly decreased tricetin-mediated G2/M arrest by inhibiting the phosphorylation of p53 (serine 15) and Chk2. Tricetin-induced apoptotic cell death is associated with changes in the expression of Bax and Bak, decreasing levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L), and subsequently triggering the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. In addition, pretreatment of cells with caspase-9 inhibitor blocked tricetin-induced apoptosis, indicating that caspase-9 activation is involved in tricetin-mediated MCF-7 cell apoptosis. These findings suggest that tricetin may be a promising chemopreventive agent against human breast cancer.
...
PMID:Tricetin, a dietary flavonoid, inhibits proliferation of human breast adenocarcinoma mcf-7 cells by blocking cell cycle progression and inducing apoptosis. 1970 44

The Houttuynia cordata Thunb (HCT) extract has been used as a traditional Chinese herb medicine and as well as an effective drug for treating allergic inflammation for thousands of years. In this study, we investigated the anti-cancer activity of HCT and its molecular mechanisms in the human colon adenocarcinoma cell line HT-29. HCT inhibited HT-29 cell viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner by MTT assay. Treatment with 450 microg/ml of HCT for 48 and 72 h led to DNA damage and apoptosis by DAPI staining and comet assay. HCT increased reactive oxygen species production and decreased the levels of mitochondria membrane potential (MMP) in HT-29 cells by flow cytometry analysis. HCT caused the release of cytochrome c, Apaf-1, pro-caspase-9 and AIF from mitochondria via a decrease of the MMP. The decrease of MMP was then associated with a decrease in the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 and activation of caspase-9 and -3 by Western blotting and caspase activity assay. Caspase-9 and -3 inhibitors almost completely suppressed HCT-induced caspase-9 and -3 activities. Our results demonstrated that the HCT-induced apoptosis in human colon adenocarcinoma cell line HT-29 might be related to a mitochondrial-dependent pathway.
...
PMID:Houttuynia cordata Thunb extract induces apoptosis through mitochondrial-dependent pathway in HT-29 human colon adenocarcinoma cells. 1978 20

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a flexible multi-target therapeutic approach. One of the main requirements of successful PDT is sufficient intracellular concentration of an applicable photosensitizer. Mechanisms of anticancer drug elimination by tumour cells are mostly linked to the elevated expression and activity of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP1), breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) and P450 monooxygenases. The interaction of hypericin with this cell drug-defence system is still unclear. We report here for the first time increased activity of MRP1 and BCRP in HT-29 colon cancer cells treated with hypericin per se. On the contrary, pre-treatment with proadifen (SKF525A) affected the function of MRP1 and BCRP leading to increased hypericin content, which might indicate a possible link between proadifen and these ABC transporter proteins. Subsequent enhanced intracellular oxidative stress was accompanied by loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, activation of caspase-9 and -3, PARP cleavage and onset of apoptosis. In conclusion, our study suggests that drug efflux transporters MRP1 and BCRP affect the pharmacokinetics of hypericin in HT-29 colon adenocarcinoma cells, and the action of hypericin-mediated PDT (HY-PDT) should be modulated by pre-treatment with their specific inhibitors.
...
PMID:Drug efflux transporters, MRP1 and BCRP, affect the outcome of hypericin-mediated photodynamic therapy in HT-29 adenocarcinoma cells. 2002 69

Several studies have shown that curcumin can induce apoptosis and inhibit growth in human tumor cell lines. However, the mechanism is not completely understood yet. The present studies were designed to investigate the effects of curcumin on human A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells lines to better understand its effect on apoptosis and apoptosis-related genes in vitro. Apoptosis induction, mitochondria membrane potential, mitochondria structure, and apoptotic associated gene expression were examined by flow cytometric assay, confocal microscopy, Western blotting and electron microscopy. After treatment with curcumin, percentage of apoptotic cells increased dose- and time-dependently, and morphology observation revealed typical apoptotic features. Our data further indicated that the expression of Bax proteins in A549 cells was increased in a dose-dependent manner, whereas the expression of Bcl-2 was significantly decreased, thus the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 was increased. The apoptotic process was accompanied by the change of mitochondrial function and structure which led to release of the cytochrome c, and activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3. Furthermore, curcumin also induced a dose-dependent cleavage of PARP. Caspases activation during the course of curcumin-induced apoptosis was additionally confirmed by using a broad-spectrum caspases inhibitor, Z-VAD-fmk. As expected, the inhibitor was able to decrease curcumin-induced apoptosis on A549 cells. These results suggested that mitochondria played an important role in the curcumin-induced apoptosis, and mitochondria membrane potential loss initiated apoptosis via the activation of caspases.
...
PMID:Curcumin induces mitochondria pathway mediated cell apoptosis in A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells. 2037 42

We examined whether betulin, a naturally abundant compound, has anticancer functions in human cancer cells. The results showed that betulin significantly inhibited cell viability in cervix carcinoma HeLa cells, hepatoma HepG2 cells, lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells, and breast cancer MCF-7 cells with IC(50) values ranging from 10 to 15 microg/mL. While betulin exhibited only moderate anticancer activity in other human cancer cells such as hepatoma SK-HEP-1 cells, prostate carcinoma PC-3, and lung carcinoma NCI-H460, with IC(50) values ranging from 20 to 60 microg/mL, it showed minor growth inhibition in human erythroleukemia K562 cells (IC(50) > 100 microg/mL). We further investigated the mechanism of anticancer activity by betulin, using HeLa cells as an experimental model. Betulin (10 microg/mL) induces apoptotic cell death, as evidenced by morphological characteristics such as membrane phosphatidylserine translocation, nuclear condensation/fragmentation, and apoptotic body formation. A kinetics analysis showed that the depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential and the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c occurred as early as 30 min after treatment with betulin. Betulin, unlike its chemical derivative betulinic acid, did not directly trigger mitochondrial cytochrome c release in isolated mitochondria. Importantly, Bax and Bak were rapidly translocated to the mitochondria 30 min after betulin treatment. The sequential activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3/-7 and the cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) were observed behind those mitochondrial events. Furthermore, specific downregulation of either caspase-9, Bax, or Bak by siRNA effectively reduced PARP cleavage and caspase-3 activation. Taken together, the lines of evidence demonstrate that betulin triggers apoptosis of human cancer cells through the intrinsic apoptotic pathway.
...
PMID:Betulin induces mitochondrial cytochrome c release associated apoptosis in human cancer cells. 2056 40

Survivin, an important member of inhibitor-of-apoptosis (IAP) family, can be up-regulated by various pro-apoptotic stimuli, such as UV, photodynamic therapy (PDT) and cisplatin. High fluence low-power laser irradiation (HF-LPLI) is a newly discovered pro-apoptotic stimulator. The anti-apoptotic mechanism of survivin during HF-LPLI-induced apoptosis is still not investigated. Here, we report that HF-LPLI up-regulates survivin activity through reactive oxygen species (ROS)/cdc25c protein phosphatase (cdc25c)/cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK1) signaling pathway in human lung adenocarcinoma cells (ASTC-a-1). The up-regulation of survivin activity can reduce HF-LPLI-induced apoptosis, while down-regulation of the activity can promote the apoptosis. In addition, activated survivin delays mitochondrial depolarization, cytochrome c release, caspase-9 and Bax activation, all of which are typical pro-apoptotic events of cell apoptosis induced by HF-LPLI. On the basis of the present studies, we conclude that survivin can mediate self-protection during tumor cell apoptosis caused by HF-LPLI.
...
PMID:Survivin mediates self-protection through ROS/cdc25c/CDK1 signaling pathway during tumor cell apoptosis induced by high fluence low-power laser irradiation. 2057 6

Natural flavonoids have broad biological activity, including anticancer. In this study, a series of novel flavone derivatives were synthesized with the substitutions of chlorine, isopropyl, methoxy, and nitro groups on the benzene ring of flavone skeleton to develop effective anticancer agents. Antiproliferative assays showed that the synthesized chemicals possess notable activity against hepatocarcinoma cells (HepG-2); in particular, the compound 6f with chlorine and dimethoxy modifications at the two benzene rings showed an IC(50) at 1.1 microM to HepG-2. The 6f also displayed marked anticancer activity towards a panel of cancer cells, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells (CNE-2 and CNE-1), breast adenocarcinoma cell (MCF-7), and epithelial carcinoma cells (Hela). Exposing HepG-2 cells to compound 6f at 10 microM induced chromatin condensation, nuclear disassembly, and DNA fragmentation. In 6f-treated HepG-2 cells, the sub-G(0) population was remarkably increased; and in these cells, both caspase-8 and caspase-9 activity was significantly increased, which in turn activated caspase-3. In addition, proapoptotic Bax was upregulated by compound 6f while the antiapoptotic Bcl-2 was downregulated. Taken together, our data suggest that the new flavonoid derivative 6f triggers apoptosis through both death-receptor and mitochondria-dependent intrinsic pathways, being a potent therapeutic agent against hepatocarcinoma.
...
PMID:New synthetic flavone derivatives induce apoptosis of hepatocarcinoma cells. 2067 74

The C-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) inhibitor SP600125 is widely used to inhibit the JNK-mediated Bax activation and cell apoptosis. However, this report demonstrates that SP600125 synergistically enhances the dihydroartemisinin (DHA)-induced human lung adenocarcinoma cell apoptosis by accelerating Bax translocation and subsequent intrinsic apoptotic pathway involving mitochondrial membrane depolarization, cytochrome c release, caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation. The dynamical analysis of GFP-Bax mobility inside single living cells using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching revealed that SP600125 aggravated the DHA-induced decrease of Bax mobility and Bax translocation. These results for the first time present a novel pro-apoptotic action of SP600125 in DHA-induced apoptosis.
...
PMID:The JNK inhibitor SP600125 enhances dihydroartemisinin-induced apoptosis by accelerating Bax translocation into mitochondria in human lung adenocarcinoma cells. 2070 60

MEKK1 is a ubiquitously expressed mitogen activated protein kinase that is involved in tissue remodeling in a variety of settings including carotid artery blood flow cessation, wound healing, and breast adenocarcinoma intravasation. Here, we have tested the function of MEKK1 in genetic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). MEKK1 was genetically deleted in C57Bl6/J mice expressing a mutant alpha-myosin heavy chain (HCM-MEKK1(-/-)). The absence of MEKK1 in HCM resulted in a more pronounced hypertrophy when compared to HCM mice with the MEKK1 gene intact without further increases in atrial natriuretic factor and beta-myosin heavy chain (MyHC) expression and fibrosis. Since MEKK1 is required for the induction of several tissue proteases, we tested the hypothesis that cardiac enlargement of HCM- MEKK1(-/-) mice was due to altered expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), JunB, matrix-metalloproteinase (MMP), and tissue inhibitors of MMPs (TIMPs). Because of its role in preventing apoptosis, we also tested the loss of MEKK1 on apoptotic mediators Bcl-2, cytochrome C, caspase-9, and caspase-3. uPA expression was decreased while JunB, MMP-9, caspase-9, and caspase-3 activities were elevated in HCM- MEKK1(-/-) hearts when compared to MEKK1(-/-), wild-type (WT), and HCM mice. Bcl-2 and Cyt C expression was elevated only in HCM mice. We conclude that the absence of MEKK1 induces a more pronounced cardiac hypertrophy to HCM through altered expression of proteases implicated in cardiac remodeling and increased apoptosis.
...
PMID:The role of MEKK1 in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. 2071 46


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>