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)

The soy isoflavone Daidzein has been reported to exhibit therapeutic activity in cancer. In this study glioblastoma cells and human astrocytes were treated with Daidzein, tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) or the combination of both. Treatment with subtoxic doses of Daidzein in combination with TRAIL induces rapid apoptosis in glioma cells. Notably, human astrocytes were not affected by the combined treatment consisting of Daidzein and TRAIL. Combined treatment with Daidzein and TRAIL augmented the activation of caspase-9, suggesting that Daidzein modulated the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Daidzein did not modulate the expression of death receptors, c-FLIP, XIAP and survivin. However, Daidzein down-regulated bcl-2 and over-expression of bcl-2 attenuated apoptosis induced by the combination of Daidzein and TRAIL. In summary, bcl-2 is a key regulator in TRAIL-Daidzein mediated cell death in malignant glioma.
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PMID:Daidzein overcomes TRAIL-resistance in malignant glioma cells by modulating the expression of the intrinsic apoptotic inhibitor, bcl-2. 1942 88

Rhinacanthone, a main bioactive naphthoquinone, isolated from roots of Rhinacanthus nasutus KURZ, (family Acanthaceae), a Thai traditional medicine, has been reported to possess anticancer effects, although the anticancer mechanism is still unclear. Therefore, we investigated the effects of rhinacanthone on cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis induction in human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cells. beta-Lapachone, an anticancer drug having a chemical structure related to rhinacanthone, was used as a positive control. The results demonstrated that rhinacanthone inhibited proliferation of HeLa cells in a dose-dependent manner and had greater efficacy than that of beta-lapachone: IC(50) values of the compound ranged from 1.2+/-0.1 to 5.5+/-0.86 muM for 2-24 h time periods. Rhinacanthone-treated HeLa cells displayed several apoptotic features as evidenced by the appearance of chromatin condensation, internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, increase in the proportion of sub G(1) apoptotic cells, and externalization of annexin-V. The apoptotic processes by the treatment with rhinacanthone involved in a marked increase in the level of pro-apoptotic protein Bax and decrease in the levels of anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and survivin as well as subsequent activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3. Moreover, rhinacanthone increased the expression of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) which would translocate from mitochondria to nucleus through cytosol, and induce apoptosis through caspase independent signaling pathway. Taken together, our findings for the first time demonstrate that rhinacanthone-induced apoptosis in HeLa cells is mediated primarily through the mitochondria-dependent signaling pathway, suggesting that it may be a promising agent for the treatment of human cervical cancer.
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PMID:Induction of apoptosis by rhinacanthone isolated from Rhinacanthus nasutus roots in human cervical carcinoma cells. 1957 94

Quercetin, a widely distributed bioflavonoid, has been shown to induce growth inhibition in a variety of human cancer cells. However, the regulation of survivin and Bcl-2 on the quercetin-induced cell-growth inhibition and apoptosis in cancer cells remains unclear. In the present study, we report that quercetin can inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in HepG2 cells in dose- and time-dependent manner. Hoechst 33258 and acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining showed that HepG2 cells underwent the typical morphologic changes of apoptosis characterized by nuclear shrinkage, chromatin condensation, or fragmentation after exposure to quercetin. Cell-cycle analysis reveals a significant increase of the proportion of cells in G(0)/G(1) phase. We also demonstrate that the levels of survivin and Bcl-2 protein expression in HepG2 cells decreased concurrently, and the levels of p53 protein increased significantly after treatment with quercetin by immunocytochemistry analysis. Relative activity of caspase-3 and caspase-9 increased significantly. These data clearly indicate that quercetin-induced apoptosis is associated with caspase activation, and the levels of survivin and Bcl-2. Our results indicate that the expression of survivin may be associated with Bcl-2 expression, and the inhibition expression of survivin, in conjunction with Bcl-2, might cause more pronounced apoptotic effects. Together, concurrent down-regulated survivin and Bcl-2 play an important role in HepG2 cell apoptosis induced by quercetin.
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PMID:Regulation of survivin and Bcl-2 in HepG2 cell apoptosis induced by quercetin. 1962 60

Naphtho[1,2-b]furan-4,5-dione (NFD), prepared from 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone and chloroacetaldehyde in an efficient one-pot reaction, exhibits anti-carcinogenic effect. The results of present study showed that NFD inhibited the proliferation of breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells through the induction of S-phase arrest and apoptosis. NFD-induced S-phase arrest was associated with a marked decrease in the protein expression of cyclin A, cyclin B, and cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk)2. NFD-induced apoptosis was characterized by increase of sub-G1 population, phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization, and activation of caspases. Moreover, up-regulation of Bad and down-regulation of Bcl-2, Bcl-X(L), and survivin led to the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsim), the release of cytochrome c and sequential activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3. NFD activated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) in MDA-MB-231 cells. Inhibitors of JNK (SP600125) and ERK (PD98059), but not p38 MAPK (SB203580) suppressed NFD-induced S-phase arrest and apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells. Both SP600125 and PD98059 attenuated Bad up-regulation, and reversed down-regulation of Bcl-2, Bcl-X(L), survivin, cyclin A, cyclin B, and Cdk2 in NFD-treated cells. Taken together, our data show that JNK and ERK-signaling pathways play important roles in NFD-mediated S-phase arrest and apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 cells.
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PMID:Naphtho[1,2-b]furan-4,5-dione induces apoptosis and S-phase arrest of MDA-MB-231 cells through JNK and ERK signaling activation. 1974 39

The topoisomerase I inhibitor topotecan (TPT) is used in the therapy of different tumors including high-grade gliomas. We previously showed that TPT-induced apoptosis depends on p53 with p53 wild-type (wt) cells being more resistant because of p53-controlled degradation of topoisomerase I. Here, we show that p53-deficient (p53(-/-)) fibroblasts undergo excessive mitochondrial apoptosis featuring H2AX phosphorylation, Bcl-x(L) decline, cytochrome c release, caspase-9/-3/-2 activation, and cleavage of Bid. In wt and apaf-1(-/-) cells, caspase-2 did not become activated and Bid was not cleaved. In addition, p53(-/-) cells cotreated with TPT and caspase-3 inhibitor showed neither caspase-2 activation nor Bid cleavage, implying that caspase-2 is processed downstream of the apoptosome by caspase-3. Although processing of caspase-9/-3 was similar in wt and p53(-/-) cells, only p53(-/-) cells displayed active caspase-3. This was due to the proteasomal degradation of X-chromosome-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) and survivin that inhibits caspase-3 activity. Accordingly, TPT-induced apoptosis in wt cells was increased after XIAP/survivin knockdown. Silencing of Bid led to reduction of TPT-triggered apoptosis. Data obtained with mouse fibroblasts could be extended to human glioma cells. In U87MG (p53wt) cells cotreated with TPT and pifithrin-alpha, or transfected with p53-siRNA, caspase-2 and Bid were significantly cleaved and XIAP/survivin was degraded. Furthermore, the knockdown of XIAP and survivin led to increased TPT-triggered apoptosis. Overall, the data show that p53-deficient/depleted cells are hypersensitive to TPT because they down-regulate XIAP and survivin, and thus amplify the intrinsic apoptotic pathway via caspase-3-mediated Bid cleavage. Therefore, in gliomas harboring wild-type p53, TPT-based therapy might be improved by targeted down-regulation of XIAP and survivin.
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PMID:Topotecan triggers apoptosis in p53-deficient cells by forcing degradation of XIAP and survivin thereby activating caspase-3-mediated Bid cleavage. 1981 71

The antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of cucurbitacin E, a natural product isolated from Cucurbitaceae, were determined in human leukemia HL-60 cells. Cucurbitacin E at low concentrations (3-50 nmol/l) inhibited the growth of HL-60 cells, which was associated with G2/M cell-cycle arrest, decrease in the levels of cyclin-dependent kinase1, and increase in the levels of p21. Cucurbitacin E at high concentrations (1-10 mol/l) induced apoptosis of HL-60 cells and activation of caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9. Jurkat leukemia cells with or without caspase-8 expression were nearly equally sensitive to cucurbitacin E-induced apoptosis. Cucurbitacin E did not increase the levels of reactive oxygen species and antioxidants, N-acetylcysteine and catalase, did not block cucurbitacin E-induced apoptosis. Cucurbitacin E decreased the levels of the antiapoptotic proteins XIAP, survivin, and Mcl-1, but increased the level of the proapoptotic protein, Bax. The levels of phosphorylated eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 subunit (eIF2) were induced in cells undergoing both apoptosis and cell-cycle arrest. As phosphorylated eIF2 is an inhibitor of protein translation initiation, our data suggest that cucurbitacin E induces cell growth arrest and apoptosis through the induction of eIF2 phosphorylation, which leads to the inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase 1, Mcl-1, survivin, and/or XIAP protein synthesis and that cucurbitacin E induces apoptosis mainly through a mitochondrial-mediated pathway.
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PMID:The induction of G2/M cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis by cucurbitacin E is associated with increased phosphorylation of eIF2alpha in leukemia cells. 2011 Aug 7

Whether celastrol, a triterpene from traditional Chinese medicine, can modulate the anticancer effects of TRAIL, the cytokine that is currently in clinical trial, was investigated. As indicated by assays that measure plasma membrane integrity, phosphatidylserine exposure, mitochondrial activity, and activation of caspase-8, caspase-9, and caspase-3, celastrol potentiated the TRAIL-induced apoptosis in human breast cancer cells, and converted TRAIL-resistant cells to TRAIL-sensitive cells. When examined for its mechanism, we found that the triterpene down-regulated the expression of cell survival proteins including cFLIP, IAP-1, Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, survivin, and XIAP and up-regulated Bax expression. In addition, we found that celastrol induced the cell surface expression of both the TRAIL receptors DR4 and DR5. This increase in receptors was noted in a wide variety of cancer cells including breast, lung, colorectal, prostate, esophageal, and pancreatic cancer cells, and myeloid and leukemia cells. Gene silencing of the death receptor abolished the effect of celastrol on TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Induction of the death receptor by the triterpenoid was found to be p53-independent but required the induction of CAAT/enhancer-binding protein homologous protein (CHOP), inasmuch as gene silencing of CHOP abolished the induction of DR5 expression by celastrol and associated enhancement of TRAIL-induced apoptosis. We found that celastrol also induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and ROS sequestration inhibited celastrol-induced expression of CHOP and DR5, and consequent sensitization to TRAIL. Overall, our results demonstrate that celastrol can potentiate the apoptotic effects of TRAIL through down-regulation of cell survival proteins and up-regulation of death receptors via the ROS-mediated up-regulation of CHOP pathway.
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PMID:Celastrol, a triterpene, enhances TRAIL-induced apoptosis through the down-regulation of cell survival proteins and up-regulation of death receptors. 2749 61

The DNA binding and cleavage properties of quercetin nickel (II) complex have been studied, but little attention has been devoted to the relationship between antitumor activity of this complex and DNA-binding properties. In the present study, we report that quercetin nickel (II) complex showed significant cytotoxicity against three tumor cell lines (HepG2, SMMC7721 and A549). Hoechst33258 and AO/EB staining showed HepG2 cells underwent the typical morphologic changes of apoptosis characterized by nuclear shrinkage, chromatin condensation, or fragmentation after exposure to quercetin nickel (II) complex. We also demonstrate that the levels of survivin and bcl-2 protein expression in HepG2 cells decreased concurrently, and the levels of p53 protein increased significantly after treatment with quercetin nickel (II) complex by immunocytochemistry analysis. The relative activity of caspase-3 and caspase-9 increased significantly after treatment with the complex. Furthermore, fluorescence measurements and molecular modeling were performed to learn that the complex could be preferentially bound to DNA in GC region. These results imply that quercetin nickel (II) complex may intercalate into the GC-rich core promoter region of survivin, down-regulating survivin gene expression and promoting tumor cells apoptosis. So our results suggest that antitumor activity of quercetin nickel (II) complex might be related to its intercalation into DNA and DNA-binding selectivity, and that the complex may be a promising agent for cancer therapy.
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PMID:From GC-rich DNA binding to the repression of survivin gene for quercetin nickel (II) complex: implications for cancer therapy. 2057 83

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.
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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

Ganoderma lucidum, a well-known medicinal mushroom, is highly valued and commonly used in Oriental medicine. Although recent experimental data has revealed the proapoptotic potency of G. lucidum extracts, the underlying mechanisms of this apoptotic activity have not yet been studied in detail. In the present study, the effects of ethanol extracts of G. lucidum (EGL) on the growth of an AGS human gastric carcinoma cell line were investigated. We found that EGL treatment resulted in a dose and time-dependent significant decrease in the viability of AGS cells. This decreased viability was caused by apoptotic cell death, with observed chromatin condensation and an accumulation of apoptotic fraction. EGL treatment induced the expression of death receptor-related proteins such as death receptor 5 and tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand, which further triggered the activation of caspase-8 and the cleavage of Bid. In addition, the increase in apoptosis that was induced by EGL was correlated with activation of caspase-9 and -3, downregulation of IAP family proteins such as XIAP and survivin, and concomitant degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. Moreover the activity of Akt was downregulated in EGL-treated cells, and the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/ Akt inhibitor LY294002 sensitized the cells to EGL-induced apoptosis. The results indicated that EGL induces the apoptosis of AGS cells through a signaling cascade of death receptor-mediated extrinsic, as well as mitochondria-mediated intrinsic, caspase pathways which are associated with inactivation of the Akt signal pathway.
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PMID:Induction of apoptosis by ethanol extracts of Ganoderma lucidum in human gastric carcinoma cells. 2063 12


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