Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0027651 (tumor)
685,946 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Arsenic trioxide (As2O3) has been shown to inhibit the proliferation of hematologic malignant cells. Previously, we reported that As2O3 had an antitumoral effect in head and neck cancer. Here, we investigated the induction of apoptosis and its mechanism in PCI-1 head and neck squamous carcinoma cells, after treatment with As2O3. Treatment with 2 microM of As2O3 caused apoptosis in PCI-1 cells following 3 days of exposure, which was detected by the annexin V-PI and DAPI staining methods. The cell death population was markedly increased, being 88% larger than the As2O3-untreated control cells. To address the mechanism of apoptosis, a Western blot assay was performed, showing that Bax was up-regulated without a change in Bcl-2. Activation of caspase-9 during As2O3-induced apoptosis was substantiated by monitoring the proteolysis of the caspase-9, which was associated with an increase of Apaf-1 and cytochrome c protein. PCI-1 cells rapidly changed the mitochondria membrane potential (DeltaPsim) after addition of As2O3. Furthermore, activation of caspase-3 was demonstrated by monitoring the proteolysis of the caspase-3 and by measuring caspase-3 activity with a fluorogenic substrate, which was associated with the cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. To examine the in vivo effect of As2O3, C3H mouse inoculated with syngenic SCC7 cells was treated by intratumoral injection of As2O3 (300 microg) every day, demonstrating that tumor mass was dramatically reduced on day 4, and revealed induction of apoptosis by TUNEL assay. These results suggest that apoptosis of PCI-1 cells by As2O3 is induced by activation of caspase-3 via cytochrome c, caspase-9 and Apaf-1 complex.
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PMID:Potential role of caspase-3 and -9 in arsenic trioxide-mediated apoptosis in PCI-1 head and neck cancer cells. 1117 89

The expression of DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer) is often markedly reduced in colorectal and other cancers. However, the rarity of point mutations identified in DCC coding sequences and the lack of a tumor predisposition phenotype in DCC hemizygous mice have raised questions about its role as a tumor suppressor. DCC also mediates axon guidance and functions as a dependence receptor; such receptors create cellular states of dependence on their respective ligands by inducing apoptosis when unoccupied by ligand. We now show that DCC drives cell death independently of both the mitochondria-dependent pathway and the death receptor/caspase-8 pathway. Moreover, we demonstrate that DCC interacts with both caspase-3 and caspase-9 and drives the activation of caspase-3 through caspase-9 without a requirement for cytochrome c or Apaf-1. Hence, DCC defines an additional pathway for the apoptosome-independent caspase activation.
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PMID:The dependence receptor DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer) defines an alternative mechanism for caspase activation. 1124 93

The Tpl-2 proto-oncoprotein promotes cellular proliferation when overexpressed in a variety of tumor cell lines. Here, we present evidence that when overexpressed in immortalized non-transformed cells, Tpl-2 induces apoptosis by promoting the activation of caspase-3 via a caspase-9-dependent mechanism, and that apoptosis is enhanced when Tpl-2 is co-expressed with the newly identified ankyrin repeat protein Tvl-1. The activation of caspase-3 by caspase-9 is known to depend on the assembly of a multimolecular complex that includes Apaf-1 and caspase-9. Data presented here show that co-expression of Tpl-2 with Tvl-1 promotes the assembly of a complex that involves several proteins that bind Apaf-1 including Tvl-1, itself, Tpl-2 and phosphorylated procaspase-9. More important, procaspase-3, which under normal growth conditions is not associated with the complex, binds Tvl-1 conditionally in response to Tpl-2-generated apoptotic signals. The conditional association of procaspase-3 with Tvl-1 promotes the in vivo proteolytic maturation of procaspase-3 by caspase-9, a process casually linked to apoptosis.
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PMID:Tpl-2 induces apoptosis by promoting the assembly of protein complexes that contain caspase-9, the adapter protein Tvl-1, and procaspase-3. 1126 97

Tachyplesin is an antimicrobial peptide present in leukocytes of the horseshoe crab (Tachypleus tridentatus). In this study, a synthetic tachyplesin conjugated to the integrin homing domain RGD was tested for antitumor activity. The in vitro results showed that RGD-tachyplesin inhibited the proliferation of both cultured tumor and endothelial cells and reduced the colony formation of TSU prostate cancer cells. Staining with fluorescent probes of FITC-annexin V, JC-1, YO-PRO-1, and FITC-dextran indicated that RGD-tachyplesin could induce apoptosis in both tumor and endothelial cells. Western blotting showed that treatment of cells with RGD-tachyplesin could activate caspase 9, caspase 8, and caspase 3 and increase the expression of the Fas ligand, Fas-associated death domain, caspase 7, and caspase 6, suggesting that apoptotic molecules related to both mitochondrial and Fas-dependent pathways are involved in the induction of apoptosis. The in vivo studies indicated that the RGD-tachyplesin could inhibit the growth of tumors on the chorioallantoic membranes of chicken embryos and in syngenic mice.
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PMID:RGD-Tachyplesin inhibits tumor growth. 1128 11

In this study, we investigated the sensitivity of Ewing's sarcoma family tumors (ESFTs) of children and adolescents to the tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing Ligand (TRAIL). TRAIL binds to death receptors (DRs) DR4, DR5, DcR1, and DcR2. Either DR4 or DR5 can induce apoptosis, whereas DcR1 and DcR2 are considered inhibitory receptors. Nine of 10 ESFT cell lines, including several that were Fas resistant, underwent apoptosis with TRAIL through activation of caspase-10, capase-8 (FLICE), caspase-3, and caspase-9. In contrast to the Fas signaling pathway, caspase-10, but not caspase-8 or the Fas-associated death domain-containing molecule, was recruited to the TRAIL receptor-associated signaling complex. We found that 9 of 10 ESFT cell lines expressed both DR4 and DR5 by Western blotting, whereas the TRAIL-resistant line expressed only DR4. However, DR4 was absent from the cell surface in the resistant and two additional lines (three of five tested lines), suggesting that it may have been nonfunctional. On the contrary, DR5 was located on the cell surface in all four sensitive lines tested, being absent only from the cell surface of the resistant line that was also DR5-negative by Western blotting. In agreement with these findings, the resistance of the line was overcome by restoration of DR5 levels by transfection. Levels of DcR1 and DcR2 or levels of the FLICE-inhibitory protein (FLIP) did not correlate with TRAIL resistance, and protein synthesis inhibition did not sensitize the TRAIL-resistant line to TRAIL. Because these data suggested that sensitivity of ESFTs to TRAIL was mainly based on the presence of DR4/DR5, we investigated the presence of these receptors in 32 ESFT tissue sections by immunohistochemistry. We found that 23 of 32 tumor tissues (72%) expressed both receptors, 8 of 32 (25%) expressed one receptor only, and 1 was negative for both. Our finding of wide expression of DR4/DR5 in ESFT in vivo, in combination with their high sensitivity to TRAIL in vitro and the reported lack of toxicity of TRAIL in mice and monkeys, suggests that TRAIL may be a novel effective agent in the treatment of ESFTs.
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PMID:Ewing's sarcoma family tumors are sensitive to tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand and express death receptor 4 and death receptor 5. 1128 51

The enhanced gastric epithelial cell apoptosis observed during infection with Helicobacter pylori has been suggested to be of significance in the etiology of gastritis, peptic ulcers, and neoplasia. To investigate the cell death signaling induced by H. pylori infection, human gastric epithelial cells were incubated with H. pylori for up to 72 h. H. pylori infection induced the activation of caspase -8, -9, and -3 and the expression of the proapoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins Bad and Bid. The peak of the activity of the caspases occurred at 24 h. At this time, the inhibition of caspase-8 or -9 almost completely suppressed H. pylori-induced apoptosis. Inhibition of caspase-8 suppressed the expression of Bad and Bid and the subsequent activation of caspase-9 and -3. These observations indicate that H. pylori induces apoptosis through a pathway involving the sequential induction of apical caspase-8 activity, the proapoptotic proteins Bad and Bid, caspase-9 activity, and effector caspase-3 activity. Activation of the pathway was independent of CagA or vacuolating toxin. A membrane fraction of H. pylori was sufficient to activate this pathway, and treatment with proteinase K eliminated the activity. Apoptotic activity of the membrane fraction was significantly increased by incubating the bacteria under serum-starved conditions for 24 h. These observations suggest that environmental conditions in the human stomach could induce H. pylori-mediated pathogenesis, leading to a variety of clinical outcomes.
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PMID:Apoptotic signaling pathway activated by Helicobacter pylori infection and increase of apoptosis-inducing activity under serum-starved conditions. 1129 39

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have shown cancer preventive activity in patients who took them frequently. These drugs can induce tumor cells to undergo apoptosis in vitro. NS398, a cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)-selective inhibitor, has been reported to cause apoptosis in cancer cell lines. Therefore, we examined its effect on 15 human colon cancer cell lines and investigated its mechanism of action. NS398 decreased cell viability in all of the cell lines. Tumor cells that expressed COX-2 were shown to be more sensitive to NS398 treatment. In three selected colon cancer cell lines, NS398-induced apoptosis was mediated by the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria and, consequently, by the activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3 and by the cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. In contrast, caspase-8 was not involved in NS398-induced apoptosis, which suggested that the cytochrome c pathway may play an important role in NS398-induced apoptosis in colon cancer cell lines. Therefore, the combination of NS398 with apoptosis-inducing drugs through cytochrome c-independent pathways may be warranted.
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PMID:Induction of apoptosis in colon cancer cells by cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor NS398 through a cytochrome c-dependent pathway. 1130 52

Mutations that lead to anchorage-independent survival are a hallmark of tumor cells. Adhesion of integrin receptors to extracellular matrix activates a survival signaling pathway in epithelial cells where Akt phosphorylates and blocks the activity of proapoptotic proteins such as the BCL2 family member Bad, the forkhead transcription factor FKHRL-1, and caspase 9. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is a well-established epithelial cell survival factor that also triggers activation of Akt and can maintain Akt activity after cells lose matrix contact. It is not until IGF-1 expression diminishes (~16 h after loss of matrix contact) that epithelial cells deprived of matrix contact undergo apoptosis. This suggests that IGF-1 expression is linked to cell adhesion and that it is the loss of IGF-1 which dictates the onset of apoptosis after cells lose matrix contact. Here, we examine the linkage between cell adhesion and IGF-1 expression. While IGF-1 is able to maintain Akt activity and phosphorylation of proapoptotic proteins in cells that have lost matrix contact, Akt is not able to phosphorylate and inactivate another of its substrates, glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK-3beta), under these conditions. The reason for this appears to be a rapid translocation of active Akt away from GSK-3beta when cells lose matrix contact. One target of GSK-3beta is cyclin D, which is turned over in response to this phosphorylation. Therefore, cyclin D is rapidly lost when cells are deprived of matrix contact, leading to a loss of cyclin-dependent kinase 4 activity and accumulation of hypophosphorylated, active Rb. This facilitates assembly of a repressor complex containing histone deacetylase (HDAC), Rb, and E2F that blocks transcription of the gene for IGF-1, leading to loss of Akt activity, accumulation of active proapoptotic proteins, and apoptosis. This feedback loop containing GSK-3beta, cyclin D, HDAC-Rb-E2F, and IGF-1 then determines how long Akt will remain active after cells lose matrix contact, and thus it serves to regulate the onset of apoptosis in such cells.
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PMID:Transcriptional repression by RB-E2F and regulation of anchorage-independent survival. 1131 58

Apoptosis can be induced by various stimuli including DNA-damaging anticancer drugs and the protein kinase inhibitor staurosporine. It is generally believed that the molecular events during execution of apoptosis are shared, as both anticancer drugs and staurosporine derivatives induce mitochondrial damage, cytochrome c release and the activation of the caspase-9 proteolytic cascade. In the present study we show that overexpression of a dominant-negative caspase-9 mutant abolished the activation of endogenous caspase-9, caspase-3 and the cleavage of the caspase substrate Bid in response to anticancer drug treatment. Surprisingly, however, only marginal effects were observed during staurosporine-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, we describe a Jurkat T-cell clone that is completely resistant towards different anticancer drugs, but remains sensitive towards staurosporine-induced apoptosis. In these cells only staurosporine, but neither anti-CD95 nor anticancer drugs were able to trigger caspase activity and the cleavage of caspase substrates. Our results therefore suggest that the mechanism of staurosporine-induced apoptosis is more complex and at least partially differs from anticancer drug-induced caspase activation. These distinct features of staurosporine may allow to bypass chemoresistance of tumor cells and may encourage further clinical trials for the use of staurosporine derivatives in antitumor therapy.
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PMID:Staurosporine and conventional anticancer drugs induce overlapping, yet distinct pathways of apoptosis and caspase activation. 1131 63

AIP (apoptosis-inducing protein) is a protein purified and cloned from Chub mackerel infected with the larval nematode, Anisakis simplex, which induces apoptosis in various mammalian cells including human tumor cell lines. AIP has shown structural and functional homology to L-amino acid oxidase (LAO) which oxidizes several L-amino acids including L-lysine and AIP-induced apoptosis has been suggested to be mediated by H2O2 generated by LAO activity of AIP. In this study, we confirmed that recombinant AIP generated enough H2O2 in culture medium to induce rapid apoptosis in cells and this apoptosis was clearly inhibited by co-cultivation with antioxidants such as catalase and N-acetyl-cysteine. Surprisingly, however, we found that AIP still could induce H2O2-independent apoptosis more slowly than H2O2-dependent one in HL-60 cells even in the presence of antioxidants. In addition, the HL-60-derived cell line HP100-1, which is a H2O2-resistant variant, underwent apoptosis on treatment with AIP with a similar delayed time course. The latter apoptosis was completely blocked by addition of L-lysine to the culture medium, which is the best substrate of AIP as LAO, indicating that decreased concentration of L-lysine in the culture medium by AIP-treatment induced apoptosis. We also showed that the both apoptosis by AIP were associated with the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria and activation of caspase-9, and overexpressed Bcl-2 could inhibit both of the AIP-induced apoptosis. These results indicate that AIP induces apoptosis in cells by two distinct mechanisms; one rapid and mediated by H2O2, the other delayed and mediated by deprivation of L-lysine, both of which utilize caspase-9/cytochrome c system.
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PMID:Apoptosis-inducing protein, AIP, from parasite-infected fish induces apoptosis in mammalian cells by two different molecular mechanisms. 1131 13


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