Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P10415 (Bcl-2)
 33,771 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Aberrant proliferation is an early-occurring event in vitro prior to tumorigenesis in vivo in the multistep process of carcinogenesis. Inhibition of aberrant proliferation therefore may represent a useful biomarker to evaluate the efficacy of chemopreventive agents. Retinoids have exhibited preventive efficacy in vitro and in vivo predominantly through the retinoic acid receptors (RARs) and the retinoid X receptors (RXRs). Clinically relevant biochemical and cellular mechanistic endpoints for chemopreventive effects of retinoids should provide novel biomarkers. The present study was designed to examine the preventive efficacy of natural retinoids, all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) and 9-cis-retinoic acid (9cisRA), and to identify the possible mechanisms for their effects using the HER-2/neu oncogene expressing preneoplastic human mammary epithelial 184-B5/HER cells. Seven-day treatment with ATRA and 9cisRA exhibited a dose-dependent growth inhibition. Long-term (21 days) treatment with IC20 doses of 50 nM ATRA and 100 nM 9cisRA inhibited anchorage-dependent colony forming efficiency by about 75.4% (p<0.01) and 84.9% (p<0.01), respectively. Cell cycle analysis revealed that a 24-h treatment with IC90 doses of 2 microM ATRA and 3 microM 9cisRA accumulates cells in the G0/G1 phase and inhibit S and/or G2/M phase of the cell cycle. ATRA and 9cisRA induced an 11-fold (p=0.03) and a 9-fold (p=0.04) increase in subG0/G1 (apoptotic) population relative to the solvent control, respectively. ATRA and 9cisRA induced 77% (p=0.01) and 51% (p=0.02) decrease in tyrosine kinase immunoreactivity, respectively. Similarly, the two retinoids caused almost a 50% (p=0.01) down-regulation of Bcl-2 immunoreactivity. Western blot analysis revealed that ATRA induced an increase in RARbeta expression and a decrease in RARgamma expression, while 9cisRA down-regulated RXRalpha expression. These data demonstrate that ATRA and 9cisRA may inhibit HER-2/neu induced aberrant proliferation in part by retarding cell cycle progression, down-regulating HER-2/neu-mediated signal transduction and inducing Bcl-2-dependent apoptosis through a retinoid receptor-mediated mechanism.
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PMID:Preventive efficacy of receptor class selective retinoids on HER-2/neu oncogene expressing preneoplastic human mammary epithelial cells. 1206 59

In acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), cell kinetic quiescence has been postulated to contribute to drug resistance. As the anti-apoptotic genes Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L) have been implicated in cell cycle regulation, we investigated the expression of these genes in non-proliferating (Q) and proliferating (P) AML and normal CD34+ progenitor cells. Using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, Bcl-X(L) and Bcl-2 were overexpressed in Q versus P AML cells, whereas no difference in Bcl-XS and Bax expression was found. Furthermore, the Bcl-X(L)/X(S) but not the Bcl-2/Bax ratio was higher in Q AML compared with normal CD34+ Q cells (P = 0.001). An inverse correlation between Bcl-2 expression of leukaemic Q cells and their ability to enter the cell cycle was found. Treatment with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) reduced Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L) expression in the leukaemic Q cells, and enhanced their chemosensitivity to cytosine arabinoside (ara-C). These findings demonstrate overexpression of the anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-X(L) and Bcl-2 in quiescent CD34+ AML cells and suggest their involvement in the chemoresistance. The observed inverse correlation between Bcl-2 and proliferation suggests a role for Bcl-2 in the cell cycle regulation of AML. These findings could be used in the development of therapies that selectively induce apoptosis in quiescent leukaemic progenitor cells.
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PMID:The anti-apoptotic genes Bcl-X(L) and Bcl-2 are over-expressed and contribute to chemoresistance of non-proliferating leukaemic CD34+ cells. 1213 41

All-trans-retinoic acid and 9-cis-retinoic acid have been reported to have inhibitory effects on pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells and we have shown that this is partly due to induction of apoptosis. In this study, the mechanisms whereby 9-cis-retinoic acid induces apoptosis in these cells were investigated. An involvement of the Bcl-2 family of proteins was shown, such that 9-cis-retinoic acid causes a decrease in the Bcl-2/Bax ratio. Overexpression of Bcl-2 also resulted in inhibition of apoptosis induced by 9-cis-retinoic acid. Furthermore, two broad-range caspase inhibitors blocked DNA fragmentation induced by 9-cis-retinoic acid, but had no effect on viability defined by mitochondrial activity. Using synthetic retinoids, which bind selectively to specific retinoic acid receptor subtypes, we further established that activation of retinoic acid receptor-gamma is essential for induction of apoptosis. Only pan-retinoic acid receptor and retinoic acid receptor-gamma selective agonists reduced viability and a cell line expressing very low levels of retinoic acid receptor-gamma is resistant to the effects of 9-cis-retinoic acid. A retinoic acid receptor-beta/gamma selective antagonist also suppressed the cytotoxic effects of 9-cis-retinoic acid in a dose-dependent manner. This study provides important insight into the mechanisms involved in suppression of pancreatic tumour cell growth by retinoids. Our results encourage further work evaluating the clinical use of receptor subtype selective retinoids in pancreatic carcinoma.
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PMID:Retinoids cause apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells via activation of RAR-gamma and altered expression of Bcl-2/Bax. 1218 56

Apoptosis plays an important role during embryonic development. Apoptotic cell death is executed by caspases and can be regulated by the Bcl-2 family of genes. Ribonuclease protection assay was used to investigate the expression of selected apoptosis-related genes of the Bcl-2 family, pro-apoptotic Bax, Bad and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, during differentiation of murine embryonic stem cells (ES) mediated by all-trans-retinoic acid. The mRNA expression of caspase 3, caspase 6 and certain pro-inflammatory cytokines was also investigated simultaneously. ES cells exposed to 1 microM all-trans-retinoic acid on day 8, 9 and 10 of differentiation revealed increased expression of Bax and Bad compared to the vehicle-treated cells. No effect on Bcl-2 mRNA was noted after all-trans-retinoic acid treatment. Increased mRNA expression of caspase 3 and caspase 6 in all-trans-retinoic acid-exposed ES cells suggested that caspases play an important role in retinoic acid-mediated apoptosis during ES differentiation. Increase in the expression of TNF alpha and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) was noted in retinoic acid-treated cells on day 14. Significant increase observed in interferon gamma inducing factor (IGIF/IL-18) mRNA expression in all-trans-retinoic acid-treated cells on day 14 and 17 did not translate to increased INF gamma expression. No change in the expression of other pro-inflammatory cytokines was noted with all-trans-retinoic acid treatment. The function of TNF alpha, IGIF/IL-18 and MIF in all-trans-retinoic acid-treated cells during ES differentiation and apoptosis is still speculatory. Results suggested that RA-mediated apoptosis during neural differentiation of ES cells involves up-regulation of caspase 3, caspase 6, Bad, and Bax.
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PMID:Expression of selected apoptosis related genes, MIF, IGIF and TNF alpha, during retinoic acid-induced neural differentiation in murine embryonic stem cells. 1220 51

Since malignant glioma displays moderate resistance to conventional therapy, a new treatment modality is needed to improve the outcome of patients with these tumors. In this study, we examined whether combination stimulation with interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) and retinoic acid (RA) affected proliferation of the glioblastoma cell line GB 12 in vitro. Stimulation with IFN-alpha alone inhibited the GB 12 cell proliferation in a dose/time-dependent fashion, as assessed by WST-1 assay and uptake of 3H-thymidine, while RA limited it only slightly. The anti-proliferative action of IFN-alpha against glioblastoma cells was enhanced by the addition of RA. The IFN-alpha/RA combination also induced apoptosis in a substantial portion of the cells, compared with either reagent alone. Bcl-2 family proteins, regulating apoptosis, were altered by these stimuli: Bcl-2 was down-regulated, while Bax-alpha was up-regulated, especially by the combination. These findings suggest that the IFN-alpha/RA combination would synergistically affect glioblastoma cell growth, probably through apoptosis induction as well as a decreased cellular DNA synthesis.
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PMID:Combined stimulation with interferon alpha and retinoic acid synergistically inhibits proliferation of the glioblastoma cell line GB12. 1239 8

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) on apoptosis induction, Bcl-2 family protein expression, and differentiation in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL) cells. ATRA induced apoptosis in all the B-CLL samples tested, and this was accompanied by a specific reduction in Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 protein expression in the apoptotic cells. In contrast, Bax, p21, and p53 expression was not altered in either the viable or apoptotic B-CLL cells, inferring that ATRA utilises a p53-independent cell death pathway. Caspase-3 activation was shown to be a prerequisite for ATRA-induced apoptosis, which was inhibited by the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK and the caspase-9 inhibitor Z-LEHD-FMK. In addition, the retinoic acid receptor (RAR) antagonist AGN194310 failed to abrogate the apoptotic effects of ATRA, indicating that RAR binding was not necessary for ATRA-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, there was no evidence of ATRA-induced differentiation of the B-CLL cells in this study either in terms of altered morphology or immunophenotype. In summary these data indicate that ATRA induces apoptosis via the intrinsic apoptotic pathway, and this is independent of RAR binding, p53 activation, and cellular differentiation in B-CLL cells.
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PMID:Retinoid-induced apoptosis in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia cells is mediated through caspase-3 activation and is independent of p53, the retinoic acid receptor, and differentiation. 1243 Dec 42

Previous studies have demonstrated that programmed cell death takes place at different stages during the development of the CNS in vivo. Our purpose in this study was to detect early programmed cell death associated with the induction of differentiation by retinoic acid (RA) in the NT2 cell line. By using the annexin V labeling as a marker of apoptosis, a significant apoptotic cell death was quantified during the third and the fourth days of the RA treatment. Double-labeling studies using the staining of the genomic DNA strand breaks with the terminal deoxyribosyl-transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assay and either nestin or microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) showed that 1) the early apoptotic cell death affected mostly nestin-positive cells and 2) after 8 days of differentiation, although cells with neuronal phenotypes are present, no colabeled TUNEL/MAP2 cells were detected. With regard to the neuronal protein MAP2, we observed discrete immunolabeling of a few NT2 cells as early as day 3 of the differentiation and a significant emergence of MAP2-immunopositive cells at days 6-8. Thus, our results show that, when as a whole the differentiating NT2 cell population is considered, 1) the apoptotic cell death observed during the third day of differentiation occurs mostly in undifferentiated cells, 2) this process coincides with the first detection of the neuronal phenotype in NT2 cell cultures, and 3) the end of the cell death period in NT2 cell cultures is marked by both the accumulation of MAP2-positive cells and the beginning of expression of the Bcl-2 protein in the cultures.
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PMID:Early programmed cell death in human NT2 cell cultures during differentiation induced by all-trans-retinoic acid. 1247 12

MCF-7 and ZR-75 breast cancer cells infected with an adenovirus constitutively expressing high levels of cyclin D1 demonstrated widespread mitochondrial translocation of Bax and cytochrome c release that was approximately doubled after the addition of all-trans retinoic acid (RA) or Bcl-2 antisense oligonucleotide. By comparison, the percentage of cells in Lac Z virus-infected cultures containing translocated Bax and cytoplasmic cytochrome c was markedly less even after RA treatment. Despite this, RA-treated Lac Z and untreated cyclin D1 virus-infected cultures contained similarly low proportions of cells with active caspase or cells that were permeable to propidium iodide. Bax activation was p53-dependent and accompanied by arrest in G(2) phase. Although constitutive Bcl-2 expression prevented Bax activation, it did not alter cyclin D1-induced cell cycle arrest, illustrating the independence of these events. Both RA and antisense Bcl-2 oligonucleotide decreased Bcl-2 protein levels and markedly increased caspase activity and apoptosis in cyclin D1-infected cells. Thus amplified cyclin D1 expression initiates an apoptotic signal inhibited by different levels of cellular Bcl-2 at two points. Whereas high cellular levels of Bcl-2 prevent mitochondrial Bax translocation, lower levels can prevent apoptosis by inhibition of caspase activation.
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PMID:Bcl-2 controls caspase activation following a p53-dependent cyclin D1-induced death signal. 1248 Sep 39

The human retinoic acid receptor beta (RARbeta) has three isoforms (beta1, beta2, and beta4), which play important, distinct roles in mediating the effects of retinoic acid on cell growth and apoptosis. Whereas RARbeta2 is a potent inhibitor of breast cancer cell proliferation, RARbeta4 can act as a dominant-negative repressor of RARbeta2-mediated growth suppression. In this study we investigated the effects of all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) on two clones derived from the breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-435: a non-metastatic clone (NM-2C5) and a metastatic clone (M-4A4). ATRA treatment of the NM-2C5 cells resulted in growth inhibition and apoptosis, whereas the M-4A4 cells were resistant to ATRA. Analyses of the expression of RARbeta isoforms revealed that the sensitive NM-2C5 clone expressed only RARbeta2, whereas the resistant M-4A4 cells expressed both RARbeta2 and RARbeta4 mRNA and protein. ATRA treatment increased RARbeta2 mRNA level in NM-2C5 cells, whereas the same treatment of the M-4A4 cells resulted in an increase in RARbeta4 and a decrease in RARbeta2 mRNA. ATRA treatment of NM-2C5 cells increased the protein levels of the histone acetyl transferases p300 and CBP, suppressed the level of histone deacetylase and increased the level of acetylated histone H4. ATRA also decreased Bcl-2 and increased Bax and decreased VEGF. In contrast, the same treatment of the M-4A4 cells resulted in opposite effects. These results suggest that the effects of ATRA on the growth of the metastatic and non-metastatic breast cancer cell lines depend on the expression of RARbeta isoforms and that the expression of RARbeta4 may contribute to metastatic properties.
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PMID:Differential effects of retinoic acid on the growth of isogenic metastatic and non-metastatic breast cancer cell lines and their association with distinct expression of retinoic acid receptor beta isoforms 2 and 4. 1257 17

Neutrophils and monocytes/macrophages are derived from common progenitors, but exhibit markedly different lifespans. Differentiated neutrophils are short-lived and die rapidly by apoptosis, while monocytic cells are longer-lived. In this report we used the HL-60 cell line as a model system to identify differences in apoptotic pathways which might account for the differing lifespans of granulocytic vs monocytic cells. We observed that induction of granulocytic differentiation by retinoic acid led to robust activation of the executioner protease caspase-3, and early onset of apoptosis. By contrast, caspase-3 was not appreciably activated during phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-induced monocytic differentiation, and apoptosis was delayed in these cells. Since the activation of caspase-3 is inhibited by members of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) and Bcl-2 protein families, we investigated the expression of anti-apoptotic members of these families. Induction of monocytic differentiation led to marked upregulation of the IAP protein XIAP, as well as the Bcl-2 family member Bcl-X(L). During granulocytic differentiation the levels of XIAP progressively declined, while Bcl-X(L) levels remained unchanged. A different IAP protein, survivin, was downregulated during differentiation along either lineage, as was expression of Bcl-2. The upregulation of Bcl-X(L) during monocytic differentiation coincided with phosphorylation/activation of STAT3, a known activator of bcl-X gene transcription. Moreover, Bcl-X(L) upregulation was dependent on MEK/ERK signaling. Upregulation of XIAP proceeded in a MEK/ERK-independent fashion. Treatment with antisense Bcl-X(L) or XIAP oligonucleotides resulted in significant loss of viability in cells differentiating along the monocytic lineage. Together, these findings indicate that the levels of XIAP and Bcl-X(L) are regulated by distinct pathways during monocytic differentiation, and that upregulation of these proteins contributes to the increased longevity of cells in the monocytic lineage.
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PMID:Differential activation of apoptosis regulatory pathways during monocytic vs granulocytic differentiation: a requirement for Bcl-X(L)and XIAP in the prolonged survival of monocytic cells. 1259 39


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