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)

In addition to the established role of the mitochondria in energy metabolism, regulation of cell death has emerged as a second major function of these organelles. This seems to be intimately linked to their generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which have been implicated in mtDNA mutations, aging, and cell death. Mitochondrial regulation of apoptosis occurs by mechanisms, which have been conserved through evolution. Thus, many lethal agents target the mitochondria and cause release of cytochrome c and other pro-apoptotic proteins into the cytoplasm. Cytochrome c release is initiated by the dissociation of the hemoprotein from its binding to the inner mitochondrial membrane. Oxidation of cardiolipin reduces cytochrome c binding and increases the level of soluble cytochrome c in the intermembrane space. Subsequent release of the hemoprotein occurs by pore formation mediated by pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins, or by Ca(2+) and ROS-triggered mitochondrial permeability transition, although the latter pathway might be more closely associated with necrosis. Taken together, these findings have placed the mitochondria in the focus of current cell death research.
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PMID:Mitochondrial oxidative stress: implications for cell death. 1702 66

C-PC (C-phycocyanin) is a water-soluble biliprotein from the filamentous cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis with potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancerous properties. In the present study, the effect of C-PC was tested on the proliferation of doxorubicin-sensitive (S-HepG2) and -resistant (R-HepG2) HCC (hepatocellular carcinoma) cell lines. These studies indicate a 50% decrease in the proliferation of S- and R-HepG2 cells treated with 40 and 50 microM C-PC for 24 h respectively. C-PC also enhanced the sensitivity of R-HepG2 cells to doxorubicin. R-HepG2 cells treated with C-PC showed typical apoptotic features such as membrane blebbing and DNA fragmentation. Flow-cytometric analysis of R-HepG2 cells treated with 10, 25 and 50 microM C-PC for 24 h showed 18.8, 39.72 and 65.64% cells in sub-G(0)/G(1)-phase respectively. Cytochrome c release, decrease in membrane potential, caspase 3 activation and PARP [poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase] cleavage were observed in C-PC-treated R-HepG2 cells. These studies also showed down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and up-regulation of the pro-apoptotic Bax (Bcl2-associated X-protein) protein in the R-HepG2 cells treated with C-PC. The present study thus demonstrates that C-PC induces apoptosis in R-HepG2 cells and its potential as an anti-HCC agent.
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PMID:Alteration of mitochondrial membrane potential by Spirulina platensis C-phycocyanin induces apoptosis in the doxorubicinresistant human hepatocellular-carcinoma cell line HepG2. 1727 61

Although enediyne antibiotic lidamycin ( LDM) is a potent inducer of apoptosis, the underlying mechanisms of its apoptotic functions remain to be explored. Here, we aim to elucidate its possible mechanisms in mitochondria initiated apoptotic pathway involved in human BEL-7402 and MCF-7 cells. Cytochrome c released from mitchondria to cytosol fraction was detected by Western blotting. p53 and Bax, Bcl-2 expressions were detected by Western blotting and RT-PCR. MTT assay was used to detect cytotoxicity of LDM with or without caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk. After the BEL-7402 cells were exposed to 0. 1 micromol x L(-1) LDM within 6 h, the increase of cytochrome c in the cytosol and decrease in the mitochondria were observed when compared with untreated cells. The expression of Bax, an important proapoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family, increased gradually in the BEL-7402 cells after exposure to LDM of 0. 1 micromol x L (-1) for 2, 6, and 9 h, separately, while Bcl-2 increased at 2 and 6 h, and decreased at 9 h after LDM treatment. Enhanced protein expressions were parallel with respective increased mRNA level for Bax only, but not p53. Caspase inhibitor may inhibit partially the killing effects induced by LDM. Therefore we conclude that the rapid activation of mitochondrial pathway induced by LDM in tumor cells might contribute to its highly potent cytotoxicities.
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PMID:[Effect of lidamycin on mitochondria initiated apoptotic pathway in human cancer cells]. 1751 39

Cytochrome c release from mitochondria is a key event in apoptosis signaling that is regulated by Bcl-2 family proteins. Cleavage of the BH3-only protein Bid by multiple proteases leads to the formation of truncated Bid (tBid), which, in turn, promotes the oligomerization/insertion of Bax into the mitochondrial outer membrane and the resultant release of proteins residing in the intermembrane space. Bax, a monomeric protein in the cytosol, is targeted by a yet unknown mechanism to the mitochondria. Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain this targeting specificity. Using mitochondria isolated from different mutants of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and recombinant proteins, we have now investigated components of the mitochondrial outer membrane that might be required for tBid/Bax-induced cytochrome c release. Here, we show that the protein translocase of the outer mitochondrial membrane is required for Bax insertion and cytochrome c release.
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PMID:The mitochondrial TOM complex is required for tBid/Bax-induced cytochrome c release. 1763 12

Anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 localizes in the membranes of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and resists a broad range of apoptotic stimuli. However, the precise function of Bcl-2 in ER is still unclear. We herein examined the anti-apoptotic potencies of Bcl-2 in mitochondria and ER in vitro. The mitochondria isolated from HeLa cells, which have little or practically no Bcl-2, were apoptosis-competent. That is, membrane-bound Bax was activated and cytochrome c was released when the isolated mitochondria were incubated at 35 degrees C. Cytochrome c release from the apoptosis-competent mitochondria was suppressed by co-incubation with the mitochondria with overexpressed Bcl-2 (Bcl-2 mitochondria), suggesting that Bcl-2 anchored in one mitochondrion can suppress cytochrome c release from another mitochondrion. Similar results were obtained when microsomes with overexpressed Bcl-2 (Bcl-2 microsomes) were co-incubated with apoptosis-competent mitochondria. A quantitative titration analysis showed that Bcl-2 in the ER suppresses cytochrome c release as efficiently as that in the mitochondria. An immunoprecipitation assay showed that Bcl-2 in both mitochondria and ER binds to Bax at almost the same degree. However, in the presence of tBid, co-incubation of apoptosis-competent mitochondria with Bcl-2 microsomes, but not with Bcl-2 mitochondria, diminished the Bax-binding to Bcl-2 significantly, suggesting that Bcl-2 in ER is readily inactivated by tBid. Co-incubation assay further confirmed that Bcl-2 in the ER, but not Bcl-2 in the mitochondria, is potentially inactivated by tBid. Our quantitative in vitro studies indicate that Bcl-2 in mitochondria and ER are similarly potent in inhibiting Bax-associated apoptosis of other mitochondria, but are regulated by tBid differently.
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PMID:In vitro analysis of Bcl-2 proteins in mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum: similarities in anti-apoptotic functions and differences in regulation. 1782 86

ST13 is a cofactor of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70). To date, all data since the discovery of ST13 in 1993 until more recent studies in 2007 have proved that ST13 is downregulated in tumors and it was proposed to be a tumor suppressor gene, but no work reported its antitumor effect and apoptotic mechanism. In the work described in this paper, ST13 was inserted into ZD55, an oncolytic adenovirus with the E1B 55-kDa gene deleted, to form ZD55-ST13, which exerts an excellent antitumor effect in vitro and in an animal model of colorectal carcinoma SW620 xenograft. ZD55-ST13 inhibited tumor cells 100-fold more than Ad-ST13 and ZD55-EGFP in vitro. However, ZD55-ST13 showed no damage of normal fibroblast MRC5 cells. In exploring the mechanism of ZD55-ST13 in tumor cell killing, we found that ZD55-ST13-infected SW620 cells formed apoptotic bodies and presented obvious apoptosis phenomena. ZD55-ST13 induced the upregulation of Hsp70, the downregulation of antiapoptotic gene Bcl-2, and the release of cytochrome c. Cytochrome c triggered apoptosis by activating caspase-9 and caspase-3, which cleave the enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in ZD55-ST13-infected SW620 cells. In summary, overexpressed ST13 as mediated by oncolytic adenovirus could exert potent antitumor activity via the intrinsic apoptotic pathway and has the potential to become a novel therapeutic for colorectal cancer gene therapy.
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PMID:Potent antitumor efficacy of ST13 for colorectal cancer mediated by oncolytic adenovirus via mitochondrial apoptotic cell death. 1835 16

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a gram-negative opportunistic pathogen that is cytotoxic towards a variety of eukaryotic cells. To investigate the effect of this bacterium on monocyte, we infected human U937 cells with the P. aeruginosa strain in vitro. To explore the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax as well as caspase-3/9 activation in the apoptosis of human U937 cells induced by P. aeruginosa, Hoechst 33258 staining and Giemsa staining as well as Flow cytometry analysis were used to determine the rate of apoptosis, and the expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax were assayed by RT-PCR and Western blotting respectively. Bax protein conformation change was assayed by immunoprecipitation. Cytochrome c release was measured by Western blotting. Moreover, exposure of U937 cells to P. aeruginosa measured caspase-3/9 activity. It was found that the apoptosis of human U937 cells could be induced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Also, there were a tendency of alterations with an increased expression level of Bax and a reduced expression level of Bcl-2, increased levels of cytochrome c release, and also with an increased activation of caspase-3/9 and Bax protein conformation change. For the evaluation of the role of caspases, caspase-3/9 inhibitors Z-DEVD-FMK and Z-LEHD-FMK respectively were used. The results were further confirmed by the observation that the caspase inhibitors Z-DEVD-FMK and Z-LEHD-FMK blocked P. aeruginosa-induced U937 apoptosis. It is concluded that P. aeruginosa can induce apoptosis with an up-regulated expression of Bax and a down-regulated expression of Bcl-2, which resulted in increased levels of cytochrome c release and increased caspase-3 and -9 in human U937 cells.
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PMID:Role of Bcl-2 family members in caspase-3/9-dependent apoptosis during Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in U937 cells. 1841 81

In the human colon cancer cells HCT116, deoxycholic acid (DCA) induces apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway by triggering the release of mitochondrial factors such as cytochrome c. To elucidate if Bax, a proapoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family known to trigger cytochrome c release in response to various types of apoptotic stimuli, is involved in DCA-induced apoptosis in HCT116 cells, we analyzed DCA-induced apoptosis in Bax-knockout (Bax(-/-)) HCT116 cells. Cytochrome c release and caspase-9 activation were detectable after 5 min in both Bax(-/-) and Bax(+/-) HCT116 cells. Caspase-3 and caspase-8 activation was observed after 15 and 30 min, respectively. Bax(-/-) cells were protected from apoptosis by treating them with ursodeoxycholic acid for 12 h prior to DCA treatment. These results are consistent with our previous observations that were obtained by using wild-type HCT116 cells and suggest that Bax is not indispensable for DCA-induced apoptosis in HCT116 cells.
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PMID:Deoxycholic acid can induce apoptosis in the human colon cancer cell line HCT116 in the absence of Bax. 1844 40

Heat-induced apoptosis proceeds via mitochondria by permeabilization of the outer mitochondrial membrane (MOMP), resulting in the release of cytochrome c. This essential step is mediated by Bcl-2 family proteins, such as Bax. Recently, caspase-2 was assigned a prominent role in regulating Bax. Therefore, we studied the initiation of heat-induced apoptosis by monitoring Bcl-2 family members and the release of cytochrome c with or without caspase-2 inhibition. Three hematopoietic cell lines (HSB2, HL60 and Kasumi-1) were exposed to heat treatment and/or X-radiation. Expression and localization of Bax and Bcl-2 proteins was investigated by flow cytometry (FCM) and confocal microscopy respectively. Cytochrome c release was measured with FCM as evidence for MOMP. In addition, the role of caspase-2 in heat- and radiation-induced apoptosis was assessed using the specific caspase-2 inhibitor zVDVAD-fmk. Here we present evidence that heat treatment, and not irradiation, increases intracellular Bax protein expression and subsequently stimulates MOMP, resulting in the release of cytochrome c. Furthermore, by selective blocking of caspase-2 using zVDVAD-fmk less Bax was expressed and subsequently a significant decrease in cytochrome c release was observed. In conclusion, heat treatment of hematopoietic cells does require caspase-2 activation for the initiation of Bax-mediated MOMP.
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PMID:Bax-mediated mitochondrial membrane permeabilization after heat treatment is caspase-2 dependent. 1846 20

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive malignancy tightly associated with asbestos exposure. The increasing incidence of MPM and its resistance to all therapeutic modalities necessitate an urgent development of new treatments for MPM. Proteasome inhibitors (PIs) have emerged as promising agents for treating human cancers that are refractory to current chemotherapies. In this study, we characterized MG132, a commonly used PI, for its proapoptotic and anti-invasion activities in NCI-H2452 and NCI-H2052 human thoracic MPM cell lines to determine the therapeutic effect of PIs on MPM. We found that as low as 0.5 microM MG132 caused a significant apoptosis in both cell lines as evidenced by DNA damage, cleavage of poly ADP-ribose polymerase and caspases 3, 7, and 9, and mitochondrial release of Smac/DIABLO and Cytochrome c. Mitochondrial caspase activation was found to be the underlying mechanism of the MG132-induced apoptosis. Mcl-1, among the Bcl-2 and IAP (inhibitor of apoptosis protein) antiapoptotic family proteins tested, was proved to be a major inhibitor of the MG132-induced apoptosis in MPM cells. Meanwhile, subapoptotic doses of MG132 inhibited the invasion of both MPM cell lines through reducing Rac1 activity. These observations demonstrate that MG132 possesses proapoptotic and anti-invasion activities in human MPM cells, therefore encouraging further investigations on the value of PIs for treating MPM.
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PMID:Proteasome Inhibitor MG132 Induces Apoptosis and Inhibits Invasion of Human Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Cells. 1879 23


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