Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P42574 (caspase-3)
 45,978 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Isolated perfusion of rat livers (IPRL) represents an attractive set-up to be used as a an evaluative tool in the easy and reproducible assessment of liver injury, allowing for screening of new approaches to organ preservation without the expenditure of actual transplantation experiments. Depending on the pathology under investigation, controversy exists concerning the inclusion of albumin in the IPRL. The present study evaluates the use of bovine serum albumin (BSA), simultaneously comparing its effect on healthy and ischemically challenged livers in the same model. Rat livers were excised, flushed via portal vein with Histidine-Tryptophan-Ketoglutarate (HTK) solution and preserved for up to 18 h in HTK at 4 degrees C. Perfusion was performed with Krebs-Henseleit buffer with or without addition of 3% BSA. Control preparations were perfused without prior ischemic storage. In the described model, stability of the preparations was documented for up to 120 min of isolated perfusion and addition of 3% BSA had no adverse effects on the viability of nonischemic livers. While liver perfusion without albumin was inappropriate to reveal alterations in parenchymal or vascular integrity after 18 h of cold preservation, albumin in the perfusate significantly and gradually unmasked differences between nonischemic liver preparations and livers stored ischemically for 8 or 18 h. It could be shown that BSA did have a significant modulatory effect on hepatic induction of apoptosis after ischemia in reducing cleavage of caspase 3. The implementation of albumin is advocated since experimental results are pivotally influenced by the presence or absence of this physiologically constitutive compound in the perfusate.
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PMID:Assessment of hepatic integrity after ischemic preservation by isolated perfusion in vitro: the role of albumin. 1732 95

Fibronectins (Fns) are involved in a number of biologic processes, such as cellular adhesion, motility, differentiation, apoptosis, hemostasis, wound healing, and ischemic injury. We investigated the possible mechanism underlying the protective action of plasma Fn (pFn) on endotoxin shock following partial hepatectomy in rats. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was administered intravenously to male Sprague-Dawley rats within 48 hrs of 70% hepatectomy. Prior to LPS administration, pFn or human serum albumin was given intravenously. The survival rate of the pFn-treated group was improved markedly compared with that of the controls. The levels of inflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide (NO) in serum were significantly lower in the pFn-treated group than in the control group. Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in hepatocytes also was reduced following pFn treatment. The degree of apoptosis and necrosis in the remnant liver was significantly lower in the pFn-treated rats than the controls. Furthermore, pFn pretreatment greatly inhibited the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), caspase 3 and 8 activities, and cytochrome c release, and caused a decrease in mitochondrial Bcl-x(L). Plasma Fn prevents endotoxin-induced liver injury at least in part through inhibition of NF-kappaB activation, which causes the reduction of iNOS expression and NO production by hepatocytes, and through the downregulation of inflammatory cytokines and promotion of Bcl-x(L) expression.
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PMID:Fibronectin prevents endotoxin shock after partial hepatectomy in rats via inhibition of nuclear factor-kappaB and apoptosis. 1760 5

In recent studies, the cytotoxic activity of NO has been investigated for its potential use in anticancer therapies. Nitrosated human serum albumin (NO-HSA) may act as a reservoir of NO in vivo. However, there are no published reports regarding the effects of NO-HSA on cancer. Therefore, the present study investigated the antitumor activity of NO-HSA. NO-HSA was prepared by incubating HSA, which had been sulfhydrylated using iminothiolane, with isopentyl nitrite (6.64 mol NO/mol HSA). Antitumor activity was examined in vitro using murine colon 26 carcinoma (C26) cells and in vivo using C26 tumor-bearing mice. Exposure to NO-HSA increased the production of reactive oxygen species in C26 cells. Flow cytometric analysis using rhodamine 123 showed that NO-HSA caused mitochondrial depolarization. Activation of caspase-3 and DNA fragmentation were observed in C26 cells after incubation with 100 muM NO-HSA for 24 h, and NO-HSA inhibited the growth of C26 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The growth of C26 tumors in mice was significantly inhibited by administration of NO-HSA compared with saline and HSA treatment. Immunohistochemical analysis of tumor tissues demonstrated an increase in terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nickend labeling-positive cells in NO-HSA-treated mice, suggesting that inhibition of tumor growth by NO-HSA was mediated through induction of apoptosis. Biochemical parameters (such as serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase) showed no significant differences among the three treatment groups, indicating that NO-HSA did not cause hepatic or renal damage. These results suggest that NO-HSA has the potential for chemopreventive and/or chemotherapeutic activity with few side effects.
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PMID:Design and evaluation of S-nitrosylated human serum albumin as a novel anticancer drug. 1821 31

We investigate the cytotoxic effect of metal protoporphyrins including ferric protoporphyrin (FePP; hemin), cobalt protoporphyrin (CoPP), and tin protoporphyrin (SnPP) in glioblastoma cells C6 and GBM8401. Data of MTT assay show that FePP and CoPP, but not SnPP, significantly reduce the viability of glioma cells C6 and GBM8401 in the absence of serum. In the condition with fetal bovine serum (FBS) or bovine serum albumin (BSA), the cytotoxic effect of FePP and CoPP was completely inhibited. Binding of FePP, CoPP, and SnPP with BSA was examined via spectrophotometer analysis, and the protective effect of serum against FePP and CoPP-induced cell death was abolished by BSA depletion. A loss in the integrity of DNA with an occurrence of apoptotic events including DNA ladders, caspase 3 and PARP protein cleavage, and chromatin-condensed cells is observed in FePP-treated or CoPP-treated C6 cells. An increase in intracellular peroxide level was examined in FePP, but not CoPP, -treated C6 cells, and N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) addition significantly protected C6 cells from FePP, but not CoPP, -induced cell death with reducing FePP-stimulated reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Activation of extracellular regulated kinases (ERKs) and c-Jun-N-terminal kinases (JNKs) with an increase in the heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) protein was observed in FePP-treated or CoPP-treated C6 cells in the absence of FBS or BSA, and adding JNKs inhibitor SP600125 (SP), but not ERKs inhibitor PD98059 (PD), significantly attenuated FePP-induced or CoPP-induced HO-1 protein expression in accordance with reducing JNKs protein phosphorylation. However, PD98059, SP600125, or transfection of C6 cells with antisense HO-1 oligonucleotides show no effect on the cytotoxicity elicited by FePP and CoPP in C6 cells. Effect of serum and BSA on the cytotoxicity of metal protoporphyrins in glioma cells is first demonstrated in the present study, and the roles of ROS, MAPKs, and HO-1 were elucidated.
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PMID:Cytotoxic effects of metal protoporphyrins in glioblastoma cells: roles of albumin, reactive oxygen species, and heme oxygenase-1. 1828 2

We have previously shown that estrogen stimulates cell proliferation in both normal and transformed urothelial cells mainly through activation of the two primary estrogen receptors (ERs), ERalpha and ERbeta. A growing body of evidence suggests that estrogen also initiates nongenomic effects that cannot be explained by activation of primary ERs. In the present study, we observed that urothelial cells express high amounts of GPR30, a G protein-coupled receptor recently identified as a candidate for membrane-associated estrogen binding. Membrane- impermeable bovine serum albumin-conjugated 17beta-estradiol and the specific GPR30 agonist G-1 both inhibited urothelial cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. Transient overexpression of GPR30 inhibited 17beta-estradiol (E2)-induced cell proliferation. Decreased GPR30 expression caused by specific small interfering RNA increased E2-induced cell proliferation. These results indicate that membrane-associated inhibitory effects of E2 on cell proliferation correlate with abundance of GPR30. Although E2 induced a significant increase in caspase-3/7 activity, G-1 did not, suggesting that the GPR30-mediated inhibitory effect on cell proliferation was not caused by apoptosis. Furthermore, we found that G-1 failed to induce c-fos, c-jun, and cyclin D1 expression, and GPR30 overexpression abolished E2-induced c-fos, c-jun, and cyclin D1 expression. However, inactivation of GPR30 by small interfering RNA increased c-fos, c-jun, and cyclin D1 expression. These results suggest that GPR30-mediated inhibition of urothelial cell proliferation is the result of decreased cyclin D1 by down-regulation of activation protein-1 signaling.
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PMID:The G protein-coupled receptor GPR30 inhibits human urothelial cell proliferation. 1846 34

Lipotoxicity involves a series of pathological cellular responses after exposure to elevated levels of fatty acids. This process may be detrimental to normal cellular homeostasis and cell viability. The present study shows that nerve growth factor-differentiated PC12 cells (NGFDPC12) and rat cortical cells (RCC) exposed to high levels of palmitic acid (PA) exhibit significant lipotoxicity and death linked to an "augmented state of cellular oxidative stress" (ASCOS). The ASCOS response includes generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), alterations in the mitochondrial transmembrane potential, and increase in the mRNA levels of key cell death/survival regulatory genes. The observed cell death was apoptotic based on nuclear morphology, caspase-3 activation, and cleavage of lamin B and PARP. Quantitative real-time PCR measurements showed that cells undergoing lipotoxicity exhibited an increase in the expression of the mRNAs encoding the cell death-associated proteins BNIP3 and FAS receptor. Cotreatment of NGFDPC12 and RCC cells undergoing lipotoxicity with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) significantly reduced cell death within the first 2 hr following the initial exposure to PA. The data suggest that lipotoxicity in NGFDPC12 and cortical neurons triggers a strong cell death apoptotic response. Results with NGFDPC12 cells suggest a linkage between induction of ASCOS and the apoptotic process and exhibit a temporal window that is sensitive to DHA and BSA interventions.
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PMID:Activation and reversal of lipotoxicity in PC12 and rat cortical cells following exposure to palmitic acid. 1895 73

Hepatocyte transplantation has been proposed as a method to support patients with liver insufficiency. Key factors for clinical cell transplantation to progress is to prevent hepatocyte damage, loss of viability and cell functionality, factors that depend on the nature of the tissue used for isolation to a large extent. The main sources of tissue for hepatocyte isolation are marginal livers that are unsuitable for transplantation, and segments from reduced cadaveric grafts. Hepatocellular transplantation requires infusing human hepatocytes in suspension over a period of minutes to hours. The beneficial effect of hypothermic preservation of hepatocytes in infusion medium has been reported, but how critical issues towards the success of cell transplantation, such as the composition of infusion medium and duration of hepatocyte storage will affect hepatocyte quality for clinical cell infusion has not been systematically investigated. Infusion media composition is phosphate-buffered saline containing anticoagulants and human serum albumin. The supplementation of infusion media with glucose or N-acetyl-cystein, or with both components at the same time, has been investigated. After isolation, hepatocytes were suspended in each infusion medium and a sample at the 0 time point was harvested for cell viability and functional assessment. Thereafter, cells were incubated in different infusion media agitated on a rocker platform to simulate the clinical infusion technique. The time course of hepatocyte viability, funtionality (drug-metabolizing enzymes, ureogenic capability, ATP, glycogen, and GSH levels), apoptosis (caspase-3 activation), and attachment and monolayer formation were analyzed. The optimal preservation of cell viability, attaching capacity, and functionality, particularly GSH and glycogen levels, as well as drug-metabolizing cytochrome P450 enzymes, was found in infusion media supplemented with 2 mM N-acetyl-cystein and 15 mM glucose.
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PMID:Evaluation of drug-metabolizing and functional competence of human hepatocytes incubated under hypothermia in different media for clinical infusion. 1906 32

Premature infants are at risk for bilirubin-associated brain damage. In cell cultures bilirubin causes neuronal apoptosis and necrosis. Ibuprofen is used to close the ductus arteriosus, and is often given when hyperbilirubinemia is at its maximum. Ibuprofen is known to interfere with bilirubin-albumin binding. We hypothesized that bilirubin toxicity to cultured rat embryonic cortical neurons is augmented by coincubation with ibuprofen. Incubation with ibuprofen above a concentration of 125 microg/mL reduced cell viability, measured by methylthiazole tetrazolium reduction, to 68% of controls (p < 0.05). Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release increased from 29 to 38% (p < 0.01). The vehicle solution did not affect cell viability. Coincubation with 10 microM unconjugated bilirubin (UCB)/human serum albumin in a molar ratio of 3:1 and 250 microg/mL ibuprofen caused additional loss of cell viability and increased LDH release (p < 0.01), DNA fragmentation, and activated caspase-3. Preincubation with the pan-caspase inhibitor z-val-ala-asp-fluoromethyl ketone abolished ibuprofen- and UCB-induced DNA fragmentation. The study demonstrates that bilirubin in low concentration of 10 microM reduces neuron viability and ibuprofen increases this effect. Apoptosis is the underlying cell death mechanism.
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PMID:Ibuprofen augments bilirubin toxicity in rat cortical neuronal culture. 1912 20

CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) has been implicated in prostate cancer metastasis and this receptor also acts as a coreceptor for HIV-1 120-kDa glycoprotein variant IIIB (gp120-IIIB). The interaction between CXCR4 and gp120-IIIB has been shown to mediate apoptosis of both immune and endothelial cells. In this study, we have examined the effects of gp120-IIIB on hormone-refractory prostate cancer cells (PC3 and DU145) in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Normal prostatic epithelial (PrEC) and prostate cancer cell lines were treated with gp120-IIIB with or without anti-CXCR4 antibody. Caspase expression was evaluated by real-time PCR and active caspase assays. Apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry. gp120-IIIB treatment correlated with active caspase-3 and -9 expression and apoptosis of prostate cancer cells but not PrEC cells. This effect was significantly inhibited after CXCR4 blockade. PC3 and DU145 tumor-bearing mice received intraperitoneal injections of gp120-IIIB and controls received bovine serum albumin in PBS. PC3 and DU145 tumor sizes were measured over time and excised tumors were evaluated for CD44, CD34, lymphatic endothelial cell marker LYVE-1, active caspase-3, and active caspase-9 expression by immunohistochemistry. The tumor size in mice receiving gp120-IIIB was significantly smaller than compared with tumors in control mice. This regression was associated with significant decreases in CD44, CD34, and LYVE-1 and increases in active caspase-3 and -9 expression. These results suggest that gp120-IIIB induced apoptosis in prostate cancer cells and reduced tumor-associated lymphoendothelial cells.
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PMID:CXCR4-gp120-IIIB interactions induce caspase-mediated apoptosis of prostate cancer cells and inhibit tumor growth. 1913 27

Ternary iron(III) complexes [FeL(B)] (1-3) of a trianionic tetradentate phenolate-based ligand (L) and phenanthroline base (B), namely, 1,10-phenanthroline (phen, 1), dipyridoquinoxaline (dpq, 2), and dipyridophenazine (dppz, 3), have been prepared and structurally characterized and their DNA binding, cleavage, and photocytotoxic properties studied. The complexes with a FeN(3)O(3) core show the Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox couple near -0.6 V in DMF, a magnetic moment value of approximately 5.9 micro(B), and a binding propensity to both calf thymus DNA and bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein. They exhibit red-light-induced DNA cleavage activity following a metal-assisted photoredox pathway forming HO(*) radicals but do not show any photocleavage of BSA in UV-A light. Complex 3 displays photocytotoxicity in the human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa) and human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) with respective IC(50) values of 3.59 microM and 6.07 microM in visible light and 251 nM and 751 nM in UV-A light of 365 nm. No significant cytotoxicity is observed in the dark. The photoexposed HeLa cells, treated prior with complex 3, have shown marked changes in nuclear morphology as demonstrated by Hoechst 33258 nuclear stain. Generation of reactive oxygen species has been evidenced from the fluorescence enhancement of dichlorofluorescein upon treatment with 3 followed by photoexposure. Nuclear chromatin cleavage has been observed in acridine orange/ethidium bromide dual staining of treated HeLa cells and from alkaline single-cell gel electrophoresis. Caspase 3/7 activity in HeLa cells has been found to be upregulated by only 4 fold after photoirradiation, signifying the fact that cell death through a caspase 3/7 dependent pathway may not be solely operative.
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PMID:An iron complex of dipyridophenazine as a potent photocytotoxic agent in visible light. 1926 8


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