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)

The role of the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor p21 as a mediator of p53-induced growth arrest is well established. In addition, recent data provide strong evidence for new emerging functions of p21, including a role as a modulator of apoptosis. The mechanisms, however, by which p21 interferes with the death machinery, especially following ionizing radiation (IR), are largely unknown. Here, we report that IR induced caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation and subsequent apoptosis only in p21-deficient colon carcinoma cells, whereas similar treated wild-type cells were permanently arrested in the G(2)-M phase, correlating with the induction of cellular senescence. Interestingly, activation of the mitochondrial pathway, including caspase-2 processing, depolarization of the outer mitochondrial membrane, and cytochrome c release, was achieved by IR in both cell lines, indicating that p21 inhibits an event downstream of mitochondria but preceding caspase-9 activation. IR-induced p21 protein expression was restricted to the nucleus, and no evidence for a mitochondrial or cytoplasmic association was found. In addition, p21 did neither interact with caspase-3 or caspase-9, suggesting that these events are not required for the observed protection. Consistent with this assumption, we found that CDK inhibitors potently abrogated IR-induced caspase processing and activation without affecting mitochondrial events. In addition, in vitro caspase activation assays yielded higher caspase-3 activities in extracts of irradiated p21-deficient cells compared with extracts of similar treated wild-type cells. Thus, our results strongly indicate that p21 protects cells from IR-induced apoptosis by suppression of CDK activity that seems to be required for activation of the caspase cascade downstream of the mitochondria.
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PMID:p21 blocks irradiation-induced apoptosis downstream of mitochondria by inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase-mediated caspase-9 activation. 1714 70

Astragalus memebranaceus is used as immunomodulating agent in treating immunodeficiency diseases and to alleviate the adverse effects of chemotherapeutic drugs. In recent years, it has been proposed that Astragalus may possess anti-tumorigenic potential in certain cancer cell types. In this study, the anti-carcinogenic effects of Astragalus saponin extract were investigated in HT-29 human colon cancer cells and tumor xenograft. Our findings have shown that Astragalus saponins (AST) inhibit cell proliferation through accumulation in S phase and G2/M arrest, with concomitant suppression of p21 expression and inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase activity. Besides, AST promotes apoptosis in HT-29 cells through caspase 3 activation and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage, which is indicated by DNA fragmentation and nuclear chromatin condensation. Nevertheless, we also demonstrate the anti-tumorigenic effects of AST in vivo, of which the reduction of tumor volume as well as pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative effects in HT-29 nude mice xenograft are comparable with that produced by the conventional chemotherapeutic drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). In addition, the side effects (body weight drop and mortality) associated with the drug combo 5-FU and oxaliplatin are not induced by AST. These results indicate that AST could be an effective chemotherapeutic agent in colon cancer treatment, which might also be used as an adjuvant in combination with other orthodox chemotherapeutic drugs to reduce the side effects of the latter compounds.
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PMID:Astragalus saponins induce growth inhibition and apoptosis in human colon cancer cells and tumor xenograft. 1714 4

MEK/ERK pathways are frequently activated in acute myelogenous leukemia, and this signal pathway's inhibitor has made it an interesting candidate for cancer chemotherapy. Little is known, however, about the effects of cellular and molecular mechanisms on human leukemic U937 cells. In the present study, we found that treatment with PD98059 significantly arrests the G1 phase through up-regulation of cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor, and produces morphological features of apoptosis in U937 cells, which were associated with poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) cleavage and PLC-gamma1 degradation. PD98059 also decreased the Cdk-2, Cdk-4, cyclin D1, and cyclin E expression, and increased high levels of the mitotic inhibitors p16(INIa), p21(Waf1), and p27(Kip1). Also, Bcl-2's overexpression and a caspase-3 inhibitor z-DEVD-fmk significantly attenuated PD98059-induced apoptosis through the down-regulation of caspase-3 activity, but did not attenuate G1 phase arrest. Moreover, PD98059 down-regulated Akt phosphorylation and produced a synergy effect of apoptosis with LY294002 co-treatment. Thus, our results imply that PD98059-induced apoptosis is significantly involved in down-regulation of Bcl-2, caspase-3 activity, the Akt pathway, and some of the biological functions in U937 cells.
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PMID:PD98059 triggers G1 arrest and apoptosis in human leukemic U937 cells through downregulation of Akt signal pathway. 1716 15

We have previously shown that the leukotriene B4 receptor antagonist, LY293111 inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in human pancreatic cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. In the current study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms of LY293111-induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Two human pancreatic cancer cell lines were used in this study, MiaPaCa-2 and AsPC-1. Cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry showed a dramatic increase in the percentage of apoptotic cells as well as S-phase arrest after treatment with 250 nmol/l LY293111 for up to 48 h. Western blotting indicated that LY293111 treatment induced cytochrome c release from the mitochondria into the cytosol, accompanied by caspase-9, caspase-7 and caspase-3 activation, and cleavage of poly ADP-ribose polymerase. Caspase-8 was not activated by LY293111. A decrease was found in the expression of the antiapoptotic proteins, Bcl-2 and Mcl-1, and an increase in the proapoptotic protein, Bax. LY293111 reduced the expression of CDK2, cyclin A and cyclin E, consistent with the S-phase arrest observed in these cells. The expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, p21 and p27 was not affected by LY293111 treatment. In conclusion, LY293111 induces apoptosis in human pancreatic cancer cells through the mitochondria-mediated pathway. LY293111 also induces S-phase arrest with downregulation of CDK2, cyclin A and cyclin E. Blockade of leukotriene B4 metabolic pathway may provide a novel treatment for human pancreatic cancer.
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PMID:Leukotriene B4 receptor antagonist LY293111 induces S-phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human pancreatic cancer cells. 1741 22

Dietary grape seed proanthocyanidins (GSPs) prevent photocarcinogenesis in mice. Here, we report that in vitro treatment of human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells with GSPs inhibited cellular proliferation (13-89%) and induced cell death (1-48%) in a dose (5-100 mug/ml)- and time (24, 48 and 72 h)-dependent manner. GSP-induced inhibition of cell proliferation was associated with an increase in G1-phase arrest at 24 h, which was mediated through the inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdk) Cdk2, Cdk4, Cdk6 and cyclins D1, D2 and E and simultaneous increase in protein expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (Cdki), Cip1/p21 and Kip1/p27, and enhanced binding of Cdki-Cdk. The treatment of A431 cells with GSPs (20-80 mug/ml) resulted in a dose-dependent increase in apoptotic cell death (26-58%), which was associated with an increased protein expression of proapoptotic Bax, decreased expression of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and cleavage of caspase-9, caspase-3 and PARP. Pretreatment with the pan-caspase inhibitor (z-VAD-fmk) blocked the GSP-induced apoptosis in A431 cells suggesting that GSP-induced apoptosis is associated primarily with the caspase-3-dependent pathway. Together, our study suggests that GSPs possess chemotherapeutic potential against human epidermoid carcinoma cells in vitro, further in vivo mechanistic studies are required to verify the chemotherapeutic effect of GSPs in skin cancers.
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PMID:Grape seed proanthocyanidins promote apoptosis in human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells through alterations in Cdki-Cdk-cyclin cascade, and caspase-3 activation via loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. 1743 83

The p57(Kip2) gene belongs to the Cip/Kip family of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitors and has been suggested to be a tumor suppressor gene, being inactivated in various types of human cancers. However, little is known concerning p57(Kip2) possible interplay with the apoptotic cell death machinery and its possible implication for cancer. Here, we report that selective p57(Kip2) expression sensitizes cancer cells to apoptotic agents such as cisplatin, etoposide and staurosporine (STS) via a mechanism, which does not require p57(Kip2)-mediated inhibition of CDK. Translocation of p57(Kip2) to mitochondria occurs within 20 min after STS application. In fact, p57(Kip2) primarily promotes the intrinsic apoptotic pathways, favoring Bax activation and loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, consequent release of cytochrome-c into cytosol, caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation. In accordance, Bcl2 overexpression or voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) inhibition is able to inhibit p57(Kip2) cell death promoting effect. Thus, in addition to its established function in control of proliferation, these results reveal a mechanism whereby p57(Kip2) influences the mitochondrial apoptotic cell death pathway in cancer cells.
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PMID:The cell cycle inhibitor p57(Kip2) promotes cell death via the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. 1746 23

To clarify the relationship between CDC2 kinase activity and radiation-induced apoptosis, we examined whether the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor purvalanol A enhanced radiation-induced apoptosis in gastric tumor cells. MKN45 cells exposed to 20 Gy of X rays increased the CDC2 kinase activity and the expression of regulatory proteins (phospho-CDC2 and cyclin B1) of the G2/M phase, followed by activation of the G2/M checkpoint, whereas the treatment of X-irradiated MKN45 cells with 20 microM purvalanol A suppressed the increase in the CDC2 kinase activity and expression of the G2/M-phase regulatory proteins and reduced the fraction of the cells in the G2/M phase in the cell cycle. Furthermore, this treatment resulted in not only a significant increase in radiation-induced apoptosis but also the loss of clonogenicity in both MKN45 (p53-wild) and MKN28 (p53-mutated) cells. The expression of anti-apoptosis proteins, inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family members (survivin and XIAP) and BCL2 family members (Bcl-X(L) and Bcl-2), in purvalanol A-treated cells with and without X rays was significantly lower than for cells exposed to X rays alone. These results suggest that the inhibition of radiation-induced CDC2 kinase activity by purvalanol A induces apoptosis through the enhancement of active fragments of caspase 3.
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PMID:Purvalanol A enhances cell killing by inhibiting up-regulation of CDC2 kinase activity in tumor cells irradiated with high doses of X rays. 1747 86

Multimodal therapies play important roles in the treatment of osteosarcoma (OS) and Ewing's family of tumors (EFTs), two most frequent malignant bone tumors. Although the clinical outcome of primary OS and EFTs is greatly improved, the relapsed cases often are associated with multidrug resistance of the tumors and the prognosis of these patients is still poor. Flavopiridol, a pan cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor is a novel antitumor agent that can induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in many cancer cells. However, there have been no studies about the effects of flavopiridol on drug-resistant OS and EFTs. Here, we demonstrated that flavopiridol induced the cleavage of poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) in a time and dose dependent manner in adriamycin-resistant OS and EFTs cells expressing P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP(1)) as effectively as in their parental cells. Our data also showed that flavopiridol caused the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c and the activation of caspase-9, caspase-8 and caspase-3, with an increase ratio of the proapoptotic protein level (Bax) to the antiapoptotic protein level (Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L)), while apoptosis was inhibited by pan caspase inhibitor (Z-VAD-FMK) and caspase-3 inhibitor (Z-DEVD-FMK), not by caspase-8 inhibitor (Z-IETD-FMK). The treatment with flavopiridol further inhibited the tumor growth in mouse models of the drug-resistant OS and EFTs. These results suggest that flavopiridol might be promising in clinical therapy for the relapsed OS and EFTs.
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PMID:Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, flavopiridol, induces apoptosis and inhibits tumor growth in drug-resistant osteosarcoma and Ewing's family tumor cells. 1752 Jun 76

In humans, the molecular mechanisms underlying ovarian follicle endowment and activation, which are closely related to the control of female reproduction, occurrence of menopause, and related diseases such as premature ovarian failure, are poorly understood. In the current study, we provide several lines of genetic evidence that the cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor 1B (commonly known as p27(kip1) or p27) controls ovarian development in mice by suppressing follicle endowment and activation, and by promoting follicle death. In p27-deficient (p27(-/-)) mice, postnatal follicle assembly was accelerated, and the number of endowed follicles was doubled as compared with p27(+/+) mice. Moreover, in p27(-/-) ovaries the primordial follicle pool was prematurely activated once it was endowed, and at the same time the massive follicular death that occurs before sexual maturity was rescued by loss of p27. In early adulthood, however, the overactivated follicular pool in p27(-/-) ovaries was largely depleted, causing premature ovarian failure. Furthermore, we have extensively studied the molecular mechanisms underlying the above-mentioned phenotypes seen in p27(-/-) ovaries and have found that p27 controls follicular development by several distinct mechanisms at different stages of development of the ovary. For example, p27 controls oocyte growth by suppressing the functions of Cdk2/Cdc2-cyclin A/E1 in oocytes that are arrested at the diplotene stage of meiosis I. This function of p27 is distinct from its well-known role as a suppressor of cell cycle progression. In addition, we have found that p27 activates the caspase-9-caspase-3-caspase-7-poly (ADP-ribose) polymeraseapoptotic cascade by inhibiting Cdk2/Cdc2-cyclin A/B1 kinase activities in follicles, thereby inducing follicle atresia. Our results suggest that the p27 gene is important in determining mammalian ovarian development. This study therefore provides insight into ovary-borne genetic aberrations that cause defects in folliculogenesis and infertility in humans.
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PMID:p27kip1 (cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1B) controls ovarian development by suppressing follicle endowment and activation and promoting follicle atresia in mice. 1756 40

In the course of screening for novel anticancer compounds, CR229 (6-Bromo-2,3,4,9-tetrahydro-carbolin-1-one), a novel derivative of beta-carbolin-1-one, was generated as a new scaffold candidate. For the first time, the authors demonstrate that CR229 inhibited the growth of HeLa cells by the induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Analysis of flow cytometry and western blots of HeLa cells treated with 2.5 microM CR229 revealed an appreciable cell cycle arrest in the G1, G2/M phase and apoptotic induction via the p53-dependent pathway. Furthermore, the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria was detected using confocal microscopy in HeLa cells treated with CR229. Accordingly, these data demonstrate that the anticancer activity of CR229 is associated with: (i) the down-regulation of cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinase; (ii) the induction of p53, p21, and p16; and (iii) the activation of caspase-3.
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PMID:CR229, a novel derivative of beta-carbolin-1-one, induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in HeLa cells via p53 activation. 1762 14


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