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)

During isolation, islets are exposed to warm ischemia. In this study, intraductal administration of oxygenated polymerized, stroma-free hemoglobin-pyridoxalated (Poly SFH-P) was performed to improve O2 delivery. Rat pancreata subjected to 30-min warm ischemia were perfused intraductally with collagenase in oxygenated Poly SFH-P/RPMI or RPMI (control). PO2 was increased by Poly SFH-P (381.7 +/- 35.3 mmHg vs. 202.3 +/- 28.2, p = 0.01) and pH maintained within physiological range (7.4-7.2 vs. 7.1-6.6, p = 0.009). Islet viability (77% +/- 4.6 vs. 63% +/- 4.7, p = 0.04) was improved and apoptosis lower with Poly SFH-P (caspase-3: 34,714 +/- 2167 vs. 45,985 +/- 1382, respectively, p = 0.01). Poly SFH-P improved islet responsiveness to glucose as determined by increased intracellular Ca2+ levels and improved insulin secretion (SI 5.4 +/- 0.1 vs. 3.1 +/- 0.2, p = 0.03). Mitochondrial integrity was improved in Poly SFH-P-treated islets, which showed higher percentage change in membrane potential after glucose stimulation (14.7% +/- 1.8 vs. 9.8 +/- 1.4, respectively, p < 0.05). O2 delivery by Poly SFH-P did not increase oxidative stress (GSH 7.1 +/- 2.9 nm/mg protein for Poly SFH-P vs. 6.8 +/- 2.4 control, p = 0.9) or oxidative injury (MDA 1.8 +/- 0.9 nmol/mg protein vs. 6.2 +/- 2.4, p = 0.19). Time to reach normoglycemia in transplanted diabetic nude mice was shorter (1.8 +/- 0.4 vs. 7 +/- 2.5 days, p = 0.02), and glucose tolerance improved in the Poly SFH-P group (AUC 8106 +/- 590 vs. 10,863 +/- 946, p = 0.03). Oxygenated Poly SFH-P improves islet isolation and transplantation outcomes by preserving mitochondrial integrity.
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PMID:Improved outcomes in islet isolation and transplantation by the use of a novel hemoglobin-based O2 carrier. 1706

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable hematological disorder characterized by dysregulated proliferation of terminally differentiated plasma cells. Aberrant histone acetylation has been observed in the development of numerous malignancies. Histone deacetylase inhibitors such as valproic acid (VPA) are promising drugs for cancer therapy since they have been reported to have antiproliferative effects and to induce differentiation in carcinoma and leukemic cells. Considering the advantage of being already in clinical use for epilepsy treatment, valproic acid might be a promising therapeutic candidate drug in the management of multiple myeloma. In this study, we show that the short fatty acid VPA has a time and dose-dependent cytotoxic effect on the MM cell lines OPM2, RPMI and U266. The influence of VPA on cell cycle and apoptosis have been evaluated by flow cytometry. Our results show that the three cell lines are blocked in G0/G1 phase. The observed sensitivity to VPA can be partially explained by late apoptosis. Since caspase 3 is activated in all tested cell lines after VPA treatment, a caspase-dependent pathway seems to be involved but not activated by the classic apoptotic pathways. We have also studied another mechanism of cell death, the senescence-like phenotype, but did not find any evidence for its implication. Thus, treatment with VPA may imply other alternative cell death mechanisms.
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PMID:Valproic acid induces non-apoptotic cell death mechanisms in multiple myeloma cell lines. 1727 58

Targeting the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway has emerged as a potent anticancer strategy. Bortezomib, a specific proteasome inhibitor, has been approved for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma cell survival is highly dependent on Mcl-1 antiapoptotic molecules. In a recent study, proteasome inhibitors induced Mcl-1 accumulation that slowed down their proapoptotic effects. Consequently, we investigated the role of Bcl-2 family members in bortezomib-induced apoptosis. We found that bortezomib induced apoptosis in five of seven human myeloma cell lines (HMCL). Bortezomib-induced apoptosis was associated with Mcl-1 cleavage regardless of Mcl-1L accumulation. Furthermore, RNA interference mediated Mcl-1 decrease and sensitized RPMI-8226 HMCL to bortezomib, highlighting the contribution of Mcl-1 in bortezomib-induced apoptosis. Interestingly, an important induction of Noxa was found in all sensitive HMCL both at protein and mRNA level. Concomitant to Mcl-1 cleavage and Noxa induction, we also found caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9 activation. Under bortezomib treatment, Mcl-1L/Noxa complexes were highly increased, Mcl-1/Bak complexes were disrupted, and there was an accumulation of free Noxa. Finally, we observed a dissociation of Mcl-1/Bim complexes that may be due to a displacement of Bim induced by Noxa. Thus, in myeloma cells, the mechanistic basis for bortezomib sensitivity can be explained mainly by the model in which the sensitizer Noxa can displace Bim, a BH3-only activator, from Mcl-1, thus leading to Bax/Bak activation.
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PMID:Noxa up-regulation and Mcl-1 cleavage are associated to apoptosis induction by bortezomib in multiple myeloma. 1754 23

Multiple myeloma (MM) is still an incurable disease and adhesion of MM cells to bone marrow stromal cells is one of the hallmarks of the disease. Lymphocyte function associated antigen 1 (LFA-1) is an adhesion molecule that mediates lymphocyte adhesion, but its role in MM is only poorly understood. The aim of the presented study was to improve knowledge on LFA-1 and associated pathways in MM for the development of molecular targeted therapies. We demonstrate that LFA-1 is expressed in U266, RPMI-8226, OPM-2, and NCI-H929 MM cell lines and in primary cells of eight tested patients. The LFA-1 inhibitor LFA878 induces apoptosis in all four cell lines as revealed by annexin V staining and caspase 3 cleavage. Apoptosis is not hampered by adhesion to stromal cells. Additionally, the soluble ligand, intracellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), which is increased in the serum of MM patients, does not protect from melphalan-induced apoptosis. Western blots demonstrate downregulation of FAK, PI3-K, and Akt upon LFA878 treatment. Additionally, sequential inhibition of the pathway by simultaneous application of Src family kinase or PI3-K inhibitors significantly increases LFA878 induced apoptosis. We conclude that LFA-1/FAK/PI3-K/Akt is a survival pathway in MM and that targeted inhibition may provide new therapeutic options.
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PMID:Inhibition of lymphocyte function associated antigen 1 by LFA878 induces apoptosis in multiple myeloma cells and is associated with downregulation of the focal adhesion kinase/phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase/Akt pathway. 1778 31

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) belongs to the cytokine family and increases neuron differentiation and/or survival. Pancreatic islets are richly innervated and express receptors for nerve growth factors (NGFs) and may undergo neurotypic responses. CNTF is found in pancreatic islets and exerts paracrine effects in neighboring cells. The aim of this study was to investigate possible effects of CNTF on neonatal rat pancreatic islet differentiation and/or survival. For this purpose, we isolated pancreatic islets from neonatal rats (1-2 days old) by the collagenase method and cultured for 3 days in RPMI medium with (CNTF) or without (CTL) 1 nM CNTF. Thereafter, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (RIA), general metabolism by (NAD(P)H production; MTS), glucose metabolism ((14)CO(2) production), gene (RT-PCR), protein expression (western blotting), caspase-3 activity (Asp-Glu-Val-Asp (DEVD)), and apoptosis (DNA fragmentation) were analyzed. Our results showed that CNTF-treated islets demonstrated reduced glucose-induced insulin secretion. CNTF treatment did not affect glucose metabolism, as well as the expression of mRNAs and proteins that are crucial for the secretory process. Conversely, CNTF significantly increased mRNA and protein levels related to cell survival, such as Cx36, PAX4, and BCL-2, reduced caspase-3 activity, and islet cells apoptosis, suggesting that CNTF does not affect islet cell differentiation and, instead, acts as a survival factor reducing apoptosis by increasing the expression of the anti-apoptotic BCL-2 protein and decreasing caspase-3 activity.
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PMID:Ciliary neurotrophic factor promotes survival of neonatal rat islets via the BCL-2 anti-apoptotic pathway. 1791 7

Progesterone (P4) is frequently used in the treatment of threatened abortion, prevention of recurrent miscarriage and threatened preterm labor. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism of P4 in the regulation of extravillous trophoblasts' (EVTs) function. This study was designed to examine the presence of progesterone receptor (PR) in the human trophoblast-derived HTR-8/SV neo cell line, which is a possible model of EVTs, and the effects of P4 on apoptosis in those cells. The HTR-8/SV neo cells were cultured in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, 100 U/ml penicillin and 100 microg/ml streptomycin. When the cell the population reached 50% confluency, the cells were stepped down to serum-free conditions in the presence or absence of graded concentrations of P4 (1, 10 and 100 ng/ml) for 48 h. The cultured cells were used for RT-PCR, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated 2'-deoxyuridine 5'-triphosphate nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay, immunocytochemistry and western blot analyses. Immunocytochemistry and western blot analyses revealed that PR was evident in HTR-8/SV neo cells. Compared with untreated cultures, treatment with P4 (10 and 100 ng/ml) resulted in significant decreases in the TUNEL-positive rate, Fas, Fas ligand (Fas-L), caspase-8, caspase-3 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) expression in HTR-8/SV neo cells, and a significant increase in Bcl-2 expression in those cells. Consistently, Fas mRNA expression in those cells was significantly inhibited by the treatment with 10 ng/ml P4 compared with untreated cultures. This study suggests that PR exists in HTR-8/SV neo cells and that P4 inhibits apoptosis by down-regulating Fas, Fas-L, caspase-8, caspase-3 and PARP expression as well as up-regulating Bcl-2 expression in HTR-8/SV neo cells.
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PMID:The effects of progesterone on apoptosis in the human trophoblast-derived HTR-8/SV neo cells. 1796 76

The observation that genistein may behave as a pro-oxidant agent lead us to examine the capacity of this isoflavone to modulate the toxicity of the oxidation-sensitive anti-leukemic agent arsenic trioxide (ATO), and for comparison other anti-tumor drugs. Co-treatment with genistein increased ATO-provoked apoptosis and activated apoptosis regulatory events (Bcl-X(L) down-regulation, cytochrome c and Omi/HtrA2 release from mitochondria, XIAP decrease and caspase-8/Bid and caspase-3 activation) in U937 promonocytes and other human leukemia cell lines (HL60, THP-1, Jurkat, RPMI-8866), but not in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated non-tumor peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs). Genistein, alone and with ATO, stimulated reactive oxygen species generation, and apoptosis was attenuated by N-acetyl-L-cysteine and butylated hydroxyanisole. Addition of low H(2)O(2) concentrations mimicked the capacity of genistein to increase ATO-provoked apoptosis in leukemia cells, but not in PBLs. By contrast, co-treatment with genistein or H(2)O(2) failed to potentiate the toxicity of DNA-targeting agent cisplatin, the proteasome inhibitor MG-132 and the histone deacetylase inhibitor MS-275. Within the here used time-period (14 hr) genistein, alone or with ATO, did not significantly affect Akt phosphorylation and NF-kappaB binding activity, nor decreased intracellular GSH content. However, it elicited N-acetyl-L-cysteine-inhibitable phosphorylation of p38-MAPK and AMPK, and apoptosis was attenuated by pharmacologic inhibitors against these kinases. The pro-oxidant capacity of genistein might be exploited to improve the efficacy of ATO as anti-leukemic agent, and perhaps the efficacy of other oxidation-based therapeutic approaches.
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PMID:Genistein selectively potentiates arsenic trioxide-induced apoptosis in human leukemia cells via reactive oxygen species generation and activation of reactive oxygen species-inducible protein kinases (p38-MAPK, AMPK). 1854 68

The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib is currently an important drug for treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma (MM) and for elderly patients. However, cells from some patients show resistance to bortezomib. We have evaluated the possibility of improving bortezomib therapy with Apo2L/TRAIL, a death ligand that induces apoptosis in MM but not in normal cells. Results indicate that cotreatment with low doses of bortezomib significantly increased apoptosis of MM cells showing partial sensitivity to Apo2L/TRAIL. Bortezomib treatment did not significantly alter plasma membrane amount of DR4 and DR5 but increased Apo2L/TRAIL-induced caspase-8 and caspase-3 activation. Apo2L/TRAIL reverted bortezomib-induced up-regulation of beta-catenin, Mcl-1 and FLIP, associated with the enhanced cytotoxicity of combined treatment. More important, some cell lines displaying resistance to bortezomib were sensitive to Apo2L/TRAIL-induced apoptosis. A cell line made resistant by continuous culture of RPMI 8226 cells in the presence of bortezomib (8226/7B) was highly sensitive to Apo2L/TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Moreover, RPMI 8226 cells overexpressing Mcl-1 (8226/Mcl-1) or Bcl-x(L) (8226/Bcl-x(L)) also showed enhanced resistance to bortezomib, but co-treatment with Apo2L/TRAIL reverted this resistance. These results indicate that Apo2L/TRAIL can cooperate with bortezomib to induce apoptosis in myeloma cells and can be an useful adjunct for MM therapy.
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PMID:Cooperation between Apo2L/TRAIL and bortezomib in multiple myeloma apoptosis. 1910 Jul 20

Inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) undergoing clinical trials as anticancer agents usually target several CDKs in cells. Some of them are also able to increase cellular levels of p53 protein and to activate p53-regulated transcription. To define the role of p53 in the anticancer effect of selective CDK inhibitors, two related compounds roscovitine and olomoucine II were studied. Roscovitine differs functionally from its congener olomoucine II only in the selectivity towards transcriptional CDK9. Action of both compounds on proliferation, cell-cycle progression, and apoptosis was examined in RPMI-8226 cells expressing the temperature-sensitive mutant of p53 and in MCF-7 cells with wild-type p53. Both compounds blocked proliferation, decreased phosphorylation of RNA polymerase II, downregulated antiapoptotic protein Mcl-1 in both cell lines in a dose-dependent manner, and also activated p53 in MCF-7 cells. Moreover, we showed that the anticancer efficiency of CDK inhibitors was enhanced by active p53 in RPMI-8226 cells kept at permissive temperature, where downregulation of Mcl-1, fragmentation of PARP-1, and increased caspase-3 activity was detected with lower doses of the compounds. The results confirm that functional p53 protein may enhance the anticancer activity of roscovitine that could be beneficial for anticancer therapy.
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PMID:Functional p53 in cells contributes to the anticancer effect of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor roscovitine. 1930 36

The cell growth is controlled by the interaction of survival and cell growth arrest pathways as well as apoptosis mechanisms which determine the outcome of cell faith as proliferation or apoptosis. In this study, we have studied the activity of survival pathways, i.e., Akt and ERK1/2 with regard to XIAP (inhibitor of apoptosis) in serum starved and stimulated conditions. The HEK-293 cells were cultured in RPMI + 10% FBS. The cells were serum starved by switching to medium with 1% FBS for 24 h and serum stimulated by changing the medium to 10% FBS following serum starvation. The expression of p-Akt, p-ERK, Akt, ERK and XIAP was studied in various time points using western blot. The apoptosis was evaluated by DNA condensation using Hoechst 33258 and Caspase-3 assay. In serum starved condition expression of p-Akt and XIAP is very low. Serum stimulation increases p-Akt and p-ERK within 5 min and sustains a high level for 30 min. The expression of total Akt and ERK1/2 has not changed significantly for 24 h. XIAP expression starts at 6 h after serum stimulation, reaches to maximum level at 12 h and decreases to baseline within 24 h. Furthermore, serum starvation for 24 h does not induced apoptosis and DNA condensation. Taken together, the results indicate that serum activates Akt and ERK pathways earlier than XIAP expression. Furthermore, XIAP expression is low in serum starvation unlike p-ERK which suggests a survival role for ERK in serums starvation. The expression pattern of XIAP indicates induction by Akt and/or ERK activation which requires further studies.
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PMID:The time course of Akt and ERK activation on XIAP expression in HEK 293 cell line. 1964 22


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