Search results for " cell death"
showing 10 items of 646 documents
Radiotherapy and Immunogenic Cell Death
2014
Advances in understanding the mechanisms that underlie the interplay between radiation-invoked immune responses and tumor regression are underway. Emerging applications of local radiotherapy as an immunologic adjuvant have provided radiation oncologists with a method for converting malignant cells into endogenous anticancer vaccines. The dispersion of radiotherapy-induced immune-stimulating tumor antigens released from dying tumor cells into the surrounding milieu (known as immunogenic cell death, Fig. 1), is one such exploitable process that contributes to the propagation of antitumor immunity. Downstream components of the immune system may suppress, promote, or ambiguously affect antitumo…
Membrane vesicles shed by oligodendroglioma cells induce neuronal apoptosis.
2006
In order to investigate the mechanism by which oligodendrogliomas cause neuronal damage, media conditioned by G26/24 oligodendroglioma cells, were fractionated into shed vesicles and vesicle-free supernatants, and added to primary cultures of rat fetal cortical neurons. After one night treatment with vesicles, a reproducible, dose-dependent, inhibitory effect on neurite outgrowth was already induced and, after 48-72 h of incubation, neuronal apoptosis was evident. Vesicle-free supernatants and vesicles shed by NIH-3T3 cells had no inhibitory effects on neurons. Western blot analyses showed that treated neurons expressed a decreased amount of neurofilament (NF), growth-associated protein (GA…
A sphingosine kinase inhibitor combined with temozolomide induces glioblastoma cell death through accumulation of dihydrosphingosine and dihydroceram…
2014
AbstractGlioblastomas (GBMs) are very aggressive tumors with low chemosensitivity. The DNA-alkylating agent temozolomide (TMZ) is currently the most efficient chemotoxic drug for GBM therapy; however, many patients develop resistance to TMZ. Combining TMZ with another agent could present an improved treatment option if it could overcome TMZ resistance and avoid side effects. Sphingosine kinase inhibitors (SKIs) have emerged as anticancer agents. Sphingosine kinases are often overexpressed in tumors where their activity of phosphorylating sphingosine (Sph) contributes to tumor growth and migration. They control the levels of the pro-apoptotic ceramide (Cer) and Sph and of the pro-survival sp…
Cytotoxic effects of chemotherapy on cancer and immune cells: how can it be modulated to generate novel therapeutic strategies?
2015
The first objective to use chemotherapy is to kill cancer cells. However, it is common knowledge that these drugs can also damage healthy host cells, especially immune cells, and thus impair the endogenous antitumor response. Here, we focus on the cytotoxic effects of chemotherapy on tumor cells and immune cells. It is not enough to simply kill cancer cells, and causing immunogenic cell death will impair the adaptive immune system's ability to fight the remaining cancer cells. On the other hand, the killing of immune cells can also enhance tumor growth. A study of the repercussions of the cytotoxic effects of chemotherapy is of great importance to evaluate the antitumor response. Strategie…
Multivalent DR5 peptides activate the TRAIL death pathway and exert tumoricidal activity.
2010
Abstract Ongoing clinical trials are exploring anticancer approaches based on signaling by TRAIL, a ligand for the cell death receptors DR4 and DR5. In this study, we report on the selective apoptotic effects of multivalent DR5 binding peptides (TRAILmim/DR5) on cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Surface plasmon resonance revealed up to several thousand-fold increased affinities of TRAILmim/DR5-receptor complexes on generation of divalent and trivalent molecules, the latter of which was achieved with a conformationally restricted adamantane core. Notably, only multivalent molecules triggered a substantial DR5-dependent apoptotic response in vitro. In tumor models derived from human embryoni…
Resveratrol-mediated apoptosis of hodgkin lymphoma cells involves SIRT1 inhibition and FOXO3a hyperacetylation
2012
Resveratrol (RSV), a plant-derived stilbene, induces cell death in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL)-derived L-428 cells in a dose-dependent manner (IC50 = 27 μM, trypan blue exclusion assay). At a lower range (25 μM), RSV treatment for 48 hr causes arrest in the S-phase of the cell cycle, while at a higher concentration range (50 μM), apoptosis can be detected, with activation of caspase-3. The histone/protein deacetylase SIRT1 has been described as a putative target of RSV action in other model systems, even though its role in cancer cells is still controversial. Here we show that RSV, at both concentration ranges, leads to a marked increase in p53, while a decrease of SIRT1 expression level, as well…
Cannabinoid-associated cell death mechanisms in tumor models
2012
In recent years, cannabinoids (the active compo- nents of Cannabis sativa) and their derivatives have received considerable interest due to findings that they can affect the viability and invasiveness of a variety of different cancer cells. Moreover, in addition to their inhibitory effects on tumor growth and migration, angiogenesis and metastasis, the ability of these compounds to induce different pathways of cell death has been highlighted. Here, we review the most recent results generating interest in the field of death mechanisms induced by cannabinoids in cancer cells. In particular, we analyze the pathways triggered by cannabinoids to induce apoptosis or autophagy and investigate the …
Spontaneous and Fas-induced apoptosis of low-grade MDS erythroid precursors involves the endoplasmic reticulum
2008
Spontaneous apoptosis of bone marrow erythroid precursors accounts for the anemia that characterizes most low-grade myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). We have shown that death of these precursors involved the Fas-dependent activation of caspase-8. To explore the pathway leading from caspase-8 activation to apoptosis, we transduced MDS bone marrow CD34(+) cells with a lentivirus encoding wild-type (WT) or endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-targeted Bcl-2 protein before inducing their erythroid differentiation. Both WT-Bcl-2 and ER-targeted Bcl-2 prevented spontaneous and Fas-dependent apoptosis in MDS erythroid precursors. ER-targeted Bcl-2 inhibited mitochondrial membrane depolarization and cytochrom…
In BCR-ABL-positive cells, STAT-5 tyrosine-phosphorylation integrates signals induced by imatinib mesylate and Ara-C.
2003
In BCR-ABL-positive cells, the transcription factor STAT-5 is constitutively activated by tyrosine phosphorylation. STAT-5 activation results in upregulation of bcl-X(L) and increased resistance to induction of apoptosis. Here, we investigated the effects of imatinib mesylate and cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) on STAT-5 tyrosine-phosphorylation, cellular proliferation and induction of apoptosis in cell lines and primary hematopoietic cells. Imatinib mesylate treatment strongly suppressed STAT-5 tyrosine-phosphorylation in K562 and primary CML blasts. In contrast to JAK-2 and PI-3-kinase inhibition, exposure of K562 cells to imatinib mesylate resulted in obvious suppression of proliferation. R…
Mcl-1 is an anti-apoptotic factor for human hepatocellular carcinoma
2005
Defects in apoptosis signaling in hepatocytes contribute to tumorigenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In addition, treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs is often ineffective in HCC patients due to the apoptosis resistance of cancer cells. Anti-apoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family, including myeloid cell leukemia-1 (Mcl-1), which regulate intrinsic apoptosis induction at the mito-chondrial level, are often overexpressed in human cancer, and are implicated with disease grade and prognosis. Yet, little is known about the role of Mcl-1 in HCC. In this study, we analyzed the relevance of Mcl-1 expression for the apop-tosis resistance of human HCC. Mcl-1 protein expression was considerabl…