Search results for "Apoptosis."
showing 10 items of 1794 documents
Cancer relapse under chemotherapy: why TLR2/4 receptor agonists can help.
2007
Liver or lung metastases usually relapse under chemotherapy. Such life-threatening condition urgently needs new, systemic anticancer compounds, with original and efficient mechanisms of action. In B16 melanoma mice treated with cyclophosphamide, D'Agostini et al. [D'Agostini, C., Pica, F., Febbraro, G., Grelli, S., Chiavaroli, C., Garaci, E., 2005. Antitumour effect of OM-174 and Cyclophosphamide on murine B16 melanoma in different experimental conditions. Int. Immunopharmacol. 5, 1205-1212.] recently found that OM-174, a chemically defined Toll-like receptor(TLR)2/4 agonist, reduces tumor progression and prolongs survival. Here we review 149 articles concerning molecular mechanisms of TLR2…
Induction of apoptosis by the adenosine derivative IB-MECA in parental or multidrug-resistant HL-60 leukemia cells: possible relationship to the effe…
2004
<i>Background:</i> The effects of the A<sub>3</sub> adenosine receptor (A<sub>3</sub>AR) agonist IB-MECA were examined in HL-60 leukemia and in its multidrug-resistant variant HL-60R cells. <i>Methods:</i> Cytotoxicity was evaluated by MTS assays and apoptosis by flow cytometry analyses of DNA fragmentation and phosphatidylserine exposure. The mRNAs of A<sub>3</sub>AR and inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) were determined by RT-PCR. <i>Results:</i> A<sub>3</sub>AR expression was similar in HL-60 and HL-60R cells. At ≧100 µ<i>M</i>, IB-MECA exhibited strong cytotoxic and apoptotic effects in H…
Selection and characterization of a novel agonistic human recombinant anti-Trail-R2 minibody with anti-leukemic activity
2009
Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a promising natural anticancer therapeutic agent because through its “death receptors”, TRAIL-R1 and TRAIL-R2, it induces apoptosis in many transformed tumor cells, but not in the majority of normal cells. Hence, agonistic compounds directed against TRAIL death receptors have the potential of being excellent cancer therapeutic agents, with minimal cytotoxicity in normal tissues. Here, we report the selection and characterization of a new single-chain fragment variable (scFv) to TRAIL-R2 receptor isolated from a human phage-display library, produced as minibody (MB), and characterized for the in vitro anti-leukemic tumoricid…
Induction of Apoptosis in Rat Cardiocytes by A3 Adenosine Receptor Activation and Its Suppression by Isoproterenol
2000
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the mechanisms involved in the induction of apoptosis in newborn cultured cardiomyocytes by activation of adenosine (ADO) A3 receptors and to examine the protective effects of beta-adrenoceptors. The selective agonist for A3 ADO receptors Cl-IB-MECA (2-chloro-N6-iodobenzyl-5-N-methylcarboxamidoadenosine) and the antagonist MRS1523 (5-propyl-2-ethyl-4-propyl-3-(ethylsulfanylcarbonyl)-6-phenylpy rid ine-5-carboxylate) were used. High concentrations of the Cl-IB-MECA (or = 10 microM) agonist induced morphological modifications of myogenic cells, such as rounding and retraction of cell body and dissolution of contractile filaments, followed by…
Induction of Transglutaminase 2 by a Liver X Receptor/Retinoic Acid Receptor α Pathway Increases the Clearance of Apoptotic Cells by Human Macrophages
2009
Rationale: Liver X receptors (LXRs) are oxysterol-activated nuclear receptors that are involved in the control of cholesterol homeostasis and inflammatory response. Human monocytes and macrophages express high levels of these receptors and are appropriate cells to study the response to LXR agonists. Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify new LXR targets in human primary monocytes and macrophages and the consequences of their activation. Methods and Results: We show that LXR agonists significantly increase the mRNA and protein levels of the retinoic acid receptor (RAR)α in primary monocytes and macrophages. LXR agonists promote RARα gene transcription through binding to a spec…
Mitochondrial function in liver disease.
2006
Oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis and progression of different liver diseases, such as alcoholic liver disease and biliary cirrhosis. The increased mitochondrial production of O2(-) at complexes I and III, and consequently of H2O2 and other reactive oxygen species (ROS), triggered by NADH overproduction seems the major cause of mitochondrial and cellular oxidative stress and damage in chronic alcoholism. The mitochondrial oxidative stress renders hepatocytes susceptible to ethanol- or acetaldehyde-induced mitochondrial membrane permeability transition (MMPT) and apoptosis. Nitrosative stress contributes to cell death by peroxynitrite formation. The expression of the death rec…
Change in expression of MGMT during maturation of human monocytes into dendritic cells.
2005
Dendritic cells (DCs) maturated from monocytes play an important role in the immune system, not only in defense against conventional infections but also in cancer rejection. Because of the central role of DCs in tumor host defense it is highly important that DCs as well as the progenitor cell population are protected during cancer therapy. Since most anticancer drugs target DNA, the DNA repair capacity is most importance for the response of DCs and their precursor cells. Here, we studied the expression of the DNA repair protein O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) in monocytes obtained from peripheral blood of healthy donors and DCs maturated from monocytes (moDCs). We show that MG…
MGMT: Key node in the battle against genotoxicity, carcinogenicity and apoptosis induced by alkylating agents
2007
O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) plays a crucial role in the defense against alkylating agents that generate, among other lesions, O(6)-alkylguanine in DNA (collectively termed O(6)-alkylating agents [O(6)AA]). The defense is highly important, since O(6)AA are common environmental carcinogens, are formed endogenously during normal cellular metabolism and possibly inflammation, and are being used in cancer therapy. O(6)AA induced DNA damage is subject to repair, which is executed by MGMT, AlkB homologous proteins (ABH) and base excision repair (BER). Although this review focuses on MGMT, the mechanism of repair by ABH and BER will also be discussed. Experimental systems, in wh…
Primary mouse fibroblasts deficient for c-Fos, p53 or for both proteins are hypersensitive to UV light and alkylating agent-induced chromosomal break…
2000
The important regulatory proteins, c-Fos and p53 are induced by exposure of cells to a variety of DNA damaging agents. To investigate their role in cellular defense against genotoxic compounds, we comparatively analysed chromosomal aberrations and apoptosis induced by ultraviolet (UV-C) light and the potent alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) in primary diploid mouse fibroblasts knockout for either c-Fos or p53, or double knockout for both genes. We show that c-Fos and p53 deficient fibroblasts are more sensitive than the corresponding wild-type cells as to the induction of chromosomal aberrations and apoptosis. Double knockout fibroblasts lacking both c-Fos and p53 are viable an…
Mucosal immunoregulation: transcription factors as possible therapeutic targets.
2005
Much progress has been recently made with regard to our understanding of the mucosal immune system in health and disease. In particular, it has been shown that uncontrolled mucosal immune responses driven by lymphocytes or non-lymphoid cells may lead to immunological diseases such as allergy, hypersensitivity and inflammation. Thus, a more detailed understanding of mucosal immune regulation and decision making at mucosal surfaces is essential for a better understanding of mucosal immune responses in health and disease. Antigen presenting cells and T lymphocytes play a key role in controlling mucosal immune responses. To deal with this key task, T helper cells differentiate into functionally…