Caspase-3, caspase-7, and caspase-8 are important caspases in the apoptosis pathway and play an important role in the development and progression of cancer. We examined the association between genetic variants in the caspase-3, caspase-7, and caspase-8 genes and risk for endometrial cancer among Chinese women. Genotypes for 1,028 women with endometrial cancer and 1,003 healthy controls were det...

PURPOSE Hemorrhagic cystitis (HC or bladder inflammation) affects a significant number of patients undergoing cyclophosphamide (CP) chemotherapy despite treatment with 2-mercaptoethane sulfonate (Mesna) to inactivate the metabolite acrolein. While the mechanism is unknown, there is clearly acrolein-independent damage to the urothelium. In this study we have explored the induction of apoptosis i...

Caspases form a family of proteinases required for the initiation and execution phases of apoptosis. Distinct proapoptotic stimuli lead to activation of the initiator caspases-8 and -9, which in turn activate the common executioner caspases-3 and -7 by proteolytic cleavage. Whereas crystal structures of several active caspases have been reported, no three-dimensional structure of an uncleaved c...

Protein structure prediction is an important problem of both intellectual and practical interest. Most protein structure prediction approaches generate multiple candidate models first, and then use a scoring function to select the best model among these candidates. In this work, we develop a scoring function using support vector regression (SVR). Both consensus-based features and features from ...

In order to be successful CASP experiments require experimentally determined protein structures. These structures form the basis of the experiment. Structural genomics groups have provided the vast majority of these structures in recent editions of CASP. Before the structure prediction assessment can begin these target structures must be divided into structural domains for assessment purposes a...

In the absence of costimulating signals, B cell receptor (BCR) crosslinking on immature B cells triggers the apoptotic cell death program. In the WEHI-231 B cell lymphoma model, anti-IgM crosslinking triggers activation of caspase-7 independently of caspase-8, followed by apoptosis. Two main mechanisms for caspase-7 activation have been proposed: (i) caspase-8 recruitment to death receptors (Fa...

      Current therapies for breast cancer are often limited by short-term efficacy due to the emergence of drug resistance. There has been increased interest in the use of naturally occurring compounds with chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic effects in the treatment of cancers. Saffron, dry stigmas Crocus sativus L., used in Iran as a spice, is known for its anticancer properties. In...

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), an approved anticancer treatment, is reported as a potent inducer of programmed cell death (PCD) by both apoptosis and autophagy. The present study investigated the kinetics of both autophagy and caspase activation in MCF-7 cells submitted to mTHPC-PDT upon condition of treatment promoting ER accumulation of mTHPC. Fluence-dependent immediate cytochrome c (cyt C) rel...