We have shown previously that caspase-6 is activated in serum deprivation-mediated human neuronal cell death and correlates with increased production of Alzheimer's disease (AD) amyloid beta peptide (Abeta). Here, we show by direct microinjection of recombinant active enzymes that caspase-6 (>0.5 pg/cell) induces a protracted course of apoptosis in neurons in a caspase-specific, dose- and time-...

Apoptosis is characterized by proteolysis of specific cellular proteins by a family of cystein proteases known as caspases. Gas2, a component of the microfilament system, is cleaved during apoptosis and the cleaved form specifically regulates microfilaments and cell shape changes. We now demonstrate that Gas2 is a substrate of caspase-3 but not of caspase-6. Proteolytic processing both in vitro...

The goal of this study was to establish paclitaxel resistant MCF-7 cells, as in vitro model, to identify the molecular mechanisms leading to acquired chemoresistance in breast cancer cells. Resistant cells were developed by stepwise increasing exposure to paclitaxel. Gene expression levels of Bax and Bcl-2 along with protein levels of caspase-8 and caspase-9 were evaluated in two resistant cell...

Apoptosis is a major form of cell death, characterized by a series of the morphological changes induced by cleaving cytoplasmic and nuclear proteins via active caspases. The data presented here show, by the fluorescence microscopic and the immunoblotting analyses, that a prodomain of caspase-7 inhibits its nuclear translocation and apoptosis-inducing activity. This nuclear localization is depen...

The role of the caspases, a newly discovered group of cysteine proteases, was investigated in a model of hypoxia-induced necrotic injury of rat renal proximal tubules. An assay for caspases in freshly isolated rat proximal tubules was developed. There was a 40% increase in tubular caspase activity after 15 min of hypoxia in association with increased cell membrane damage as indicated by a three...

Although significant efforts have been made to understand the mechanisms of caspase activation during apoptosis, many questions remain regarding how and when executioner caspases get activated. We describe the design and synthesis of an activity-based probe that labels caspase-3/-6/-7, allowing direct monitoring of all executioner caspases simultaneously. This probe has enhanced in vivo propert...

The aim of this study was to examine the expression of caspase-3, caspase-7, caspase-9 and cytokeratin AE-1/AE-3 using the avidin-biotin complex (ABC) immunoperoxidase technique in 20 goats with enzootic nasal adenocarcinoma (ENA). Clinically, dyspnoea and nasal discharge were observed in all cases. Macroscopically, polypoid and sessile masses were seen in the ethmoidal area. At the histopathol...

in this study organotypic adult spinal cord slices were used to investigate whether caspases could participate in the apoptosis of motor neurons. the thoracic region of spinal cord was sliced using a tissue chopper and cultured in a medium for 6h. morphological and biochemical features of apoptosis were assessed by fluorescent staining and terminal deoxynucleotidyl nick end labeling (tunel) met...

Traditional medicines, derived from plants, could present alternative treatment strategy for cancer therapy. One such plant is Momordica charantia (MC) which possesses anti-carcinogenic properties. This study investigated the anticancer effect of an ethanol extract MC fruit, Kuguacin-J (K-J), isolated compound leaves and cisplatin, either alone or combination on healthy MCF-10A mammary cells co...

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are undifferentiated with the ability of multi-potency, pluripotency, and self-renewal. MSCs show great promise in cancer therapy due to their unique features. MSC secrete various cytokines multifunctional properties, although roles unclear. Methods: We have investigated influence secreted from on KG-1 as a cell model acute myeloid leukemia (AML). For t...