Mitochondria play a key role in the regulation of apoptosis induced by numerous antitumor chemotherapeutic and other toxic agents. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) exerts significant cellular killing efficacy through either an apoptotic or necrotic cell death pathway. This study investigated the mechanism underlying the killing effects of a novel amphipathic photosensitizer [di-sulfonated di-phthalim...

Numerous studies have demonstrated that pseudolaric acid B (PAB) promotes apoptosis in several cancer cell lines. However, thus far, the effect of PAB on human leukemia cells has not been evaluated. In the present study, the antitumor activity and molecular mechanisms of PAB in human leukemia U937 cells were investigated. It was demonstrated that PAB induced U937 cell apoptosis, which was confi...

Schizophrenia is a chronic and often debilitating illness which affects about 1% of the world population. Some reagents have been used to simulate schizophrenic disorders in laboratory animals, such as amphetamine and ketamine. Previous studies have suggested that reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, reduced levels of ATP, mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis are involved in the pathoph...

Mitochondrial membrane permeabilization is a critical event in the process leading to physiologic or chemotherapy-induced apoptosis (programmed cell death). This permeabilization event is, at least in part, under the control of the permeability transition pore complex (PTPC). Oncoproteins from the Bcl-2 family and tumor suppressor proteins from the Bax family interact with PTPC to inhibit or fa...

One of the emerging therapeutic strategies for targeted therapy of cancer is the use of chimeric proteins. The p28 peptide has the ability of selective entrance and activating apoptosis in breast cancer cells. The NRC antimicrobial peptide showed cytotoxic activity on various breast cancer including drug-resistant variants but also normal cell lines. Here we designed a chimeric protein consiste...

One of the emerging therapeutic strategies for targeted therapy of cancer is the use of chimeric proteins. The p28 peptide has the ability of selective entrance and activating apoptosis in breast cancer cells. The NRC antimicrobial peptide showed cytotoxic activity on various breast cancer including drug-resistant variants but also normal cell lines. Here we designed a chimeric protein consiste...

Objective: To determine the effect of convallatoxin on K562 cell proliferation and apoptosis. Methods: CCK-8 assay was used to detect proliferation; PI staining, JC-1 Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining were analyze cycle, mitochondrial membrane potential, apoptosis; Western blotting cleaved caspase-9, caspase-3, Bcl-2, Bax, E2F1 expression Akt phosphorylation. Subsequently, AutoDock software int...

Previously we have shown that both Rac1 and c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase (JNK1/2) are key proapoptotic molecules in tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha/cycloheximide (CHX)-induced apoptosis in intestinal epithelial cells, whereas the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in apoptosis is unclear. The present studies tested the hypothesis that Rac1-mediated ROS production is involved in TNF-alpha-in...

Sphingolipids is the collective term ascribed to components of the sphingomyelin cycle. Modulation of the cellular levels of individual sphingolipids can induce a diverse range of cellular responses including apoptosis, proliferation, and cell cycle arrest. We present data showing that rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines, independent of lineage (alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma and embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma)...

Diabetic cardiomyopathy is related directly to hyperglycemia. Cell death such as apoptosis plays a critical role in cardiac pathogenesis. Whether hyperglycemia induces myocardial apoptosis, leading to diabetic cardiomyopathy, remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that apoptotic cell death occurs in the diabetic myocardium through mitochondrial cytochrome c-mediated caspase-3 activation path...