We report here that anticancer drugs such as doxorubicin lead to induction of the CD95 (APO-1/Fas) system of apoptosis and the cellular stress pathway which includes JNK/SAPKs. Ceramide, which accumulates in response to different types of cellular stress such as chemo- and radiotherapy, strongly induced expression of CD95-L, cleavage of caspases and apoptosis. Antisense CD95-L as well as domina...

Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal toxic that can cause health problems including lung injury. This study was set out to meet the growing demand for effective treatment of diseases and explore mechanism caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE, natural phenolic acid) protect against Cd-caused damage. In this study, CAPE significantly increased mice body weight, decreased W/D ratio, alleviated histomorphol...

BACKGROUND Oxidative stress is an important inducer of cell apoptosis and plays a key role in the development of renal inflammation. The prostate apoptosis response factor-4 (Par-4) gene was originally identified in prostate cells undergoing apoptosis. Subsequently, Par-4 was found to possess potent pro-apoptotic activity in various cellular systems. However, it remains unclear whether Par-4 is...

Apoptosis via endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been reported in many cell lines. ER stress plays an important role in many liver diseases and caspase-12 is the central player in ER stress-induced apoptosis. We conducted an investigation to determine whether catalytic cleavage of caspase-12 mRNA by hammerhead ribozymes can protect liver cells from apoptosis induced by ER stress. Thapsigargi...

Earlier work showed that apoptosis of alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) in response to endogenous or xenobiotic factors is regulated by autocrine generation of angiotensin (ANG) II and its counterregulatory peptide ANG1-7. Mutations in surfactant protein C (SP-C) induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and apoptosis in AECs and cause lung fibrosis. This study tested the hypothesis that ER stres...

BACKGROUND Induction of apoptosis by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is implicated as the major factor in the development of multiple diseases. ER stress also appears to be a potentially useful major response to many chemotherapeutic drugs and environmental chemical compounds. A previous study has indicated that one major apoptotic regulator, p53, is significantly increased in response to ER ...

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated cell apoptosis has been implicated in various cell types, including fibroblasts. Previous studies have shown that mitomycin C (MMC)-induced apoptosis occurs in fibroblasts, but the effects of MMC on ER stress-mediated apoptosis in fibroblasts have not been examined. Here, MMC-induced apoptosis in human primary fibroblasts was investigated by exposing c...

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) impair the physiological functions of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells by inducing cell apoptosis, which is the main cause of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The mechanism by which UV/ROS induces RPE cell death is not fully addressed. Here, we observed the activation of a ceramide-endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-AMP ac...

Licochalcone A (LCA), a licorice chalconoid, is considered to be a bioactive agent with chemopreventive potential. This study investigated the mechanisms involved in LCA-induced apoptosis in human bladder cancer T24 cells. LCA significantly inhibited cells proliferation, increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and caused T24 cells apoptosis. Moreover, LCA induced mitochondrial dysfuncti...

Ochratoxin A (OTA) contaminated food increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in glomerulus and causes glomerulopathy. The molecular mechanisms still remain uncertain. In this study, we used mouse and rat glomerular mesangial cells and delineate the signaling pathway behind the OTA-triggered cell apoptosis. OTA dose-dependently induced expression of ER stress markers including phospho...