Apoptosis contributes, with necrosis, to the cardiac cell loss after ischemia/reperfusion injury. The apoptotic cascade is initiated either by mitochondrial damage and activation of caspase-9 or by death receptor ligation and activation of caspase-8. In the present study, performed in the isolated rat heart exposed either to ischemia alone or ischemia followed by reperfusion, cleavage of caspas...

Olomoucine and Roscovitine are pharmacological inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) displaying a promising profile as anticancer agents. Both compounds are effective inductors of apoptosis in a human neuroblastoma cell line, SH-SY5Y. The characterization of this process had suggested the involvement of an extrinsic pathway [Ribas, J., Boix, J., 2004. Cell differentiation, Caspase inhibi...

BACKGROUND Human periodontal ligament (PDL) cells underwent apoptosis after mechanical stretch loading. However, the exact signalling pathway remains unknown. This study aimed to elucidate how the apoptotic caspases functioned in the cyclic stretch-induced apoptosis in human PDL cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS In the present study, 20% cyclic stretch was selected to load the cells for 6 or 24 h....

Programmed cell death involves a complex and interrelated cascade of cysteine proteases termed caspases that are synthesized as inactive zymogens, which are proteolytically processed to active enzymes. Caspase-8 is an initiator caspase that becomes activated when Fas death receptor-Fas ligand (FasL) coupling on the cell surface leads to coalescence of a "death complex" perpetuating the programm...

Objective(s): The useful and effective role of exercise program to prevent cardiac tissue apoptosis and fibrosis in ovariectomized type 2 diabetic (T2DM) rats (OVR.D) is well known. The current study aimed to investigate the simultaneous effects of T2DM and swimming plan on the expression of some apoptotic, anti-apoptotic biomarkers and glycogen changes in the cardiac ...

Epidemiological studies have evidenced that natural dietary products can prevent or manage gastric cancer. Neptunia oleracea, an aquatic vegetable and edible plant, has been reported to anti-cancer properties. In this study, N. oleracea extract’s suppression of cancer cells was investigated on in vitro experimental model. We found ethyl acetate (EtOAc) extract inhibited cell proliferation at IC...

In septic patients, the onset of septic shock occurs due to the over-activation of monocytes. We tested the therapeutic potential of directly targeting innate immune cell activation to limit the cytokine storm and downstream phases. We initially investigated whether caspase-8 could be an appropriate target given it has recently been shown to be involved in microglial activation. We found that L...

Legionella pneumophila is a Gram-negative, flagellated bacterium that survives in phagocytes and causes Legionnaires' disease. Upon infection of mammalian macrophages, cytosolic flagellin triggers the activation of Naip/NLRC4 inflammasome, which culminates in pyroptosis and restriction of bacterial replication. Although NLRC4 and caspase-1 participate in the same inflammasome, Nlrc4-/- mice and...

Background: In this study, the protective effect of thymoquinone (TQ) and Nigella sativa seeds oil (NSO) was evaluated against oxidative damages induced by ethanol in rats. Methods: Animals were treated with ethanol 40% daily by gavages once a day for 4 weeks. NSO and TQ were injected intraperitoneal once a day for 4 weeks. The histopathological examination of liver, kidney, brain and heart was...