• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.11
• /
• pp.4589-4592
• /
• 2015

Background: Missense and frame-shift mutations within the dimer forming domain of the caspase 8 gene have been identified in several cancers. However, the genetic status of this region in precancerous lesions, like oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF), and well differentiated oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) in patients from southern region of India is not known, and hence the present study was designed to address this issue. Materials and Methods: Genomic DNA isolated from biopsy tissues of thirty one oral submucous fibrosis and twenty five OSCC samples were subjected to PCR amplification with intronic primers flanking exon 7 of the caspase 8 gene. The PCR amplicons were subsequently subjected to direct sequencing to elucidate the status of mutation. Results: Sequence analysis identified a frame-shift and a novel missense mutation in two out of twenty five OSCC samples. The frame-shift mutation was due to a two base pair deletion (c.1225_1226delTG), while the missense mutation was due to substitution of wild type cysteine residue with phenylalanine at codon 426 (C426F). The missense mutation, however, was found to be heterozygous as the wild type C426C codon was also present. None of the OSMF samples carried mutations. Conclusions: The identification of mutations in OSCC lesions but not OSMF suggests that dimer forming domain mutations in caspase 8 may be limited to malignant lesions. The absence of mutations in OSMF also suggests that the samples analyzed in the present study may not have acquired transforming potential. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study to have explored and identified frame-shift and novel missense mutations in OSCC tissue samples.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.15
• /
• pp.6753-6759
• /
• 2015

Background: Loss of function of the p53 gene is implicated in defective apoptotic responses of tumors to chemotherapy. Although the pro-apoptotic roles of eugenol and capsaicin have been amply reported, their dependence on p53 for apoptosis induction in gastric cancer cells is not well elucidated. The aim of the study was to elucidate the role of p53 in the induction of apoptosis by eugenol and capsaicin in a human gastric cancer cell line, AGS. Materials and Methods: AGS cells were incubated with or without various concentrations of capsaicin and eugenol for 12 hrs, in the presence and absence of p53 siRNA. Cell cycling, annexin V and expression of apoptosis related proteins Bax, Bcl-2 ratio, p21, cyt c-caspase-9 association, caspase-3 and caspase-8 were studied. Results: In the presence of p53, capsaicin was a more potent pro-apoptotic agent than eugenol. However, silencing of p53 significantly abrogated apoptosis induced by capsaicin but not that by eugenol. Western blot analysis of pro-apoptotic markers revealed that as opposed to capsaicin, eugenol could induce caspase-8 and caspase-3 even in the absence of p53. Conclusions: Unlike capsaicin, eugenol could induce apoptosis both in presence and absence of functional p53. Agents which can induce apoptosis irrespective of the cellular p53 status have immense scope for development as potential anticancer agents.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
• /
• 2002.10a
• /
• pp.319.1-319.1
• /
• 2002

Yomogin. an eudesmane sesquiterpene isolated from Artemisia princeps, was found to induce apoptosis in human promyelocytic leukaemia, HL -60 cell with characteristic apoptotic features like nuclear condensation, apoptotic body formation, flipping of membrane phosphatidylserine, release of mitochondrial cytochrome c and caspase-8. -9. and -3 activation. Furthermore. early yomogin-induced cytochrome c release was not affected by the caspase inhibitor Z-VAd fmk and preceded loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. The results suggest that induction of apoptosis by yomogin may provide a pivotal mechanism for their cancer chemopreventive function.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.47 no.4
• /
• pp.342-347
• /
• 2011

T cells play a key role in viral infection. However, in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, HCV-specific T cells are dysfunctional and impaired in the liver, which is the primary site for HCV replication. There are multiple potential mechanisms for HCV-specific T cell dysfunction including induction of immune inhibitory pathways (program death-1; PD-1, cytotoxic t lymphocyte associated antigen-4; CTLA-4) and immune tolerance induced specific for the liver. However, the interaction between hepatocytes and HCV-specific CD8 T cells has not clearly established. In this study, we confirmed huh (human hepatoma) 7.5 cells expressing HLA (human leukocyte antigen) A2 presented antigen to activate HCV-specific CD8 T cells in HLA A2-restricted manner and expression of PD-L (program death ligand) 1 on huh7.5 cells reduced HCV-specific CD8 T cell activation, suggesting an immune modulatory activity. Loss of HCV-specific tetramer responses following antigenic stimulation correlated with increased caspase-3 activity. In addition, PD-L1 on huh7.5 cells rescued HCV-specific CD8 T cells from apoptosis. Our results suggest that the interaction between PD-L1 and PD-1 can recover the function of HCV-specific CD8 T cells in the liver, which could be applied in therapy of HCV chronic infection.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.219-226
• /
• 2023

Furanocoumarin 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) is the parent compound that naturally occurs in traditional medicinal plants used historically. 8-MOP has been employed as a photochemotherapeutic component of Psoralen + Ultraviolet A (PUVA) therapy for the treatment of vitiligo and psoriasis. Although the role of 8-MOP in PUVA therapy has been studied, little is known about the effects of 8-MOP alone on human gastric cancer cells. In this study, we observed anti-proliferative effect of 8-MOP in several human cancer cell lines. Among these, the human gastric cancer cell line SNU1 is the most sensitive to 8-MOP. 8-MOP treated SNU1 cells showed G1-arrest by upregulating p53 and apoptosis by activating caspase-3 in a dose-dependent manner, which was confirmed by loss-of-function analysis through the knockdown of p53-siRNA and inhibition of apoptosis by Z-VAD-FMK. Moreover, 8-MOP-induced apoptosis is not associated with autophagy or necrosis. The signaling pathway responsible for the effect of 8-MOP on SNU1 cells was confirmed to be related to phosphorylated PI3K, ERK2, and STAT3. In contrast, 8-MOP treatment decreased the expression of the typical metastasis-related proteins MMP-2, MMP-9, and Snail in a p53-independent manner. In accordance with the serendipitous findings, treatment with 8-MOP decreased the wound healing, migration, and invasion ability of cells in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, combination treatment with 8-MOP and gemcitabine was effective at the lowest concentrations. Overall, our findings indicate that oral 8-MOP has the potential to treat early human gastric cancer, with fewer side effects.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.531-536
• /
• 2007

The aerial part of Artemisia iwayomogi Kitamura has traditionally been used for inflammation, infectious disease, cancer, pyretic, diuretic, liver protective effect, and choleretic purposes in Korea. We investigated that the essential oil induces apoptosis in KB cell as evidenced by Hoechst-33258 dye staining, flow cytometry (cell cycles), and DNA fragmentation for nuclear condensation and Western blotting for activation of caspases-3, -8, -9, Bax, Bcl-2, cytochrome c, and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage. In the present study, we found that the essential oil could induce apoptosis in KB cells, as characterized by DNA fragmentation, activation of caspase-3, -8, and -9, and PARP cleavage. The efficacious induction of apoptosis was observed as a dose-dependent. The essential oil-induced apoptotic cell death was accompanied by up-regulation of Bax and down-regulation of Bcl-2. The essential oil also caused the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and cytochrome c release from mitochondria to cytosol. These findings indicate that mitochondrial pathways might be involved in the essential oil-induced apoptosis and enhance our understanding of the anticancer function of the essential oil in herbal medicine.