Colon Cancer Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Colon Cancer, including details on causes, treatment, symptoms.

Different modulation of TRAIL-induced apoptosis by inhibition of pro-survival pathways in TRAIL-sensitive and TRAIL-resistant colon cancer cells.

Vaculová A, Hofmanová J, Soucek K, Kozubík A

Laboratory of Cytokinetics, Institute of Biophysics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Královopolská 135, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic.

Epithelial cells can be manipulated to undergo apoptosis depending on the balance between pro-survival and apoptotic signals. We showed that TRAIL-induced apoptosis may be differentially regulated by inhibitors of MEK ERK (U0126) or PI3K/Akt (LY294002) pathway in TRAIL-sensitive (HT-29) and TRAIL-resistant (SW620) human epithelial colon cancer cells. U0126 or LY294002 significantly enhanced TRAIL-induced apoptosis in HT-29 cells, but not in SW620 cells. We report a different regulation of the level of an anti-apoptotic Mcl-1 protein under MEK/ERK or PI3K/Akt pathway inhibition and suggest the mechanisms involved. A special attention was paid to the role of the ERK1/2, Akt, and glycogen synthase kinase 3beta.

Published 4 December 2006 in FEBS Lett, 580(28): 6565-9.
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