뻐ny studìes have shown the anti-proli ferative effects of irondeprivation on cancer cell s‘ but the effects 01' iron-chelators on oral cancer have not been clearly elucidated , To investigate the effects of an iron chelato r, desferrioxamine( 01"O).on the growth of ilIllTIortali zed human o1'al ke ratinocytes(IHOK), primary oraJ cancer cel ls(HN4)‘ metastatic oral cancer cell s(HN12) , and human skin keratìnocytes(HaCaT) in the MTr assay, three-dimensional(3D) raft cul tmes, Western blott ing, cell cycJ e analysis‘ nuclear staining‘ and cytochrome c expression for apoptosis s ig naling pathway were used OFO inhibited the growth of immortalized IHOK and HaCaT and mal ignant HN4 and HN12 keratinocytes in a time- and dose-dependent manner according to the MTT assay, The 3D organotypic cu l tu re also revealed that OF'O-treated cells showed less epithelial maturation, less surface keratinizati on‘ and de creased epithelia l thickness, The major mechanìsm of growth inhìbition with the micromolar 0 1"0 treatment was by the induction of apoptosis‘ which was supported by nuclear OAPI staining, ONA fragmentation analysis, and J10w cytometric analysis for sub-Gl phase ar rest and Annexin V-1"ITC stainìng, Furthermore‘ Bax expression in creased together with p53 and p21WAF1!CIPl, whìle the Bcl-2 expression decreased in the immortalized and malig nant keratinocytes treated with 01"0 , Time-dependent cytochrome c from mitochondria was observed in D1"O-treated [l-IOK and 0 1'머 cancel‘ ceJJ s, and was accompanied by the activation of caspase-3 in IHOK cells. These resu lts demonstrate that 0 1"0 has growth inhibitory effects on immortalized and malignant oral keratinocyLes Lhrough the induction of apoptosis and suggest that further evaluation of OFO as a potcntial thcrapcutic agent for human oral precancerous and cancerous lesions is warranted

Homeostatic pH is very important for various cellular processes, including metabolism, survival, and death. An imbalanced-pH might induce cellular acidosis, which is involved in many abnormal events such as apoptosis and malignancy. One of several factors contributing to the onset of metabolic acidosis is the production of lactate and protons by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in anaerobic glycolysis. LDH is an important enzyme that catalyzes the reversible conversion of pyruvate to lactate. This study sought to examine whether decreases in extracellular pH induce apoptosis of CHO cells, and to elucidate the role of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in acidification-induced apoptosis. To test apoptotic signaling by acidification we used CHO dhfr cells that were sensitive to acidification, and CHO/anti-LDH cells that are resistant to acidification-induced apoptosis and have reduced LDH activity by stable LDH antisense mRNA expression. In the present study, cellular lactic acid-induced acidification and the role of MAPKs signaling in acidification-induced apoptosis were investigated. Acidification, which is caused by -HCO₃⁻ free conditions, induced apoptosis and MAPKs (ERK, JNK, and p38) activation. However, MAPKs were slightly activated in acidic conditions in the CHO/anti-LDH cells, indicating that lactic acid-induced acidification induces activation of MAPKs. Treatment with a p38 inhibitor, PD169316, increased acidification-induced apoptosis but apoptosis was not affected by inhibitors for ERK (U0126) or JNK (SP600125). Thus, these data support the hypothesis that activation of the p38 MAPK during acidification-induced apoptosis contributes to cell survival.

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a well-known inducer of apoptotic cell death in many tumor cells. 1RAIL is expressed in human placenta, and cytotrophoblast cells express 1RAIL receptors. However, the role of TRAIL in human placentas and cytotrophoblast cells is not. well understood. In this study a trophoblast cell line, JEG-3, was used as a model system to examine the effect of TRAIL. on key intracellular signaling pathways involved in the control of trophoblastic cell apoptosis and survival JEG-3 cells expressed receptors for 1RAIL, death receptor (DR) 4, DR5, decoy receptor (OcR) 1 and DeR2. Recombinant human TRAIL (rhTRAIL) did not have a cytotoxic effect determined by MIT assay and did not induce apoptotic cell death determined by poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage assay. rhTRAIL induced a rapid and transient nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-kB(NF-kB) determined by immunoblotting using nuclear protein extracts. rhTRAIL rapidly activated extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) 1/2 as determined by immnoblotting for phospho-ERK1/2. However, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) and Akt (protein kinase B) were not activated by rhTRAIL. The ability of 1RAIL to induce NF-kB and ERK1/2 suggests that interaction between TRAIL and its receptors may play an important role in trophoblast cell function during pregnancy.

Eugenol (4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol) is a phenol derivative and generally used in dental treatment. A few investigator reported that eugen이-induced C)πoto잉city by apopto디c pathway, but it is not yet well understood In the present study, to investigate the eugenol-induced cytoto잉city by apoptosis, we have examined the apoptotic molecules and pathway in primary human gingival fibroblast (HGF) and human salivary gland cells (HSG). To identify apoptotic cell death, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2 ,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction assay with or without N-acetylcysteine (NAC), and the morphological study by propidium iodide (pI) staining were screened. And to investigate the apoptotic pathway, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for apoptotic molecules and caspase aαivity assay were performed. Both M1T reduction assay and an addition of NAC showed that eugenol act as a pro-oxidant led to cell death. With the morphological study, both cells showed apoptotic change by nuclear fragmentation and/or chromatin condensations. With the apoptotic machinery study, the Bax and Bcl-2 mRNA expression were not detected in HGF. But, for HSG, the increased expression of Bax with decreased of Bcl-2 was observed. And the expression of Apaf-l was not detected or nα significantly increased in HGF and HSG, respectively. With measure of caspase activity, there was no change of caspase activities in HGF. But, for HSG, there was decrease of caspase 9 activity and increased caspase 3 activity. We suggest eugenol-treated HGF underwent apoptosis independent of Bcl family and caspase. However, for eugenol-πeated HSG, apoptosis occurred via Bcl famiIy and caspase pathway.