Abstract Background Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are believed to exacerbate symptoms and inflammation in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Recent studies indicate the gut microbiota may play a role NSAID-promoted inflammation. However, mechanism(s) underpinning NSAID-induced not fully understood. In this study, using piroxicam-accelerated model of colitis (PAC) I...

Soybean isoflavone genistein has multiple anticancer properties and its pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative effects have been studied in different cancer cells. However, the mechanisms of action of genistein and its molecular targets on human colon cells have not been fully elucidated. Therefore, caspase-3 and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) as the main therapeutic targets...

The molecular mechanism(s) that regulate apoptosis by caspase inhibition remain poorly understood. The main endogenous inhibitors are members of the IAP family and are exemplified by XIAP, which regulates the initiator caspase-9, and the executioner caspases-3 and -7. We report the crystal structure of the second BIR domain of XIAP (BIR2) in complex with caspase-3, at a resolution of 2.7 A, rev...