objective(s):  being secreted by the pineal gland, melatonin induces cell proliferation in normal cells and induced apoptosis in cancer cells. the purpose of this study was to investigate effects of melatonin on main components and the expression of apoptotic genes in vitrified-thawed testicular germ cells of 6- day–old mice.  materials and methods: testes of neonate balb/c mice were vitrified-...

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the highly aggressive malignances in the United States, suggesting that novel treatment strategies are required to achieve better treatment outcome in PC patients [1]. To achieve this goal, elucidation of underlying mechanism of development and progression of PC is necessary [1]. Although the molecular causes of PC are largely elusive, many studies have demonstr...

In this study we used adenovirus vector-mediated transduction of either the p53 gene (rAd-p53) or the p21(WAF1/CIP1) gene (rAd-p21) to mimic both p53-dependent and -independent up-regulation of p21(WAF1/CIP1) within a human ovarian cancer cell line, 2774, and the derivative cell lines, 2774qw1 and 2774qw2. We observed that rAd-p53 can induce apoptosis in both 2774 and 2774qw1 cells but not in 2...

How do regulatory switches achieve high sensitivity within the noisy cellular milieu? Loewer et al. (2010) now use single-cell microscopy to demonstrate that alternative posttranslational modifications allow the tumor suppressor p53 to differentiate between benign breaks in DNA during the cell cycle and deleterious damage caused by mutagens.

Nikolaev et al. (this issue of Cell) report the identification of a parkin-like protein, Parc, and its role in anchoring the tumor suppressor protein p53 in the cytoplasm reveals yet another level of control of p53 function. Regulation of the subcellular localization of p53 by Parc may serve as a novel target in treatment of certain types of tumors.

Reactivating the p53 pathway in tumors is an important strategy for anticancer therapy. In response to diverse cellular stresses, the tumor suppressor p53 mediates apoptosis in a transcription-independent and transcription-dependent manner. Although extensive studies have focused on the transcription-dependent apoptotic pathway of p53, the transcription-independent apoptotic pathway of p53 has ...

Objective: Phenolic compounds have been considered inhibitors of various cancers. Material and Methods: In this study, caffeic acid and gallic acid were appraised for their possible effects on apoptotic genes expression in a breast cancer cell line in vitro. We also evaluated ligand interaction and ligand binding with estrogen receptor alpha by m...