The chicken anemia virus protein Apoptin has been shown to induce apoptosis in a large number of transformed and tumor cell lines, but not in primary cells. Whereas many other apoptotic stimuli (e.g., many chemotherapeutic agents and radiation) require functional p53 and are inhibited by Bcl-2, Apoptin acts independently of p53, and its activity is enhanced by Bcl-2. Here we study the involveme...

Apoptin, a small protein derived from the chicken anemia virus, specifically induces apoptosis in transformed cells or tumor cells but not in normal cells. Thus, apoptin is involved in a general, tumor-specific pathway. Apoptin-induced apoptosis presumably requires additional interaction partners that activate specific signaling pathways in cancer cells. A number of molecules interact with apop...

The integration of a targeted delivery with a tumour-selective agent has been considered an ideal platform for achieving high therapeutic efficacy and negligible side effects in cancer therapy. Here, we present engineered protein nanoparticles comprising a tumour-selective oncolytic protein and a targeting moiety as a new format for the targeted cancer therapy. Apoptin from chicken anaemia viru...

Apoptin, a protein derived from chicken anemia virus, has previously been shown to induce apoptosis in a p53-independent and Bcl-2-stimulated manner in transformed and tumorigenic human cells but not in normal diploid human cells, suggesting that it is a potential agent for tumor therapy. Here we report that Apoptin can induce apoptosis in UV-C-irradiated diploid skin fibroblasts from individua...

Majority of chronic myeloid leukemia patients experience an adequate therapeutic effect from imatinib however, 26-37% of patients discontinue imatinib therapy due to a suboptimal response or intolerance. Here we investigated derivatives of apoptin, a chicken anemia viral protein with selective toxicity towards cancer cells, which can be directed towards inhibiting multiple hyperactive kinases i...

Apoptin is a chicken anemia virus-derived, p53-independent, bcl-2-insensitive apoptotic protein with the ability to specifically induce apoptosis in various human tumor cells, but not in normal cells. To explore the use of apoptin in tumor gene therapy, we assessed a recombinant adenovirus expressing the apoptin protein (Ad-hTERTp-E1a-Apoptin) in order to determine its lethal and growth-inhibit...

Apoptin, a small proline-rich protein derived from the chicken anaemia virus, induces cell death selectively in cancer cells. The signalling pathways of apoptin-induced, cancer cell-selective apoptosis are not well understood. Here, we demonstrate that apoptin triggers apoptosis by activating the mitochondrial/intrinsic pathway, and that it acts independently of the death receptor/extrinsic pat...

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether apoptin is a apoptosis-inducing protein with a potential for bladder cancer therapy. METHODS We constructed a PCDNA3/Apoptin eukaryotic expression vector, and transfected this vector into bladder cancer cell lines BIU-87 and EJ, then observed the results by RT-PCR, transmission electron microscopy, MTT assay and the flow cytometry (TUNEL method). RESULTS PCD...

Apoptin, a small protein derived from chicken anemia virus, possesses the capacity to specifically kill tumor cells while leaving normal cells intact. Previous studies have indicated that the subcellular localization of apoptin appears to be crucial for this tumor-selective activity. Apoptin resides in the cytoplasm of normal cells; however, in cancer cells it translocates into the nucleus. In ...

Resistance or insensitivity to radiation therapy is one of the hallmarks of hepatocellular carcinoma. Sensitizing radioresistant cancer by combining radiation with other therapeutics to induce apoptosis has been widely investigated. Our previous study showed that chicken anaemia virus-derived apoptin protein induced the apoptosis of hepatic carcinoma HepG2 cells. In the present study, we demons...