Current therapies for breast cancer are often limited by short-term efficacy due to the emergence of drug resistance. There has been increased interest in the use of naturally occurring compounds with chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic effects in the treatment of cancers. Saffron, dry stigmas Crocus sativus L., used in Iran as a spice, is known for its anticancer properties. In...

Most developmentally programmed cell death in metazoans is mediated by caspases. During Drosophila metamorphosis, obsolete tissues, including the midgut and salivary glands, are removed by programmed cell death [1]. The initiator caspase Dronc and its activator Ark are required for the death of salivary glands, but not for midgut removal [2, 3]. In addition to caspases, complete removal of sali...

current therapies for breast cancer are often limited by short-term efficacy due to the emergence of drug resistance. there has been increased interest in the use of naturally occurring compounds with chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic effects in the treatment of cancers. saffron, dry stigmas crocus sativus l., used in iran as a spice, is known for its anticancer properties. in this study, th...

The bcl-2 and caspase families are important regulators of programmed cell death in experimental models of ischemic, excitotoxic, and traumatic brain injury. The Bcl-2 family members Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL suppress programmed cell death, whereas Bax promotes programmed cell death. Activated caspase-1 (interleukin-1beta converting enzyme) and caspase-3 (Yama/Apopain/Cpp32) cleave proteins that are imp...

Caspases are essential in animal programmed cell death both as initiator and executioner proteases. Plants do not have close caspase homologues, but several instances of caspase-like proteolytic activity have been demonstrated in connection with programmed cell death in plants. It was asked if caspase-like proteases are involved during development of the barley caryopsis. The presence of a casp...

Programmed cell death involves a complex and interrelated cascade of cysteine proteases termed caspases that are synthesized as inactive zymogens, which are proteolytically processed to active enzymes. Caspase-8 is an initiator caspase that becomes activated when Fas death receptor-Fas ligand (FasL) coupling on the cell surface leads to coalescence of a "death complex" perpetuating the programm...

The term apoptosis often has been used interchangeably with the term programmed cell death. Here we describe a form of programmed cell death that is distinct from apoptosis by the criteria of morphology, biochemistry, and response to apoptosis inhibitors. Morphologically, this alternative form of programmed cell death appears during development and in some cases of neurodegeneration. Despite it...

objective: the anti-cancer properties of curcumin, a poliphenol extract from the rhizome of curry, has been confirmed by many investigators. however, low levels of uptake, tissue distribution and rapid metabolism has limited its application as an anti-cancer drug. this study is aimed at increasing curcumin's water solubility due to a biodegradable, neutral and non-toxic micellar nano-carrier ca...