Paclitaxel is an antimicrotubule agent that induces mitotic block and apoptosis. We show for the first time that paclitaxel acts directly or mitochondria isolated from human cancer cells. In isolated yeast mito chondria, paclitaxel (15 microM) induced an 18% increase in the respiration rate, with no concomitant release of cytochrome c. In isolated neuroblas toma mitochondria, paclitaxel (10-100...

Bax is a Bcl-2-family protein with pro-apoptotic activity that can form channels in lipid membranes. The protein has been shown to trigger cytochrome c release from mitochondria both in vitro and in vivo. Recombinant human Bax isolated in the presence of detergent was found to be present as an oligomer with an apparent molecular mass of approx. 160000 Da on gel filtration. When Bax was isolated...

Bax is a pro-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 protein family that resides in the outer mitochondrial membrane. It is controversial whether Bax promotes cell death directly through its putative function as a channel protein versus indirectly by inhibiting cellular regulators of the cell death proteases (caspases). We show here that addition of submicromolar amounts of recombinant Bax protein to iso...

purpose : to investigate the effects of mtp-131 on trabeculum cells cultured under hydrostatic pressure methods : glaucomatous human trabecular meshwork (gtm3) cells were divided into three groups: the mtp-131 group, the hydrostatic group, and the normal group. the mtp-131 group was pretreated with 1 µm mtp-131, and the cells were then cultured under 80 mmhg pressure for 24 hours. the normal gr...

multiple sclerosis (ms) is a neurodegenerative and autoimmune disease that it’s molecular etiology and factors involving in its progression remains unknown. in this study for evaluation effect of mercuric on progression of ms we investigated the additive effect of mercuric sulfide on the brain mitochondrial dysfunction in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (eae) model of ms in c57bl/6 mi...

Cigarette smoking is the major risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a syndrome characterized by pulmonary neutrophil infiltration, chronic inflammation, and progressive tissue destruction. We examined here the acute effect of aqueous cigarette smoke extract (CSE) and of two alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes (acrolein and crotonaldehyde) contained in CSE in cultured norma...

BACKGROUND It is generally acknowledged that e-cigarettes are unlikely to be as harmful as conventional cigarettes, but there is little data that quantifies their relative harms. We investigated the biological response to e-cigarette aerosol exposure (versus conventional cigarette smoke exposure) at the cellular level, by exposing human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC) to aqueous filte...

Vitamin E (VE) can effectively prevent occurrence of lung cancer caused by passive smoking in mice. However, whether VE prevents smoking-induced cytotoxicity remains unclear. In this study, a primary culture of embryonic lung cells (ELCs) was used to observe the cytotoxic effects of cigarette smoke extract (CSE), including its influence on cell survival, cell cycle, apoptosis, and DNA damage, a...

Cigarette smoke-induced apoptosis of vascular endothelial cells contributes to the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, the mechanisms responsible for endothelial apoptosis remain poorly understood. We conducted an in vitro study to investigate whether DNA methylation is involved in smoking-induced endothelial apoptosis. Human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUV...