Triptolide induces apoptosis through extrinsic and intrinsic pathways in human osteosarcoma U2OS cells.

Triptolide, a diterpene derived from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook f., a Chinese medicinal herb, has been reported to inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in various human cancer cells, but its anticancer effects on human osteosarcoma cells have not yet been elucidated. In this study, we investigated whether triptolide induces apoptosis in human osteosarcoma cells and the underlying molecular mechanisms. We firstly demonstrated that triptolide inhibited cell growth and induced apoptosis in U2OS cells. Western blot analysis showed that the levels of procaspase-8, -9, Bcl-2, Bid and mitochondrial cytochrome c were downregulated in triptolide-treated U2OS cells, whereas the levels of Fas, FasL, Bax, cytosolic cytochrome c, cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved PARP were upregulated. These results suggest that triptolide induces apoptosis in U2OS cells by activating both death receptor and mitochondrial apoptotic pathways.

Cordycepin induces apoptosis in human neuroblastoma SK-N-BE(2)-C and melanoma SK-MEL-2 cells.

In this study, the effect of cordycepin (3’-deoxyadenosine), a major component of Cordyceps militaris, an ingredient of traditional Chinese medicine was investigated for the first time on apoptotsis in human neuroblastoma SK-N-BE(2)-C and melanoma SK-MEL-2 cells. Cordycepin significantly inhibited the proliferation of human neuroblastoma SK-N-BE(2)-C and human melanoma SK-MEL-2 cells with IC50 values of 120 mM and 80 mM, respectively. Cordycepin treatment at 120 mM and 80 mM, respectively, induced apoptosis in both cells and caused the increase of cell accumulation in a time-dependent manner at the apoptotic sub-G1 phase, as evidenced by the flow cytometry (FCM) and annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) analyses. Western blot analysis revealed the induction of active caspase-3 and poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) cleavage by cordycepin treatment. These results suggest that cordycepin is a potential candidate for cancer therapy of neuroblastoma and melanoma.

Mutational analysis for enzyme activity of mouse Gal1,3GalNAc 2,3-sialyltransferase (mST3Gal I).

To determine which amino acid residues are essential for the catalytic activity of mouse Gal1,3GalNAc 2,3-sialyltransferase (mST3Gal I), chemical modification and site-directed mutagenesis were employed against tryptophan and cysteine residues located in the predicted catalytic domain. This enzyme was strongly inhibited by N-bromosuccinimide, a specific blocking reagent for tryptophan residues, and the enzyme activity was completely lost at 3 mM, suggesting the involvement of tryptophan residues in the catalytic activity of mST3Gal I. The N-ethylmaleimide, an irreversible reagent for sulfhydryl group, significantly inhibited the enzyme activity. Seven tryptophan and six cysteine residues conserved in the cloned Gal1,3GalNAc 2,3-sialyltransferases were separately substituted into phenylalanine and serine, respectively. The enzymatic activity assay for tryptophan mutants produced in COS cells showed a complete abolishment of the activity in all of the mutants, except that W70F and W97F retained about 60% and 40% activities of wild type, respectively. In the case of cysteine mutants, no enzyme activity was observed like tryptophan mutants, except for C139S. These results suggest that tryptophan and cysteine residues conserved in ST3Gal I are critical for its activity.

Molecular cloning, expression and characterization of alpha-amylase gene from a marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. MY-1.

A gene (amyA) encoding an extracellular alpha-amylase from a marine bacterium Pseudoalteromnonas sp. MY-1 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. It comprised an open-reading-frame of 2,007 base pairs and encoded a protein of 669 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 73,770 daltons and a pI of 5.15. The entire amino acid sequence of amyA gene showed 86% similarity to the alpha-amylase preproprotein from Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis. It consisted of a signal peptide, alpha-amylase catalytic domain and an amy C domain. The recombinant amylase was purified to homogeneity and biochemically characterized. The enzyme revealed maximum activity at pH 7.0 and 40 degrees C. The enzyme hydrolyzed soluble starch and some maltooligosaccharides to several oligosaccharides, and maltose was the common product from different substrates.