
Abstract
Some antitumor agents, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and camptothecin (CPT), often cause resistance of tumor cells to antitumor agents through activation of the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway that leads to up-regulation of anti-apoptotic proteins. Therefore, co-treatment of an inhibitor of the NF-κB pathway with antitumor agents is a useful strategy for chemotherapy. Here we report that ent-11α-hydroxy-16-kauren-15-one (KD) selectively inhibits NF-κB-dependent gene expression due to treatment with TNF-α. KD in combination with TNF-α caused a dramatic increase in apoptosis in human leukemia cells accompanied by activation of caspases. A broad-spectrum inhibitor of caspases decreased the apoptosis induced by treatment with KD and TNF-α. KD in combination with CPT also caused an increase in apoptosis. These results suggest that the apoptotic potency of co-treatment of KD with TNF-α or CPT is elicited through selective inhibition of NF-κB-dependent anti-apoptotic proteins and thus may provide a basis for the development of useful approaches to the treatment of leukemia.
Abbreviations
NF-κB:nuclear factor-κB
KD:ent-11α-hydroxy-16-kauren-15-one
PARP:poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase
TNF-α:tumor necrosis factor-α
CPT:camptothecin
IAPs:inhibitor of apoptosis proteins
Key words
Kaurene diterpenes - NF-κB - TNF-α - CPT - Apoptosis - caspase
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Dr. Masuo Kondoh
Department of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics
Showa Pharmaceutical University
Machida
Tokyo 194-8543
Japan
Phone: +81-42-721-1556
Fax: +81-42-721-3585
Email: masuo@ac.shoyaku.ac.jp