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Direct Procaspase‐3 Activation as a Personalized Anti‐Cancer Strategy
Author(s) -
Hergenrother Paul Joseph
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a38-c
Subject(s) - apoptosis , cancer , cancer cell , cancer research , caspase , cytotoxicity , small molecule , cell growth , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , programmed cell death , biology , medicine , biochemistry , in vitro
The backbone of modern anti‐cancer regimens is the administration of general cytotoxins that arrest the growth of all rapidly dividing cell types. More preferable would be the development of strategies in which apoptosis is directly and selectively activated in cancer cells. This lecture will concern the identification of Procaspase Activating Compounds (PACs), small molecules that induce the auto‐activation of procaspase‐3 to caspase‐3. These compounds are powerfully pro‐apoptotic in cell culture and severely retard tumor growth in several mouse models of cancer. As procaspase‐3 levels are elevated in many cancers, direct procaspase‐3 activation has potential as a targeted anti‐cancer strategy.