scholarly journals Non-Apoptotic Cell Death Signaling Pathways in Melanoma

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 2980 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariusz L. Hartman

Resisting cell death is a hallmark of cancer. Disturbances in the execution of cell death programs promote carcinogenesis and survival of cancer cells under unfavorable conditions, including exposition to anti-cancer therapies. Specific modalities of regulated cell death (RCD) have been classified based on different criteria, including morphological features, biochemical alterations and immunological consequences. Although melanoma cells are broadly equipped with the anti-apoptotic machinery and recurrent genetic alterations in the components of the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK signaling markedly contribute to the pro-survival phenotype of melanoma, the roles of autophagy-dependent cell death, necroptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, and parthanatos have recently gained great interest. These signaling cascades are involved in melanoma cell response and resistance to the therapeutics used in the clinic, including inhibitors of BRAFmut and MEK1/2, and immunotherapy. In addition, the relationships between sensitivity to non-apoptotic cell death routes and specific cell phenotypes have been demonstrated, suggesting that plasticity of melanoma cells can be exploited to modulate response of these cells to different cell death stimuli. In this review, the current knowledge on the non-apoptotic cell death signaling pathways in melanoma cell biology and response to anti-cancer drugs has been discussed.

Author(s):  
Bazhena Bahatyrevich-Kharitonik ◽  
Rafael Medina-Guzman ◽  
Alicia Flores-Cortes ◽  
Marta García-Cruzado ◽  
Edel Kavanagh ◽  
...  

Cell death related (CDR) proteins are a diverse group of proteins whose original function was ascribed to apoptotic cell death signaling. Recently, descriptions of non-apoptotic functions for CDR proteins have increased. In this minireview, we comment on recent studies of CDR proteins outside the field of apoptosis in the CNS, encompassing areas such as the inflammasome and non-apoptotic cell death, cytoskeleton reorganization, synaptic plasticity, mitophagy, neurodegeneration and calcium signaling among others. Furthermore, we discuss the evolution of proteomic techniques used to predict caspase substrates that could potentially explain their non-apoptotic roles. Finally, we address new concepts in the field of non-apoptotic functions of CDR proteins that require further research such the effect of sexual dimorphism on non-apoptotic CDR protein function and the emergence of zymogen-specific caspase functions.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshinori Ozaki ◽  
Akira Nakagawara ◽  
Hiroki Nagase

A proper DNA damage response (DDR), which monitors and maintains the genomic integrity, has been considered to be a critical barrier against genetic alterations to prevent tumor initiation and progression. The representative tumor suppressor p53 plays an important role in the regulation of DNA damage response. When cells receive DNA damage, p53 is quickly activated and induces cell cycle arrest and/or apoptotic cell death through transactivating its target genes implicated in the promotion of cell cycle arrest and/or apoptotic cell death such asp21WAF1,BAX, andPUMA. Accumulating evidence strongly suggests that DNA damage-mediated activation as well as induction of p53 is regulated by posttranslational modifications and also by protein-protein interaction. Loss of p53 activity confers growth advantage and ensures survival in cancer cells by inhibiting apoptotic response required for tumor suppression. RUNX family, which is composed of RUNX1, RUNX2, and RUNX3, is a sequence-specific transcription factor and is closely involved in a variety of cellular processes including development, differentiation, and/or tumorigenesis. In this review, we describe a background of p53 and a functional collaboration between p53 and RUNX family in response to DNA damage.


1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1036-1037
Author(s):  
M. C. Willingham

Several clinically important anti-cancer agents exert their effects on tumor cells through interference with the function of microtubules. In addition to the Vinca alkaloids, such as vinblastine and vincristine, the taxanes, such as paclitaxel (Trade Name: Taxol), kill tumor cells through a microtubular target. Treatment with taxol leads to the inability of microtubules to depolymerize, leading to the formation of large intracellular microtubular bundles. In tumor cells that progress through the cell cycle, this leads to the inability of these cells to disassembly interphase microtubule networks and a failure to form functional mitotic spindles. These cells arrest in M phase, from which they eventually progress, either by the induction of apoptotic cell death, or by micronucleation and the formation of tetraploid cells. There is also the possibility that taxol has other effects on the regulation of genes or other systems to enhance cell killing, perhaps through lowering the threshold of cells to the induction of apoptotic cell death.


2009 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soraya Smaili ◽  
Hanako Hirata ◽  
Rodrigo Ureshino ◽  
Priscila T. Monteforte ◽  
Ana P. Morales ◽  
...  

Transient increase in cytosolic (Cac2+) and mitochondrial Ca2+ (Ca m2+) are essential elements in the control of many physiological processes. However, sustained increases in Ca c2+ and Ca m2+ may contribute to oxidative stress and cell death. Several events are related to the increase in Ca m2+, including regulation and activation of a number of Ca2+ dependent enzymes, such as phospholipases, proteases and nucleases. Mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) play pivotal roles in the maintenance of intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis and regulation of cell death. Several lines of evidence have shown that, in the presence of some apoptotic stimuli, the activation of mitochondrial processes maylead to the release of cytochrome c followed by the activation of caspases, nuclear fragmentation and apoptotic cell death. The aim of this review was to show how changes in calcium signaling can be related to the apoptotic cell death induction. Calcium homeostasis was also shown to be an important mechanism involved in neurodegenerative and aging processes.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshinori Ozaki ◽  
Akira Nakagawara

p53 is one of the most studied tumor suppressors in the cancer research field. Of note, over 50% of human tumors carry loss of function mutations, and thus p53 has been considered to be a classical Knudson-type tumor suppressor. From the functional point of view, p53 is a nuclear transcription factor to transactivate a variety of its target genes implicated in the induction of cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, and apoptotic cell death. In response to cellular stresses such as DNA damage, p53 is activated and promotes cell cycle arrest followed by the replacement of DNA lesions and/or apoptotic cell death. Therefore, p53 is able to maintain the genomic integrity to prevent the accumulation of genetic alterations, and thus stands at a crossroad between cell survival and cell death. In this paper, we describe a variety of molecular mechanisms behind the regulation of p53.


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