Killing Breast Cancer Cells through Activation of the Apoptosome

Abstract

Cells die in response to chemotherapeutic agents by activating a mitochondrial cell death pathway. This pathway leads to activation of proteases known as caspases through the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria. Once released, cytochrome c engages a cytoplasmic receptor known as Apaf-1, which oligomerizes and activates caspase 9. We demonstrated that breast cancer cells have apoptosomes which are hypersensitive to cytochrome c. Thus we have proposed to develop cytoplasmic variants of cytochrome c and/or small molecule cytochrome c mimetics to activate the apoptosome in breast cancer cells.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA499570

Entities

People

  • Sally Kornbluth

Organizations

  • Duke University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Apoptosis
  • Apoptosomes
  • Biomedical Research
  • Breast Cancer
  • Cell Physiological Processes
  • Cells
  • Chemotherapeutic Agents
  • Cytochromes
  • Department Of Defense
  • Electronic Mail
  • Fluorescence
  • Information Operations
  • Molecules
  • Neoplasms
  • Small Molecules
  • Therapy

Fields of Study

  • Biology
  • Computer science

Readers

  • Cellular and Molecular Pathways of Apoptosis.
  • Oncology (Cancer Research).