ABSTRACT
NRP-154 is a tumorigenic epithelial cell line derived from the preneoplastic dorsal-lateral prostate of rats. These cells are exquisitely sensitive to TGF-β induced apoptosis. In contrast, we find that NRP-154 cells can sustain overexpression of exogenous Bax protein, which is different from non-tumor cells where Bax functions as a ubiquitous stimulator of apoptosis. NRP-154 cells stably overexpressing Bax show increased sensitivity to TGF-β induced apoptosis. The degree of TGF-β induced apoptosis displays high correlation with cleavage of Bax at the amino-terminus. Our data indicate that prostate cancer cells can host high levels of latent Bax which can be activated through post-translational modification.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Drs. Yufang SHI and Satish DEVADAS for helpful discussion and technical assistance during the course of this study. This work was supported by a grant of the National Institutes of Health (R01-CA95379) to J. MA and a UMDNJ-Foundation Research Grant (P 14-03) to Z. PAN.
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LIN, P., PAN, Z., ZHENG, L. et al. Overexpression of Bax sensitizes prostate cancer cells to TGF-β induced apoptosis. Cell Res 15, 160–166 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.cr.7290281
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.cr.7290281
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