PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Grace Choy

Publications and source records attributed to Grace Choy.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Prostate cancer stem/progenitor cells: identification, characterization, and implications.

Several solid tumors have now been shown to contain stem cell-like cells called cancer stem cells (CSC). These cells, although generally rare, appear to be highly tumorigenic and may be the cells that drive tumor formation, maintain tumor homeostasis, and mediate tumor metastasis. In this Perspective, we first provide our insight on how a CSC should be defined. We then summarize our current knowledge of stem/progenitor cells in the normal human prostate (NHP), an organ highly susceptible to hyperproliferative diseases such as benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer (PCa). We further review the evidence that cultured PCa cells, xenograft prostate tumors, and patient tumors may contain stem/progenitor cells. Along with our discussion, we present several methodologies that can be potentially used to identify putative tumor-reinitiating CSC. Finally, we present a hypothetical model for the hierarchical organization of human PCa cells and discuss the implications of this model in helping understand prostate carcinogenesis and design novel diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic approaches.

Cell Differentiation↗
PubMed2005

Bax-dependent regulation of Bak by voltage-dependent anion channel 2.

Many studies have demonstrated a critical role of Bax in mediating apoptosis, but the role of Bak in regulating cancer cell apoptotic sensitivities in the presence or absence of Bax remains incompletely understood. Using isogenic cells with defined genetic deficiencies, here we show that in response to intrinsic, extrinsic, and endoplasmic reticulum stress stimuli, HCT116 cells show clear-cut apoptotic sensitivities in the order of Bax+/Bak+ > Bax+/Bak- >> Bax-/Bak+ >> Bax-/Bak-. Small interference RNA-mediated knockdown of Bak in Bax-deficient cells renders HCT116 cells completely resistant to apoptosis induction. Surprisingly, however, Bak knockdown in Bax-expressing cells only slightly affects the apoptotic sensitivities. Bak, like Bax, undergoes the N terminus exposure upon apoptotic stimulation in both Bax-expressing and Bax-deficient cells. Gel filtration, chemical cross-linking, and co-immunoprecipitation experiments reveal that different from Bax, which normally exists as monomers in unstimulated cells and is oligomerized by apoptotic stimulation, most Bak in unstimulated HCT116 cells exists in two distinct protein complexes, one of which contains voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) 2. During apoptosis, Bak and Bax form both homo- and hetero-oligomeric complexes that still retain some VDAC-2. However, the oligomeric VDAC-2 complexes are diminished, and Bak does not interact with VDAC-2 in Bax-deficient HCT116 cells. These results highlight VDAC-2 as a critical inhibitor of Bak-mediated apoptotic responses.

Apoptosis↗
PubMed2004

Association of active caspase 8 with the mitochondrial membrane during apoptosis: potential roles in cleaving BAP31 and caspase 3 and mediating mitochondrion-endoplasmic reticulum cross talk in etoposide-induced cell death.

It was recently demonstrated that during apoptosis, active caspase 9 and caspase 3 rapidly accumulate in the mitochondrion-enriched membrane fraction (D. Chandra and D. G. Tang, J. Biol. Chem.278:17408-17420, 2003). We now show that active caspase 8 also becomes associated with the membranes in apoptosis caused by multiple stimuli. In MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells treated with etoposide (VP16), active caspase 8 is detected only in the membrane fraction, which contains both mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (ER), as revealed by fractionation studies. Immunofluorescence microscopy, however, shows that procaspase 8 and active caspase 8 predominantly colocalize with the mitochondria. Biochemical analysis demonstrates that both procaspase 8 and active caspase 8 are localized mainly on the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) as integral proteins. Functional analyses with dominant-negative mutants, small interfering RNAs, peptide inhibitors, and Fas-associated death domain (FADD)- and caspase 8-deficient Jurkat T cells establish that the mitochondrion-localized active caspase 8 results mainly from the FADD-dependent and tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated death domain-dependent mechanisms and that caspase 8 activation plays a causal role in VP16-induced caspase 3 activation and cell death. Finally, we present evidence that the OMM-localized active caspase 8 can activate cytosolic caspase 3 and ER-localized BAP31. Cleavage of BAP31 leads to the generation of ER- localized, proapoptotic BAP20, which may mediate mitochondrion-ER cross talk through a Ca(2+)-dependent mechanism.

Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic↗