targeting apoptosis signaling in pancreatic cancer针对在胰腺癌细胞凋亡信号.pdfVIP

Cancers 2011, 3, 241-251; doi:10.3390/cancers3010241 OPEN ACCESS cancers ISSN 2072-6694 /journal/cancers Review Targeting Apoptosis Signaling in Pancreatic Cancer Simone Fulda Institute for Experimental Cancer Research in Pediatrics, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Komturstr. 3a, 60528 Frankfurt, Germany; E-Mail: simone.fulda@kgu.de; Tel.: +49 69 Fax: +49 69 6786659157 Received: 24 November 2010; in revised form: 5 January 2011 / Accepted: 6 January 2011 / Published: 11 January 2011 Abstract: The ability to escape apoptosis or programmed cell death is a hallmark of human cancers, for example pancreatic cancer. This can promote tumorigenesis, since too little cell death by apoptosis disturbs tissue homeostasis. Additionally, defective apoptosis signaling is the underlying cause of failure to respond to current treatment approaches, since therapy-mediated antitumor activity requires the intactness of apoptosis signaling pathways in cancer cells. Thus, the elucidation of defects in the regulation of apoptosis in pancreatic carcinoma can result in the identification of novel targets for therapeutic interference and for exploitation for cancer drug discovery. Keywords: apoptosis; pancreatic cancer; TRAIL; IAPs; mitochondria 1. Introduction Tissue homeostasis critically depends on a subtle balance between cell growth and cell death and is typically disturbed in human cancers [1].This implies that a reduced rate of