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Resveratrol has been reported to possess therapeutic effects for various cancers including colon cancers. In this article, the molecular basis of resveratrol with emphasis on its ability to control intracellular signaling cascades of adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) responsible for inducing apoptosis in drug-resistant cancer cells was investigated. Recently, the evolutionarily conserved serine/threonine kinase, AMPK, emerges as a possible target molecule of cancer control. We have investigated the effects of resveratrol on apoptosis in relation to AMPK in HT-29 cells shown chemoresistant to a cancer chemotherapeutic drug, etoposide. Resveratrol exhibited a variety of molecular events in etoposide-based combination therapy in HT-29 colon cancer cells including the AMPK activation, inhibition of cell growth, induction of apoptosis, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. The involvement of AMPK signaling cascade in resveratrol-based cancer therapy was clearly shown by comparing the conditions of AMPK activated states and inactivated states. We have identified ROS as an upstream regulator of AMPK. Further investigation warrants to elucidate the mechanism by which resveratrol generates ROS and AMPK activation.

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Resveratrol, one of polyphenols derived from red wine, has been shown to protect against cell death, possibly through the association with several signaling pathways. Currently numerous studies indicate that cardiovascular diseases are linked to the release of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) often generated in states such as ischemia/reperfusion injury. In the present study, we investigated whether resveratrol has the capability to control intracellular survival signaling cascades involving AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) in the inhibitory process of cardiac injury. We hypothesized that resveratrol may exert a protective effect on damage to heart muscle through modulating of the AMPK signaling pathway. We mimicked ischemic conditions by inducing cell death with H 2 O 2 in H9c2 muscle cells. In this experiment, resveratrol induced strong activation of AMPK and inhibited the occurrence of cell death caused by treatment with H 2 O 2 . Under the same conditions, inhibition of AMPK using dominant negative AMPK constructs dramatically abolished the effect of resveratrol on cell survival in H 2 O 2 -treated cardiac muscle cells. These results indicate that resveratrol-induced cell survival is mediated by AMPK in H9c2 cells and may exert a novel therapeutic effect on oxidative stress induced in cardiac disorders.

Epidemiologic and experimental evidences indicate that selenium, an essential trace element, can reduce the risk of a variety of cancers. Protection against certain types of cancers, particularly colorectal cancers, is closely associated with pathways involving cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). We found that AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which functions as a cellular energy sensor, mediates critical anticancer effects of selenium via a COX-2/prostaglandin E 2 signaling pathway. Selenium activated AMPK in tumor xenografts as well as in colon cancer cell lines, and this activation seemed to be essential to the decrease in COX-2 expressions. Transduction with dominant-negative AMPK into colon cancer cells or application of cox-2 À/À -negative cells supported the evidence that AMPK is an upstream signal of COX-2 and inhibits cell proliferation. In HT-29 colon cancer cells, carcinogenic agent 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) that led to COX-2 expression and selenium blocked the TPA-induced ERK and COX-2 activation via AMPK. We also showed the role of a reactive oxygen species as an AMPK activation signal in selenium-treated cells. We propose that AMPK is a novel and critical regulatory component in selenium-induced cancer cell death, further implying AMPK as a prime target of tumorigenesis.

Adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is activated during ATP-depleting metabolic states, such as hypoxia, heat shock, oxidative stress, and exercise. As a highly conserved heterotrimeric kinase that functions as a major metabolic switch to maintain energy homeostasis, AMPK has been shown to exert as an intrinsic regulator of mammalian cell cycle. Moreover, AMPK cascade has emerged as an important pathway implicated in cancer control. In this article, we have investigated the effects of capsaicin on apoptosis in relation to AMPK activation in colon cancer cell. Capsaicin-induced apoptosis was revealed by the presence of nucleobodies in the capsaicin-treated HT-29 colon cancer cells. Concomitantly, the activation of AMPK and the increased expression of the inactive form of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) were detected in capsaicin-treated colon cancer cells. We showed that both capsaicin and 5'-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-beta-D-ribonucleoside (AICAR), an AMPK activator possess the AMPK-activating capacity as well as apoptosis-inducing properties. Evidence of the association between AMPK activation and the increased apoptosis in HT-29 colon cancer cells by capsaicin treatment, and further findings of the correlation of the activated AMPK and the elevated apoptosis by cotreatment of AICAR and capsaicin support AMPK as an important component of apoptosis, as well as a possible target of cancer control.