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Mitochondrial translocation of cofilin-1 promotes apoptosis of gastric cancer BGC-823 cells induced by ursolic acid

Tumor Biology volume 35, pages 2451–2459 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

The pathogenesis of gastric cancer is characterized by excessive proliferation, abnormal differentiation, and reduced apoptosis. Ursolic acid, extracted from traditional Chinese medicine bearberry, inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis in gastric cancer. However, the mechanism of the proapoptotic effect of ursolic acid on gastric cancer cells needs further investigation. In our present study, we found in apoptotic gastric cancer BGC-823 cells induced by ursolic acid that a translocation of cofilin-1 protein from the cytoplasm to the mitochondria promoted the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria to the cytoplasm, thereby activating the caspase cascade and finally inducing gastric cancer cell apoptosis. These results implied that the mitochondrial translocation of cofilin-1 might play a crucial role in the promotion of apoptosis and might be a key target for future treatment of human gastric cancer.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (2012JW67), Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau (20114037), Shanghai Committee of Science and Technology, China (no. 114119b3100), Putuo District Committee of Science and Technology, Shanghai China (no. 201102), and Construct Program of the Key Discipline of State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of People's Republic of China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Laboratories & Experimental Center, Putuo Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200062, China

    Qingfeng Tang & Qing Ji

  2. Department of General Surgery, Putuo Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200062, China

    Qing Ji, Teng Chen, Gang Pan, Songjiao Hu, Yijie Bao & Peihao Yin

  3. Department of Nephrology, Putuo Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200062, China

    Yu Tang & Wen Peng

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  1. Qingfeng Tang
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  2. Qing Ji
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  3. Yu Tang
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  7. Yijie Bao
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  8. Wen Peng
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  9. Peihao Yin
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Correspondence to Wen Peng or Peihao Yin.

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Qing Ji contributed equally to this work.

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Tang, Q., Ji, Q., Tang, Y. et al. Mitochondrial translocation of cofilin-1 promotes apoptosis of gastric cancer BGC-823 cells induced by ursolic acid. Tumor Biol. 35, 2451–2459 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-013-1325-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-013-1325-7

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