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Enhanced tumor killing by Apo2L/TRAIL and CPT-11 co-treatment is associated with p21 cleavage and differential regulation of Apo2L/TRAIL ligand and its receptors

Abstract

Apo2L/TRAIL exhibits enhanced apoptotic activity in tumor xenograft models when used in combination with the topoisomerase 1 inhibitor CPT-11. To investigate the cellular mechanisms involved in this increased tumor-killing activity, a series of in vitro experiments were conducted using the human colon carcinoma cell line (HCT116). Apo2L/TRAIL induced a transient upregulation of DR5 mRNA, while CPT-11 increased both death and decoy receptor expression. Upregulation of decoy receptors by CPT-11 was partially inhibited by co-administration of Apo2L/TRAIL. CPT-11 treatment resulted in accumulation of cells at G2M-phase and correlated with a substantial increase in the protein levels of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21. However, cells co-treated with CPT-11 and Apo2L/TRAIL, or pretreated with CPT-11 for up to 24 h followed by 2 h Apo2L/TRAIL, resulted in a caspase-dependent degradation of p21, reversal of G2-M phase arrest with a concomitant increase in apoptosis. The sequential treatment produced the greatest induction of DR5 and DR4, caspase-3-like cleavage/activation and p21 degradation, as well as increased apoptosis. These data indicate that the up-regulation of Apo2L/TRAIL ligand and its death receptors as well as cleavage of p21 protein in the Apo2L/TRAIL plus CPT-11 treatment contributes to the positive cooperation between these agents in enhancing tumor cell apoptosis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Avi Ashkenazi for his critical input and suggestions during the course of this investigation. Dr Ralph Schwall for discussion of the data; Robert M Pitti and Scot A Marsters for providing us with DR4 and DR5 plasma constructs; Roger Pai for providing us with Apo2L/TRAIL; and Cindy B Nguyen for editorial assistance. This work was supported in full by Genentech, Inc.

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Xiang, H., Fox, J., Totpal, K. et al. Enhanced tumor killing by Apo2L/TRAIL and CPT-11 co-treatment is associated with p21 cleavage and differential regulation of Apo2L/TRAIL ligand and its receptors. Oncogene 21, 3611–3619 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1205449

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