Essays on Actinomycin

Connective tissue growth factor induces collagen I expression in human lung fibroblasts through the Rac1/MLK3/JNK/AP-1 pathway

Many lung inflammatory diseases present pulmonary fibrosis as one of the symptoms, which is characterized by shortness of breath, chronic coughing and discomfort in the chest. It causes modifications of the lung tissues due to overgrowth, hardening and scarring. This occurs mainly due to deposition of collagen, an extracellular matrix (ECM) protein, whose turnover is regulated by fibroblast. Fibroblast is an important cell regulator that is enlisted by a site of injury. This process is driven by release of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), platelet-derived growth factor, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and IL-8/CXCL8. Previously, fibroblast was thought to express no or very ...

Abstract

Renal cell carcinoma is a devastating disease that oftentimes results in a poor prognosis because there are few effective chemotherapeutic options. The renal carcinoma cell line 769-P is an ideal in vitro model for investigating novel drug treatments for renal cell carcinoma. Two drugs that may potentially reduce renal cell carcinoma proliferation are Actinomycin D and phorbol 12-myristate 13 acetate (PMA). Both of these drugs have been shown to inhibit cell proliferation in other in vitro models of cancer. This study examined the effects of Actinomycin D and PMA treatment on the proliferation of 769-P cells. Cell viability studies indicate that ...