Factors that Affect the Type of Cell Death Induced by Chemicals

Hiroshi Sakagami, Masami Kawase, Hidetsugu Wakabayashi and Teruo Kurihara

volume 3 | issue 5

September/October 2007
Pages: 493 - 495

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Surveying about 1000 compounds, we found that several low molecular weight α,β-unsaturated ketones induced non-apoptotic cell death characterized by the formation of autophagosomes, occasionally accompanied by mitochondrial shrinkage. The cytotoxic activity of these compounds was significantly reduced by the addition of N-acetyl-L-cysteine, suggesting their interaction with SH groups of intracellular targeted molecules (the so-called “non-sterically hindered Michael acceptor”). This suggests that the nature of the chemical structure as well as the type of target cells is another factor that determines the type of cell death induced by chemicals.

Addendum to:
Tumor-Specificity and Type of Cell Death Induced by Trihaloacetylazulenes in Human Tumor Cell Lines
T. Sekine, J. Takahashi, M. Nishishiro, A. Arai, H. Wakabayashi, T. Kurihara, M. Kobayashi, K. Hashimoto, H. Kikuchi, T. Katayama, Y. Kanda, S. Kunii, N. Motohashi and H. Sakagami
Anticancer Res 2007; 27:133-44

Authors

Hiroshi Sakagami

Meikai University School of Dentistry

Masami Kawase

Matsuyama University

Hidetsugu Wakabayashi

Josai University

Teruo Kurihara