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Research Paper
Involvement of PI3K/AKT/GSK3ß pathway in tetrandrine-induced G1 arrest and apoptosis
Xuan-li Chen, Kai-huan Ren, Hong-wei He and Rong-guang Shao
volume 7 | issue 7
July 2008Subscribe to this journal for $129/year
It has been reported that tetrandrine induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human cancer cells. In the present study, we investigated the role of PI3K/AKT/GSK3ß pathway in tetrandrine- induced G1 arrest and apoptosis. In HT-29 cells, tetrandrine induced dephosphorylation of AKT, activation and nuclear translocation of GSK3ß as well as up-regulation of p27kip1. Activation of GSK3ß via AKT inhibitoion induced by tetrandrine resulted in enhanced phosphorylation and proteolysis of cyclin D1, activation of caspase 3 and subsequent cleavage of PARP. Selective GSK3ß inhibitiors and GSK3ß siRNA attenuated tetrandrine-induced G1 arrest and apoptosis. Similar to tetrandrine, transfection of wild-type GSK3ß led to G1 arrest and apoptosis via down-regulation of cyclin D1 and cleavage of PARP. These findings suggest that tetrandrine induces G1 arrest and apoptosis through PI3K/AKT/GSK3ß pathway and identify GSK3ß as an important mediator in the processes.