title: Mechanism of anticancer activity of buforin IIb, a histone H2A-derived peptide.
abstract: Buforin IIb is a novel cell-penetrating anticancer peptide derived from histone H2A. Here we analyzed the anticancer activity and cancer cell-killing mechanism of buforin IIb. Buforin IIb displayed selective cytotoxicity against 62 cancer cell lines by specifically targeting cancer cells through interaction with cell surface gangliosides. It traversed cancer cell membranes without damaging them and accumulated primarily in the nuclei. Once inside the cells, buforin IIb induced mitochondria-dependent apoptosis. In vivo analysis revealed that buforin IIb displayed significant tumor suppression activity in mice with tumor xenograft. Overall, these results suggest that buforin IIb constitutes a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of cancers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chan Bae
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jung Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Su A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: In Yup
authors.initials: IY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Mi Sun
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ju Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Sun Chang
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D011506:Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D011506:Proteins; C097849:buforin II