title: [Apoptotic protease activating factor 1 inducing apoptosis and related anti-tumor therapy -- review].
abstract: Apoptotic protease activating factor-1 (Apaf1) is an essential factor in intrinsic mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis activation. Apaf1 leads to the formation of apoptosome, which then proteolytically activates caspase-9. The activated caspase-9 opens the downstream signal of caspases to execute programmed cell death. Apaf-1 is important for tumor suppression and drug resistance because it plays a central role in DNA damage-induced apoptosis. Inactivation of the Apaf-1 gene is implicated in disease progression and chemoresistance of some malignancies. Further research on the Apaf-1 will contribute to develop a new type of approach to anti-cancer drugs, which might have good prospect in clinical practice. In this paper, the structure and function of Apaf-1, the mechanism involved in Apaf-1 signaling pathway, and application of Apaf-1 in tumor therapy were reviewed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Guang-an-men Hospital, Academy of Chinese Traditional Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China.
authors.forename: Li-Li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Gui-Zhi
authors.initials: GZ
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Pei-Tong
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D053477:Apoptotic Protease-Activating Factor 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D053453:Caspase 9 / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: C506592:APAF1 protein, human; D053477:Apoptotic Protease-Activating Factor 1; C506433:CASP9 protein, human; D053453:Caspase 9