[Pro-apoptosis and selective anticancer activities of prostate apoptosis response protein 4: research progress and prospects].
As a pro-apoptotic factor, prostate apoptosis response protein 4 (par-4) was first found in the male hormone-dependent prostate cells (AT-3). Endogenous Par-4 sensitizes cancer cells to apoptotic stimuli, but exogenous Par-4 selectively induces apoptosis in cancer cells, and these activities depends on the structure of its core domain SAC. Par-4 and SAC can specifically induce apoptosis of cancer cells but not of normal cells, and are therefore potential anti-cancer drugs. In this review we summarize the discovery, structure, and function of par-4, and its intracellular signaling pathways, then discuss the application prospects of Par-4 and SAC in the clinical treatment of cancer and the problems in its research and clinical applications.
Lab of Molecular Pharmacology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China. E-mail: wuzengding@163.com.
Zengding
Z
Wu
Guanlin
G
Wang
Kuanren
K
Zhang
D017209:Apoptosis; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins
D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; C101296:prostate apoptosis response-4 protein