title: Toxins vapC and pasB from prokaryotic TA modules remain active in mammalian cancer cells.
abstract: Among the great number of addictive modules which have been discovered, only a few have been characterized. However, research concerning the adoption of toxins from these systems shows their great potential as a tool for molecular biology and medicine. In our study, we tested two different toxins derived from class II addictive modules, pasAB from plasmid pTF-FC2 (Thiobacillus ferrooxidans) and vapBC 2829Rv (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), in terms of their usefulness as growth inhibitors of human cancer cell lines, namely KYSE 30, MCF-7 and HCT 116. Transfection of the pasB and vapC genes into the cells was conducted with the use of two different expression systems. Cellular effects, such as apoptosis, necrosis and changes in the cell cycle, were tested by applying flow cytometry with immunofluorescence staining. Our findings demonstrated that toxins VapC and PasB demonstrate proapoptotic activity in the human cancer cells, regardless of the expression system used. As for the toxin PasB, observed changes were more subtle than for the VapC. The level of expression for both the genes was monitored by QPCR and did not reveal statistically significant differences within the same cell line.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry, Medical University of Lodz, ul. Mazowiecka 6/8, 92-215 Lodz, Poland. l.wieteska@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Łukasz
authors.initials: Ł
authors.lastname: Wieteska
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry, Medical University of Lodz, ul. Mazowiecka 6/8, 92-215 Lodz, Poland. alexander1@op.pl.
authors.forename: Aleksander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Skulimowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry, Medical University of Lodz, ul. Mazowiecka 6/8, 92-215 Lodz, Poland. magdalenaa.cybula@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cybula
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry, Medical University of Lodz, ul. Mazowiecka 6/8, 92-215 Lodz, Poland. jszemraj@csk.umed.lodz.pl.
authors.forename: Janusz
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Szemraj
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial; D045325:HCT116 Cells; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics*; D010957:Plasmids; D013855:Thiobacillus / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; C110605:PasB protein, Thiobacillus ferrooxidans