Osteopontin is a novel prognostic biomarker in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer after surgical resection.

Purposes: Osteopontin (OPN), an extracellular matrix-secreted phosphorylated glycoprotein, has been reported overexpressed in many solid tumors. As an important part of lung cancer, the high recurrence of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) also attracted great attention of scientists.

Methods: In this study, we investigated the expression of OPN and the relationship with prognosis of NSCLC patients.

Autophagy is involved in cytotoxic effects of crotoxin in human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 cells.

Aim: To investigate the role of crotoxin (CrTX)-induced autophagy in the death of MCF-7 cells, a caspase-3-deficient, human breast cancer cell line.

Methods: Cultured MCF-7 cells were treated with various doses of CrTX, a phospholipase A2 (PLA2) isolated from the venom of the South American rattlesnake, Crotalus durissus terrificus. The cytotoxicity of CrTX in the presence and absence of caspase inhibitors was measured with methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage assays.

Contributions of autophagic and apoptotic mechanisms to CrTX-induced death of K562 cells.

Previous studies reported that the neurotoxin, Crotoxin, isolated from the venom of South American rattlesnake had potent anti-tumor activity. Here, we investigated the involvement of autophagy and apoptosis in the Crotoxin-induced death of chronic myeloid leukemia cell line K562 cells. The neurotoxin dose dependently inhibited the viability of K562 cells.