Hydrogen Sulfide-Evoked Intracellular Ca Signals in Primary Cultures of Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Cells.

Exogenous administration of hydrogen sulfide (HS) is emerging as an alternative anticancer treatment. HS-releasing compounds have been shown to exert a strong anticancer effect by suppressing proliferation and/or inducing apoptosis in several cancer cell types, including colorectal carcinoma (CRC). The mechanism whereby exogenous HS affects CRC cell proliferation is yet to be clearly elucidated, but it could involve an increase in intracellular Ca concentration ([Ca]).

Connecting p63 to cellular proliferation: the example of the adenosine deaminase target gene.

An unresolved issue regards the role of p73 and p63, the two homologs of the p53 oncosuppressor gene, in normal cells and in tumor development. Specific target genes for each protein need to be identified and characterized in order to understand the specific role of each protein in tumor initiation and progression as well as in oncosuppression and development. We tested whether p63 is implicated in transcriptional events related to sustaining cell proliferation by transactivation of antiapoptotic and cell survival target genes such as Adenosine Deaminase (ADA), an important gene involved in cell proliferation.