• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.756-766
• /
• 2005

The signaling mechanism underlying aburatubolactam C-induced FasL upregulation was investigated in human Jurkat T cells. After treatment with aburatubolactam C, the src-family PTKs $p56^{lck}\;and\;p59^{fyn}$, and MAP kinases ERK2 and JNK1, were activated prior to FasL upregulation; Both $p56^{lck}\;and\;p59^{fyn}$ were directly activated 2.4- and 2.2-fold, respectively, in vitro by aburatubolactam C. The aburatubolactam C-induced cellular changes, including the activation of ERK2 and INK1, and FasL upregulation, were completely prevented by the PTK inhibitor genistein. The activation of protein kinase C (PKC$\delta,\;\epsilon\;and\;\mu$ was also induced following aburatubolactam C treatment. Although the activation of $p56^{lck}$ and tyrosine phosphorylation of the cellular proteins were not blocked by the PKC inhibitor GFl09203X, the activation of ERK2 was completely abrogated, along with a detectably enhanced JNK1 activation; FasL upregulation, and apoptosis. However, the FasL upregulation and apoptosis were significantly inhibited by the PKC activator PMA, with a remarkable increase in the ERK2 activation. The cytotoxic effect of aburatubolactam C was reduced in the presence of the anti-Fas neutralizing antibody ZB-4. Although ectopic expression of Bcl-2 failed to completely block the cytotoxicity of aburatubolactam C, it was clearly suppressed. The c-Fos mRNA expression was upregulated in a biphasic manner, where the second phasic expression overlapped with the FasL upregulation. Accordingly, these results demonstrate that aburatubolactam C-induced apoptosis is exerted, at least in part, by FasL upregulation dictated by activation of the PTK ($p56^{lck}\;and\;p59^{fyn}$) /JNKI pathway, which is negatively affected by the concurrent activation of the PKC/ERK2 pathway proximal to PTK activation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.8 no.5
• /
• pp.455-460
• /
• 1998

In the course of screening for new antitumor substances, a novel cytotoxic agent inducing apoptotic cell death was isolated from the culture broth of marine bacterial strain SCRC A-20. Strain SCRC A-20 was separated from a mollusk and was chemotaxonomically identified as a Streptomyces sp. The cytotoxic substance was purified by organic solvent extraction followed by silica gel column chromatography and preparative TLC. HRFAB-MS determined its molecular formula to be $C_{30}H_{40}N_2O_5$ (MW 508). The 1D and 2D NMR spectral data demonstrated that the substance has a novel lactam structure of a 20-membered macrocycle coupled with a unique acyl tetramine and bicyclo［3.3.0］ octane, which includes three methyl groups, six olefinic protons, five carbonyl groups, a conjugated diene and a dienone. The substance, named aburatubolactam C, appeared to be cytotoxic for various continuously proliferating tumor cells of human and murine origins. The $IC_{50}$ values determined by MIT assay were in the range of 0.3 to $5.8\mug/ml$. When Jurkat T cells were treated with $3\mug/ml$. of aburatubolactam C, the apoptotic DNA fragmentation was detectable within 3 h, indicating that the cytotoxic effect of aburatubolactam C on tumor cells is attributable to the induced apoptosis.