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Brief Communication
Dexamethasone Protects Against Cisplatin-Induced Activation of the Mitochondrial Apoptotic Pathway in Human Osteosarcoma Cells
Stefan Meyer, Tim Eden and Helen Kalirai
volume 5 | issue 8
august 2006Pages: 915 - 920
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BACKGROUND: Dexamethasone (Dx) is often used to alleviate the acute emetic toxicity associated with high dose cisplatin (cDDP) in osteosarcoma patients. However, in other tumour cell types, Dx has been reported to induce partial resistance to anticancer drugs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We examined the effect of Dx on cDDP induced apoptosis in the HOS human osteosarcoma cell line. RESULTS: Exposure to cDDP, induced apoptosis via the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway as evidenced by cytochrome c release and caspase activation. Pre- and co-treatment of HOS cells with Dx reduced cDDP induced apoptosis by 10-25%. Investigation of the mechanisms of this protective effect indicated both the upregulation of the survival factor Akt and a possible direct receptor-mediated action of Dx to attenuate the activation of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway components. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate the need to carefully address the timing of glucocorticoid use in the clinical management of cancer patients.
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDFIf the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.