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All-trans-retinoic acid activates caspase-1 in a dose-dependent manner in cervical squamous carcinoma cells
Istvan Arany1, Istvan A Ember, Stephen K Tyring
1Departments of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-1070, USA. AranyIstvan@uams.edu
Abstract:
Earlier we observed that all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) dose-dependently suppressed the growth of cervical carcinoma cells. Suppression of growth required sustained activation of interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF-1), which was achieved by high-dose (10(-4) M), but not low-dose (10(-6) M), ATRA treatment. In this paper we examine the role of IRF-1 in cell death that accompanied the growth suppression in high-dose ATRA-treated cells. We found that high-dose, but not low-dose, ATRA treatment activated caspase-1 in those cervical carcinoma cells. Transient transfection of an antisense-IRF-1 construct diminished high-dose ATRA-mediated caspase-1 activation. On the other hand, ATRA was not able to induce caspase-1 expression in a STAT1 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 1) knockout cell line, but transient transfection of STAT1 restored it. These results suggested the importance of both IRF-1 and STAT1 in high-dose ATRA-induced activation of caspase-1. Our results might be useful in the treatment of retinoid-resistant cervical neoplasias.
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