[Thymidine phosphorylase inhibits apoptosis induced by anticancer agents]

An angiogenic factor, platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor/thymidine phosphorylase (PD-ECGF/TP), stimulates the chemotaxis of endothelial cells and confers resistance to apoptosis induced by hypoxia. 2-Deoxy-D-ribose, a degradation product of thymidine generated by TP enzymatic activity, partially prevented hypoxia-induced apoptosis. TP was expressed at higher levels in tumor tissuses compared to the adjacent non-neoplastic tissues in a variety of human carcinomas. High expression of TP is associated with an unfavorable prognosis. To investigate the effect of TP on cisplatin-induced apoptosis, human leukemia Jurkat cells were transfected wild-type or mutant (L148R) TP cDNA. TP inhibits a number of steps in the cisplatin-induced apoptotic pathway, activation of caspase 3, 9 and mitochondrial cytochrome c release. These findings suggest a mechanism by which TP confers the resistance to apoptosis by cisplatin. Moreover, mutant TP that has no enzymatic activity also suppressed cisplatin-induced apoptosis. These findings indicate that TP has cytoprotective functions against cytotoxic agents which are independent of its enzymatic activity.