Wang Man, Jiang Shuai, Zhang Yinfeng, Li Peifeng, Wang Kun
Institute for Translational Medicine, Medical College of Qingdao University, Dengzhou Road 38, 266021 Qingdao, China.
Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 266071 Qingdao, China.
Cancers (Basel). 2019 Sep 5;11(9):1313. doi: 10.3390/cancers11091313.
Cancer is a category of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade other parts of the body. Chemotherapy is the most widely used first-line treatment for multiple forms of cancer. Chemotherapeutic agents act via targeting the cellular apoptotic pathway. However, cancer cells usually acquire chemoresistance, leading to poor outcomes in cancer patients. For that reason, it is imperative to discover other cell death pathways for improved cancer intervention. Pyroptosis is a new form of programmed cell death that commonly occurs upon pathogen invasion. Pyroptosis is marked by cell swelling and plasma membrane rupture, which results in the release of cytosolic contents into the extracellular space. Currently, pyroptosis is proposed to be an alternative mode of cell death in cancer treatment. Accumulating evidence shows that the key components of pyroptotic cell death pathways, including inflammasomes, gasdermins and pro-inflammatory cytokines, are involved in the initiation and progression of cancer. Interfering with pyroptotic cell death pathways may represent a promising therapeutic option for cancer management. In this review, we describe the current knowledge regarding the biological significance of pyroptotic cell death pathways in cancer pathogenesis and also discuss their potential therapeutic utility.
癌症是一类涉及异常细胞生长并有可能侵袭身体其他部位的疾病。化疗是多种癌症最广泛使用的一线治疗方法。化疗药物通过靶向细胞凋亡途径发挥作用。然而，癌细胞通常会产生化疗耐药性，导致癌症患者预后不佳。因此，发现其他细胞死亡途径以改善癌症干预至关重要。细胞焦亡是一种新的程序性细胞死亡形式，通常在病原体入侵时发生。细胞焦亡的特征是细胞肿胀和质膜破裂，导致胞质内容物释放到细胞外空间。目前，细胞焦亡被认为是癌症治疗中一种替代性的细胞死亡模式。越来越多的证据表明，细胞焦亡性细胞死亡途径的关键成分，包括炎性小体、gasdermin和促炎细胞因子，参与了癌症的发生和发展。干扰细胞焦亡性细胞死亡途径可能是癌症治疗的一个有前景的治疗选择。在这篇综述中，我们描述了关于细胞焦亡性细胞死亡途径在癌症发病机制中的生物学意义的当前知识，并讨论了它们潜在的治疗效用。
