Altered Apoptosis in AML

TL;DRAbstract

Apoptosis is a highly regulated, biochemically distinct cell death process that is tightly linked to cell growth and differentiation. Alterations in the ability of cells to undergo apoptosis have been implicated in the pathogenesis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and resistance to currently available therapy. Factors that might contribute to apoptotic resistance in AML include increased expression of Bcl-2 and related anti-apoptotic proteins, loss of p53 function, mutation of Ras alleles (stimulating the Raf/MEK/ERK and PI3k/Akt pathways) or FLT3, and increased expression of the anti-apoptotic regulator XIAP. Based on improved understanding of apoptotic pathways and their alteration in AML, three different approaches for overcoming apaptotic resistance have been proposed: (1) administering “pro-apoptotic” agents that directly inhibit anti-apoptotic molecules such as Bcl-2 or XIAP; (2) using signal transduction inhibitors to modulate anti-apoptotic signaling pathways; and (3) employing

Chat with Paper

AI Agents for this Paper