Debajit Bhowmick

Nuclear pool of phosphatidylinositol 4 phosphate 5 kinase 1α is modified by polySUMO-2 during apoptosis

Phosphatidylinositol 4 phosphate 5 kinase 1α (PIP5K) is mainly localized in the cytosol and plasma membrane. Studies have also indicated its prominent association with nuclear speckles. The exact nature of this nuclear pool of PIP5K is not clear. Using biochemical and microscopic techniques, we have demonstrated that the nuclear pool of PIP5K is modified by SUMO-1 in HEK-293 cells stably expressing PIP5K. Moreover, this SUMOylated pool of PIP5K increased during apoptosis. PolySUMO-2 chain conjugated PIP5K was detected by pull-down experiment using affinity-tagged RNF4, a polySUMO-2 binding protein, during late apoptosis.

Para-Phenylenediamine Induces Apoptotic Death of Melanoma Cells and Reduces Melanoma Tumour Growth in Mice

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive forms of cancer, usually resistant to standard chemotherapeutics. Despite a huge number of clinical trials, any success to find a chemotherapeutic agent that can effectively destroy melanoma is yet to be achieved. Para-phenylenediamine (p-PD) in the hair dyes is reported to purely serve as an external dyeing agent. Very little is known about whether p-PD has any effect on the melanin producing cells. We have demonstrated p-PD mediated apoptotic death of both human and mouse melanoma cells in vitro. Mouse melanoma tumour growth was also arrested by the apoptotic activity of intraperitoneal administration of p-PD with almost no side effects. This apoptosis is shown to occur primarily via loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and caspase 8 activation. p-PD mediated apoptosis was also confirmed by the increase in sub-G0/G1 cell number. Thus, our experimental observation suggests that p-PD can be a potential less expensive candidate to be developed as a chemotherapeutic agent for melanoma.