Interrelation of differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis in cancer cells

Abstract

Programed cell death (apoptosis) is an active process of self-destruction, as opposed to accidental cell death (necrosis). It has been reported that apoptosis is closely related to proliferation and differentiation. Ceramide, a fundamental structure of sphingolipids which are a basic construction unit of the cell membrane, has been reported to be a lipid second messenger. I investgated the interrelation between differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis, and the role of ceramide in the signal transduction pathway in cancer cells. The results indicated that ceramide controls cell differentiation and proliferation through apoptosis by activating the nuclear transcriptional factor AP-1.