SRL lectin induced apoptosis of human colon cancer cells: identification of pathways leading to cell death (589.1)

Sclerotiumrolfsii, a soil borne plant pathogenic fungus secrete a developmental-stage specific lectin (SRL) which displays strong binding to TF antigen and its derivatives. Histochemical studies revealed specific binding to human cancerous colon tissues but not to normal ones. SRL exhibits strong receptor mediated antiproliferative activity towards human colon cancer cell lines by inducing apoptosis, involving the participation of caspase 8, 9 and 3. It has also been demonstrated that SRL at sub toxic concentrations completely inhibits tumour growth in NOD SCID mice models bearing HT29 xenografts when injected intratumorly. In this study, we investigated the signaling pathways that lead to apoptosis. HT29 cells were treated with lectin and samples were harvested at different time points and gene expression microarray analysis was performed using Agilent’s SurePrint G3 Human Gene Expression 8X60K V2 Microarray kit. Pathway analysis revealed that the MAPK signaling pathway is affected as early as 2h while c...