Katherine E Ewings

Bio: Katherine E Ewings is an academic researcher. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 7 citations.

A Homolog of the Cell Apoptosis Susceptibility Gene Involved in Ovary Development of Chinese Shrimp Fenneropenaeus chinensis

Abstract: The cell apoptosis susceptibility (CAS) gene is a homolog of the yeast chromosome segregation (CSE1) gene, which functions in cell proliferation and apoptosis. In the present study, a homolog of CAS was cloned from Chinese shrimp Fenneropenaeus chinensis (FcCAS). The full-length FcCAS cDNA is 3534 bp and contains an open reading frame encoding 968 amino acids. The predicted tertiary FcCAS structure is highly similar to that of CSE1 from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. RT-PCR analysis showed that the FcCAS gene is expressed mainly in testis, ovary, stomach, lymphoid organs, gills, and hemocytes. RNA in situ hybridization showed that FcCAS transcripts were distributed mainly in the cytoplasm of oocytes. Western blot analysis showed that FcCAS could be detected only in testis and ovary, and its expression levels differed at different developmental stages of ovaries. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that FcCAS existed in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus, which suggested that FcCAS might function as a nuclear protein. No transcript was detected in the abnormally developed ovaries of triploid shrimp. Therefore, we inferred that the FcCAS gene might be one of the key genes that is closely related to ovary development in shrimp.

Effect of combined treatment with progesterone and tamoxifen on the growth and apoptosis of human ovarian cancer cells.

Abstract: Progesterone has a potential protective effect against ovarian carcinoma induced by estrogen. Progesterone is also known to cause apoptosis while tamoxifen induces growth arrest. Therefore, we attempted to determine whether combined treatment with progesterone and tamoxifen has a synergistic effect on anti-cancer activity. Although progesterone is known to cause apoptosis while tamoxifen induces growth arrest in many cancer cells, the detailed action of progesterone and tamoxifen and the anticancer effect of combined treatment have not been tested in ovarian cancer cells. Therefore, we tested the growth and apoptosis activity of progesterone and tamoxifen and the anticancer effect of combined treatment of progesterone and tamoxifen in ovarian cancer cells. Ovarian cancer cells, PA-1, were treated with progesterone, tamoxifen, or a combination of progesterone and tamoxifen. The anti-cancer effects were investigated by use of flow cytometry, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay, DNA fragmentation analysis, and Western blot analysis. We found that 100 µM progesterone induced typical apoptosis in PA-1 cells. Treatment of PA-1 cells with 10 µM tamoxifen resulted in an increase in the levels of p21, p27, p16 and phospho-pRb, indicating typical G1 arrest. Co-treatment of PA-1 cells with 100 µM progesterone and 10 µM tamoxifen resulted in typical apoptosis, similar to that induced by treatment with 100 µM progesterone alone. These results indicate that progesterone caused apoptosis and tamoxifen induced G1 arrest. Combined treatment with tamoxifen and progesterone caused apoptosis similar to that induced by treatment with progesterone alone and had no additional anti-cancer effect in ovarian cancer cells.

Expression of CAS/CSE1L, the Cellular Apoptosis Susceptibility Protein, Correlates With Neoplastic Progression in Barrett's Esophagus.

Abstract: BACKGROUND Identifying the molecular switch responsible for the neoplastic progression of Barrett's esophagus (BE) and initiation of adenocarcinoma (ADC) is clinically essential and it will have a profound impact on patient diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. The cellular apoptosis susceptibility gene CAS/CSE1L is overexpressed in various cancers, including a rare report on esophageal ADC; however, its expression in BE neoplasia has not been addressed. MATERIALS AND METHODS We investigated the expression of the CAS/CSE1L protein immunohistochemically in 56 esophageal resection specimens for ADC arising in BE. For each specimen, a full representative section of the invasive ADC was selected to include, when possible, BE, low-grade dysplasia (LGD) and high-grade dysplasia (HGD). Samples were stained for CAS/CSE1L expression using a rabbit polyclonal antibody recognizing the N-terminus of human CAS/CSE1L. Protein expression levels were measured using the Allred semiquantitative scoring system. The data were evaluated using χ statistical analysis. Gene expression Omnibus was queried for CAS/CSE1L and BE neoplasia. RESULTS We found minimal to absent CAS/CSE1L in all BE tissue samples; however, CAS/CSE1L was upregulated in 60% of LGD and overexpressed in HGD and ADC. The results were statistically significant (P<0.05). The localization of CAS/CSE1L protein was nuclear in BE; it became nuclear and cytoplasmic in LGD and HGD, and predominantly cytoplasmic in ADC. A similar progressive increase was observed for CAS/CSE1L gene expression. CONCLUSION These findings show changes in CAS/CSE1L during BE progression. CAS/CSE1L may represent a potential marker for dysplasia/carcinoma.

Cellular apoptosis susceptibility protein (CAS) suppresses the proliferation of breast cancer cells by upregulated cyp24a1.

Abstract: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Although several studies demonstrated cellular apoptosis susceptibility protein (CAS) involved in the development of breast cancer, the underlying mechanisms of CAS regulating cell processes in the breast cancer remain elusive. In the present study, we explored the possible mechanism of CAS in contributing to the cell proliferation in the breast cancer cell line MCF-7. Knockdown of CAS led to the reduction of cell viability and proliferation. Furthermore, cell cycle was arrested in G0/G1 phase after knocking down CAS with the decrease of cyclinD1. In addition, RNA-seq analysis for the CAS knockdown cells demonstrated that total eleven genes were significantly altered (Fold changes > 2). Of note, the expression of cyp24a1 was dramatically increased in the shCAS cells compared to that of shNC cells as well as confirmed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). These observations clarified the previous conflicting results on the cell fates of the breast cells regulated by CAS and provide new insight into the role of CAS in the development of breast cancer.