Huimei Yu

Jilin University, Jilin, Jilin Sheng, China

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Publications (3)13.08 Total impact

  • Article: Inhibition of autophagy enhances cisplatin cytotoxicity through endoplasmic reticulum stress in human cervical cancer cells.
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    ABSTRACT: The function of autophagy in cisplatin-treated cancer cells is not fully understood. Cisplatin treatment induced degradation of ubiquitinated proteins by autophagy, which reduced apoptosis induced by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and downregulated the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis. Inhibition of autophagy using 3-methyladenine (3-MA) or chloroquine (CQ) increased the levels of intracellular misfolded proteins, which enhanced cellular apoptosis. We found that tunicamycin, an ER stress inducer, augmented cisplatin cytotoxicity by upregulating ER stress-mediated apoptosis. Our data indicates that autophagy plays an important role in preventing cisplatin-induced apoptosis in HeLa cells, thus inhibition of autophagy may improve cisplatin chemotherapy.
    Cancer letters 01/2012; 314(2):232-43. · 4.86 Impact Factor
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    Article: Inhibition of CLIC4 enhances autophagy and triggers mitochondrial and ER stress-induced apoptosis in human glioma U251 cells under starvation.
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    ABSTRACT: CLIC4/mtCLIC, a chloride intracellular channel protein, localizes to mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), nucleus and cytoplasm, and participates in the apoptotic response to stress. Apoptosis and autophagy, the main types of the programmed cell death, seem interconnected under certain stress conditions. However, the role of CLIC4 in autophagy regulation has yet to be determined. In this study, we demonstrate upregulation and nuclear translocation of the CLIC4 protein following starvation in U251 cells. CLIC4 siRNA transfection enhanced autophagy with increased LC3-II protein and puncta accumulation in U251 cells under starvation conditions. In that condition, the interaction of the 14-3-3 epsilon isoform with CLIC4 was abolished and resulted in Beclin 1 overactivation, which further activated autophagy. Moreover, inhibiting the expression of CLIC4 triggered both mitochondrial apoptosis involved in Bax/Bcl-2 and cytochrome c release under starvation and endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis with CHOP and caspase-4 upregulation. These results demonstrate that CLIC4 nuclear translocation is an integral part of the cellular response to starvation. Inhibiting the expression of CLIC4 enhances autophagy and contributes to mitochondrial and ER stress-induced apoptosis under starvation.
    PLoS ONE 01/2012; 7(6):e39378. · 4.09 Impact Factor
  • Article: p62/SQSTM1 involved in cisplatin resistance in human ovarian cancer cells by clearing ubiquitinated proteins.
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    ABSTRACT: Mechanisms of cisplatin resistance in cancer cells are not fully understood. Here, we show a critical role for the ubiquitin-binding protein p62/SQSTM1 in cisplatin resistance in human ovarian cancer cells (HOCCs). Specifically, we found that cisplatin-resistant SKOV3/DDP cells express much higher levels of p62 than do cisplatin-sensitive SKOV3 cells. The protein p62 binds ubiquitinated proteins for transport to autophagic degradation, reducing apoptosis induced by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in SKOV3/DDP cells. Knockdown of p62 or inhibition of autophagy using 3-methyladenine resensitises SKOV3/DDP cells to cisplatin. Collectively, our data indicate that p62 acts as a receptor or adaptor for autophagic degradation of ubiquitinated proteins, and plays an important role in preventing ER stress-induced apoptosis, leading to cisplatin resistance in HOCCs.
    European journal of cancer (Oxford, England: 1990) 03/2011; 47(10):1585-94. · 4.12 Impact Factor