Butyrate-induced apoptotic cascade in colonic carcinoma cells: Modulation of the beta-catenin-Tcf pathway and concordance with effects of sulindac and trichostatin a but not curcumin

Abstract

Short-chain fatty acids play a critical role in colonic homeostasis because they stimulate pathways of growth arrest, differentiation, and apoptosis. These effects have been well characterized in colonic cell lines in vitro. We investigated the role of beta-catenin-Tcf signaling in these responses to butyrate and other well-characterized inducers of apoptosis of colonic epithelial cells. Unlike wild-type APC, which down-regulates Tcf activity, butyrate, as well as sulindac and trichostatin A, all inducers of G0-G1 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in the SW620 colonic carcinoma cell line, up-regulate Tcf activity. In contrast, structural analogues of butyrate that do not induce cell cycle arre..