TY - JOUR T1 - <em>BAX</em> But Not <em>BCL2</em> Is Necessary for Apoptosis in Neuroblastoma Cells Treated With Casiopeína<sup>®</sup> IIIia JF - Anticancer Research JO - Anticancer Res SP - 885 LP - 892 DO - 10.21873/anticanres.15546 VL - 42 IS - 2 AU - LUIS ARTURO JAIME-MARTINEZ AU - MONICA L. MARTINEZ-PACHECO AU - LENA RUIZ-AZUARA AU - CARMEN MEJIA Y1 - 2022/02/01 UR - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/42/2/885.abstract N2 - Background/Aim: The emerging antineoplastics Casiopeínas® induce uncoupling of the respiratory chain, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), entry of Bax into mitochondria, and exit of Ca2+ and Bcl-2 from them, leading to apoptosis. This study aimed to elucidate whether BAX and BCL2 are necessary for apoptosis. Materials and Methods: We silenced BAX and BCL2 by CRISPR-Cas9, assessed ROS and calcium retention capacity (CRC) by spectrofluorometry, and caspase-3 with inmunoblotting in neuroblastoma (NB) cells and 3T3-L1 fibroblasts treated with cisplatin and Casiopeína IIIia (CasIIIia). Results: We observed an increase in O2•– production only in BCL2KO NB cells treated with cisplatin (three-fold) and CasIIIia (five-fold), whereas the production of H2O2 in BCL2KO NB cells treated with cisplatin and CasIIIia increased five-fold and three-fold, respectively. The baseline calcium-retention capacity (CRC) was 1.7 relative fluorescence units (RFU) in both cell types. In BAXKO, cisplatin and CasIIIia increased CRC to ~2.3 RFU, and in BCL2KO, they decreased CRC to ~1.1 RFU. We did not detect caspase-3 in BAXKO NB cells. Conclusion: Only BAX is essential for CasIIIia-induced apoptosis. ER -