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Inhibition of Epidermal Growth Factor-induced Interleukin-1ß-converting Enzyme Expression Reduces Proliferation in the Pancreatic Carcinoma Cell Line AsPC-1¹

Division of Molecular Oncology, Department of General Surgery, University of Ulm, 89075 Ulm, Germany

It is suggested that interleukin-1ß-converting enzyme (ICE) and ICE-related proteases play an important role in programmed cell death (apoptosis). We investigated ICE expression in the human pancreatic carcinoma cell line AsPC-1 after stimulation with epidermal growth factor and found a time-dependent expression of active ICE induced by epidermal growth factor. Interestingly, ICE expression does not lead to apoptosis. Cell cycle analyses revealed that acetyl-Tyr-Val-Ala-Asp-chloromethylketone-specific and acetyl-Ala-Ala-Val-Ala-Leu-Leu-Pro-Ala-Val-Leu-Leu-Ala-Leu-Leu-Ala-Pro-Tyr-Val-Ala-Asp-aldehyd-specific cell-permeable inhibitors of ICE significantly reduced the proliferation of AsPC-1 cells, which suggested a positive influence of ICE on the proliferation in human pancreatic carcinoma cells.