TNFalpha potentiates 2-methoxyestradiol-induced mitochondrial death pathway

Abstract

Ewing sarcoma cells are resistant to TNFalpha-induced cell death and this resistance results from the activation of the transcription factor NF-kappaB. Here, we investigated whether NF-kappaB activation interferes with 2-Me-induced cell death signaling in Ewing sarcoma cells and we examined the effect of treatment of these cells with 2-Me either alone or in combination with TNFalpha. Our results show that TNFa cooperates with 2-Me to induce apoptosis in Ewing tumor cells through mitochondrial cell death signaling. These results suggest that the use of TNFalpha in combination with 2-Me may be beneficial for Ewing tumor treatment.