Smac-mimetic–induced epithelial cell death reduces the growth of renal cysts

LX Fan, X Zhou, WE Sweeney Jr… - Journal of the …, 2013 - journals.lww.com
Past efforts to pharmacologically disrupt the development and growth of renal cystic lesions
focused primarily on normalizing the activity of a specific signaling molecule, but the effects
of stimulating apoptosis in the proliferating epithelial cells have not been well studied.
Although benign, ADPKD renal cysts created by the sustained proliferation of epithelial cells
resemble tumors, and malignant cell death can be achieved by cotreatment with TNF-α and
a mimetic of second mitochondria-derived activator of caspase (Smac). Notably, TNF-α …