Alpha-bisabolol (α-bisabolol), an unsaturated monocyclic sesquiterpene alcohol, is known as one of the \"most-used herbal constituents\" in the world. Various therapeutic and biological properties of α-bisabolol in preventing oxidative stress, inflammatory disorders, infections, neurodegenerative diseases, cancers, and metabolic disorders have been reported. In this review, we evaluated new findings regarding the molecular mechanisms of α-bisabolol published from 2010 until 2021 in PubMed, Science Direct, and Scopus. The antioxidant mechanism of α-bisabolol is mainly associated with the reduction of ROS/RNS, MDA, and GSH depletion, MPO activity, and augmentation of SOD and CAT. Additionally, upregulating the expression of bcl-2 and suppression of bax, P53, APAF-1, caspase-3, and caspase-9 activity indicates the anti-apoptotic effects of α- bisabolol. It possesses anti-inflammatory effects via reduction of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, iNOS, and COX-2 and suppresses the activation of ERK1/2, JNK, NF-κB, and p38. The antimicrobial effect is mediated by inhibiting the viability of infected cells and improves cognitive function via downregulation of bax, cleaved caspases-3 and 9 levels, β-secretase, cholinesterase activities, and upregulation of bcl-2 levels. Finally, due to multiple biological activities, α-bisabolol is worthy to be subjected to clinical trials to achieve new insights into its beneficial effects on human health.

BACKGROUND: BCL-2 Associated X (BAX) is an important modulator of apoptosis. The associations between BAX gene polymorphism and cancer susceptibility and prognosis in different ethnic groups and types of cancer have yielded controversial results. To reconcile the results, a systematic review followed by meta-analysis was performed to assess the associations.
METHODS: A systematic search of Medline database (PubMed), EMBASE, China Biology Medicine disc, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang databases for publications on BAX polymorphisms, and susceptibility and prognosis was carried out until July 2017. Retrieved 14 articles met the inclusions. Summary odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were harnessed to determine the strength of correlation between BAX polymorphisms and cancer susceptibility and prognosis, which were combined using fixed- or random-effects models as appropriate.
RESULTS: A total of 12 trials involving 3321 cases and 3209 controls were included in our pooled analysis regarding the polymorphisms and the susceptibility of cancers. Overall, results of the present meta-analysis demonstrated that there was no significant association between BAX polymorphisms and susceptibility of cancers (OR = 1.052, 95% CI: 0.827-1.339, P = .679, A vs G). Even in a stratified analysis by ethnicity and the sources of control groups, the results were consistent. Four retrospective studies of 549 cases qualified for meta-analysis were identified to set forth the associations of the polymorphisms with cancer prognosis. Our results suggested that BAX gene polymorphisms were significantly associated with unfavorable prognosis (HR = 1.735, 95% CI: 1.368-2.202, P = .000, GG vs GA/AA).
CONCLUSIONS: There is no significant association between BAX gene polymorphism and cancer susceptibility, but it probably contributes to increased adverse prognosis to cancer.

Apoptosis, known as programmed cell death, plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of neurological diseases. Most of these diseases can be obviously alleviated by means of acupuncture treatment. Current research studies have shown that the efficacy of acupuncture to these medical conditions is closely associated with the anti-apoptotic potentials. Mainly based on the acupuncture\'s anti-apoptotic efficacy in prevalent neurological disorders, including cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, Alzheimer\'s disease, depression or stress related-modes, spinal cord injuries, etc., this review comes to a conclusion that the anti-apoptotic effect of acupuncture treatment for neurological diseases, evidently reflected through Bcl-2, Bax or caspase expression change, results from regulating mitochondrial or autophagic dysfunction as well as reducing oxidative stress and inflammation. The possible mechanisms of acupuncture\'s anti-apoptotic effect are associated with a series of downstream signaling pathways and the up-regulated expression of neurotrophic factors. It is of great importance to illuminate the exact mechanisms of acupuncture treatment for neurological dysfunctions.

Curcumin, the bioactive polyphenolic ingredient of turmeric, has been extensively studied for its effects on human papilloma virus (HPV) infection as well as primary and malignant squamous cervical cancers. HPV infections, especially those related to HPV 16 and 18 types, have been established as the leading cause of cervical cancer; however, there are also additional contributory factors involved in the etiopathogenesis of cervical cancers. Curcumin has emerged as having promising chemopreventive and anticancer effects against both HPV-related and nonrelated cervical cancers. In this review, we first discuss the biological relevance of curcumin and both its pharmacological effects and pharmaceutical considerations from a chemical point of view. Next, the signaling pathways that are modulated by curcumin and are relevant to the elimination of HPV infection and treatment of cervical cancer are discussed. We also present counter arguments regarding the effects of curcumin on signaling pathways and molecular markers dysregulated by benzo(a)pyrene (Bap), a carcinogen found in pathological cervical lesions of women who smoke frequently, and estradiol, as two important risk factors involved in persistent HPV-infection and cervical cancer. Finally, various strategies to enhance the pharmacological activity and pharmacokinetic characteristics of curcumin are discussed with examples of studies in experimental models of cervical cancer. © 2016 BioFactors, 43(3):331-346, 2017.

Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of cancer related mortality in the Western world. In recent years, combination 5-fluorouracil based adjuvant chemotherapy as first line treatment of this disease has led to improved disease free and overall survival. However drug resistance, both innate and acquired, remains an obstacle in the effective treatment of this disease. Apoptotic pathways are frequently altered in both tumor progression and drug resistance; therefore proteins associated with this pathway may have potential as prognostic biomarkers for this disease. Identification of clinical biomarkers that are able to identify patients who are more likely to respond to specific chemotherapy will lead to more personalized, effective, and less toxic therapy. This review focuses on the current status of apoptosis related proteins as biomarkers for colorectal cancer and discusses the possible application of systems approaches in this context.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a case of alveolar soft-part sarcoma (ASPS) affecting the tongue of a child and to study prognostic imunohistochemical markers for the disease.
METHODS: Tissue sections were incubated with primary antibodies reactive to neuron-specific enolase (NSE), vimentin, desmin, S-100 protein, cytokeratins AE1-AE3, EMA, neurofilament, synaptophysin, and muscle-specific actin (MSA), and for prognostic markers, including Ki-67, p53, bcl-2, bax, and nm23.
RESULTS: Histologically, the tumor showed a proliferation of large polygonal cells with PAS-positive diastase-resistant intracytoplasmatic material, arranged in an alveolar growth pattern. Diffuse positive reaction for neuron specific enolase (NSE), focal reactivity for desmin and S-100 protein, strong positivity for nm23 and bax, but weak reaction for p53 and Ki-67 were found. No bcl-2-positive cells were noted.
CONCLUSIONS: These immunohistochemical findings may reflect the less aggressive behavior of ASPS in oral tissues.

Understanding how current chemotherapeutic modalities induce apoptosis is critical to designing better anti-cancer agents. This review is concerned with how pharmacological agents induce tumor cell apoptosis in a cell cycle-dependent manner. Recent experiments demonstrate that expression of several apoptotic regulatory proteins (such as Bcl-2, Bax, p53, and Survivin) are differentially regulated according to the phases of the cell cycle. This cell cycle-dependent regulation in turn contributes to increased drug sensitivity in different phases of the cell cycle. It is therefore likely that the cell cycle-dependent expression of cell death proteins plays a role in regulating chemosensitivity and apoptotic commitment of human tumor cells.

The differences in immunohistochemical expression of p53, bcl-2, bax, estrogen receptor (ER), and progesterone receptor (PR) were evaluated in 40 endometrioid and 21 papillary serous carcinomas of endometrium and correlated with known predictors of survival, such as grade and stage. Uterine papillary serous adenocarcinomas (UPSA) showed significantly higher p53 expression than did uterine endometrioid adenocarcinomas (UEA) (76.2% versus 35%), whereas both ER and PR were more often positive in endometrioid than in serous tumors (p = .005 and .0005). No significant difference was found in bcl-2 and bax expression between both histologic types. However, there was definite decrease in intensity of bcl-2 in UPSA compared with UEA. In endometrioid carcinoma, p53 overexpression was associated with high-grade and advanced-stage tumors (p = .0006 and .006), whereas ER and PR expression was associated with low-grade and early-stage tumors (p = .0006 and .0001; p = .003 and .0006). Bcl-2 immunopositivity was more common in low-grade, early-stage rather than in high-grade, advanced-stage adenocarcinomas, but the difference was not statistically significant (p = .24 and .07). Bax immunopositivity was associated with well-differentiated (p = .04) and early-stage tumors. Furthermore, a significant inverse relationship between bax and p53 reactivity was defined (p = .05), especially in tumors of endometrioid type. Bax and PR immunoexpression correlated near the limit of statistical significance (p = .08), whereas no relationship was found among bax, bcl-2, and ER immunopositivity. Our results indicate that the differences in immunohistochemical profiles of endometrioid and serous carcinomas support the existence of different molecular pathways of their development. The correlation of immunohistochemical findings with histologic grade and clinical stage could help in predicting biologic behavior and planning treatment in patients who are diagnosed as having these tumors.