THE EMERGING ROLE OF PARAPTOSIS IN TUMOR CELL BIOLOGY: PERSPECTIVES FOR CANCER PREVENTION AND THERAPY WITH NATURAL COMPOUNDS Fabrizio Fontana1, Michela Raimondi1, Monica Marzagalli1, Alessandro Di Domizio1,2, Patrizia Limonta1* 1Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milano, Milano, Italy 2 SPILLOproject, 20037 Paderno Dugnano (Milano), Italy (Website: www.spilloproject.com) *Corresponding author at: Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milano, Via Balzaretti 9, 20133 Milano, Italy. Phone: +39 02 50318213; fax: +39 02 50318204. E-mail address:
[email protected] (P. Limonta). ABSTRACT Standard anti-cancer therapies promote tumor growth suppression mainly via induction of apoptosis. However, in most cases cancer cells acquire the ability to escape apoptotic cell death, thus becoming resistant to current treatments. In this setting, the interest in alternative cell death modes has recently increased. Paraptosis is a new form of programmed cell death displaying endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and/or mitochondria dilation, generally due to proteostasis disruption or redox and ion homeostasis alteration. Recent studies have highlighted that several natural compounds can trigger paraptosis in different tumor cell lines. Here, we review the molecular mechanisms underlying paraptotic cell death, as well as the natural products inducing this kind of cell death program. A better understanding of paraptosis should facilitate the development of new therapeutic strategies for cancer prevention and treatment. Keywords: Paraptosis; Apoptosis; Programmed cell death, Natural compounds; Novel therapeutic strategies GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT 1. INTRODUCTION In a multicellular organism, cells are arranged into highly organized tissues and organs. The number of cells in these structures is effectively controlled, not simply by regulating cell division, but also cell death.