PARP inhibitor activates the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis in primary lung cancer cells.

This investigation was aimed to see whether PJ34(TM), a PARP inhibitor, could exert cytotoxicity in six nonsmall cell lung cancer cell lines developed from surgically resected tissues. Using various biochemical assays, we have seen that PJ34(TM) effects are consistent between untreated and treated samples but still somewhat variable between each cell line. Changes in protein expression and mitochondrial membrane potential between treated and untreated cells were indicating the possibility of apoptosis induction through an intrinsic pathway which causes cytotoxicity. Present results open the possibility of elucidating a decisive mechanism and effectiveness of chemotherapeutics specific to a patient.