CASP3 and familial pancreatic carcinoma: Furthermore, APY606 treatment directly inhibited Ras-GTP and the downstream activation of MAPK, which resulted in the down-regulation of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, leading to the up-regulation of mitochondrial apoptosis pathway-related proteins (Bax, cytosolic Cytochrome c and Caspase 3) and of cyclin-dependent kinase 2 and Cyclin A, E. These data suggest that impairing Ras-MAPK signaling is a novel mechanism of action for APY606 during therapeutic intervention in pancreatic cancer.