Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.4.2.30 (PARP)
13,611 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

It has been known for some time that ablation of the neural tube and/or the notochord in the chick embryo leads to a massive wave of cell death in the adjacent somites. It is postulated that in the normal embryo, survival signals emanate from the neural tube and/or notochord that suppress apoptosis in the cells of the somites, except for a small population of sclerotome cells that are programmed to die naturally. In this study we show that axial ablation results in the death of sclerotome and not somitic neural crest cells, and we have examined the apoptotic response of these cells to the ablation. We show that several elements of the apoptotic cascade become detectable in somite cells in response to the withdrawal of survival signals. We demonstrate the down-regulation of bcl-2 protein in the somites adjacent to, and caudal to, the site of ablation, corresponding to the region that displays an elevated level of cell death. Although caspase-9 appeared to be activated in somites at all levels of the trunk, caspase-2 showed a clear response to the ablation of the axial structures. Removal of the neural tube and notochord produced an up-regulation of caspase-2 activity in somites in the region of the operation. Cleavage of two down-stream substrates of these caspases was examined. The cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) was apparent in somites at all levels of the trunk, and showed only a modest up-regulation after ablation. By contrast, the cleavage of DNA fragmentation factor (DFF45) showed a marked up-regulation in response to ablation, suggesting that this is a primary substrate for a caspase-dependent apoptotic mechanism. Evidence was also found for a caspase-independent mechanism, since the expression of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) was found to be very sensitive to, and up-regulated in somites by, axial ablation. Because the wave of apoptosis that is precipitated in somites by removal of the axial structures may be mediated by BMP-4, we examined the levels of BMP-4 in somites in response to axial ablation. BMP-4 expression was clearly up-regulated in somites adjacent to, or close to, the site of operation.
...
PMID:Ablation of axial structures activates apoptotic pathways in somite cells of the chick embryo. 1178 86

The p53 gene suppresses tumor cell growth by inducing cell cycle arrest or apoptosis. Loss of its apoptosis activity has been implicated not only in tumor development but also in chemoresistance. We previously reported that targeting p53 for degradation by the human HPV E6 gene in the ovarian cancer cell line PA1 leads to an increase in the chemoresistant phenotype. Here we investigate the relationship between loss of p53-dependent caspase activation and chemosensitivity. In PA1-neo cells with wild-type p53, the activation of caspases including caspases 9, 8, 7 and 3 and cleavage of PARP were detected following adriamycin or etoposide treatment, whereas no such changes were observed in PA1-E6 cells whose p53 is degraded, suggesting that loss of p53 impairs caspase activation. Importantly, we showed that loss of caspase activation in PA1-E6 cells correlates with increased cell survival. Moreover, PA1 cells overexpressing a dominant negative caspase 9 were found to have decreased caspase-dependent apoptosis, as compared with vector control cells. Furthermore, these dominant negative caspase 9 expressing cells were resistant to chemotherapeutic agent-induced killing. Our results suggest that caspase 9 may be an important target for anticancer drug development. Thus, identifying novel compounds that can activate caspase 9 may be a strategy for overcoming a defect in the p53 apoptosis pathway.
...
PMID:Caspase 9 is required for p53-dependent apoptosis and chemosensitivity in a human ovarian cancer cell line. 1179 Nov 71

Rituximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody directed at CD20 with significant activity in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). A variety of pathways of tumor cytotoxicity different from cytotoxic chemotherapy have been proposed for this therapeutic antibody including antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and complement-mediated cell lysis. This report describes that a proportion of patients with CLL receiving rituximab treatment have in vivo activation of caspase-9, caspase-3, and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage in blood leukemia cells immediately following infusion of rituximab. This suggests that apoptosis using a pathway similar to fludarabine and other chemotherapeutic agents is intricately involved in the blood elimination of tumor cells after rituximab treatment. Patients having caspase-3 activation and PARP cleavage in vivo had a significantly lower blood leukemia cell count after treatment as compared to those without caspase activation. Significant down-modulation of the antiapoptotic proteins XIAP and Mcl-1 was also noted, possibly explaining in part how rituximab sensitizes CLL cells to the cytotoxic effect of chemotherapy in vivo. These findings suggest that the therapeutic benefit of antibody-based therapy in vivo for patients with CLL depends in part on induction of apoptosis and provides another area of focus for studying mechanisms of antibody-resistance in neoplastic cells.
...
PMID:The mechanism of tumor cell clearance by rituximab in vivo in patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia: evidence of caspase activation and apoptosis induction. 1180 10

Two ovarian cancer cell lines named NOS4 and SKOV-3 have been shown to have different sensitivities to a cytotoxic anti-Fas antibody, CH-11. Although both cell lines express Fas molecules on the cell surfaces at the same intensities, apoptosis is induced by CH-11 in NOS4 cells but not in SKOV-3 cells. In this study, the different apoptosis-sensitivities of these cells were assessed. Both cell lines express almost the same levels of FADD, RIP, c-FLIP, FAP-1, Bax, Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL. Evidence of caspase-8, caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation and of cleavage of PARP and Bid was obtained in NOS4 cells but not in SKOV-3 cells. When triggered by FasL protein, DNA fragmentation and caspase-8 activation were observed in SKOV-3 cells, though they were not as clear as in NOS4 cells. All the anti-Fas antibody-mediated signals for apoptosis induction in NOS4 cells were completely blocked by a caspase-8-specific inhibitor, Z-IETD-FMK. These results indicate that the different sensitivities to the anti-Fas antibody are solely dependent on the activation of caspase-8, which could be influenced by yet unknown qualitative or quantitative abnormalities in molecules involved in DISC formation.
...
PMID:Activation of caspase-8 is critical for sensitivity to cytotoxic anti-Fas antibody-induced apoptosis in human ovarian cancer cells. 1186 94

Although ganciclovir (GCV) is most often used in suicide anticancer gene therapy, the mechanism of GCV-induced cell killing and apoptosis is not fully understood. We analysed the mechanism of apoptosis triggered by GCV using a model system of CHO cells stably transfected with HSV-1 thymidine kinase (HSVtk). GCV-induced apoptosis is due to incorporation of the drug into DNA resulting in replication-dependent formation of DNA double-strand breaks and, at later stages, S and G2/M arrest. GCV-provoked DNA instability was likely to be responsible for the observed initial decline in Bcl-2 level and caspase-9/-3 activation. Further decline in the Bcl-2 level was due to cleavage of the protein by caspase-9, as demonstrated by use of caspase inhibitors and transfection with trans-dominant negative caspase expression vectors. Bcl-2 cleavage resulted in the appearance of a pro-apoptotic 23 kDa Bcl-2 fragment and in excessive cytochrome c release, dephosphorylation of BAD, cleavage of PARP and finally DNA degradation. Since Fas/CD95 and caspase-8 were only slightly activated we conclude GCV-induced apoptosis to occur in this cell system mainly by activating the mitochondrial damage pathway. This process is independent of p53 for which the cells are mutated. Caspase-9 mediated cleavage of Bcl-2 accelerates the apoptotic process and may explain the high potential of GCV to induce apoptosis. Data are also discussed as to implications for HSVtk gene therapy utilizing GCV.
...
PMID:Ganciclovir-induced apoptosis in HSV-1 thymidine kinase expressing cells: critical role of DNA breaks, Bcl-2 decline and caspase-9 activation. 1194 97

Cell death is a common and reproducible feature of the development of many mammalian tissues/organs. Two well-known examples of programmed cell death (PCD) are the cell deaths associated with fusion of the neural folds and removal of interdigital mesenchymal cells during digit formation. Like normal development, abnormal development is also associated with increased cell death in tissues/organs that develop abnormally after exposure to a wide variety of teratogens. At least in some instances, teratogens induce cell death in areas of normal PCD, suggesting that there is a link between programmed and teratogen-induced cell death. Although researchers recognized early on that cell death is an integral part of both normal and abnormal development, little was known about the mechanisms of cell death. In 1972, Kerr et al. ('72) showed conclusively that cell deaths, induced in a variety of contexts, followed a reproducible pattern, which they termed apoptosis. The next breakthrough came in the 1980s when Horvitz and his colleagues identified specific cell death genes (ced) that controlled PCD in the roundworm, Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Identification of ced genes in the roundworm quickly led to the isolation of their mammalian homologues. Subsequent research in the 1990s led to the identification of a cadre of proteins controlling cell death in mammals, i.e., receptors/ligands, caspases, cytochrome c, Apaf-1, Bcl-2 family proteins, and IAPs. Two major pathways of apoptosis have now been elucidated, the receptor-mediated and the mitochondrial apoptotic pathways. The latter pathway, induced by a wide variety of toxic agents, is activated by the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria. Cytochrome c then facilitates the activation of a caspase cascade involving caspase-9 and -3. Activation of these caspases results in the cleavage of a variety of cellular proteins leading to the orderly demise of the cell. Work from my laboratory in the last 5 years has shown that teratogens, such as hyperthermia, 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide, and staurosporine, induce cell death in day 9 mouse embryos by activating the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, i.e., mitochondrial release of cytochrome c, activation of caspase-9 and -3, inactivation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), and systematic degradation of DNA. Our work, as well as the work of others, has also shown that different tissues within the early post implantation mammalian embryo are differentially sensitive to the cell death inducing potential of teratogens, from exquisite sensitivity of cells in the developing central nervous system to complete resistance of cells in the developing heart. More importantly, we have shown that the resistance of heart cells is directly related to the failure to activate the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in these cells. Thus, whether a cell dies in response to a teratogen and therefore contributes to the pathogenesis culminating in birth defects, depends, at least in part, by the cell's ability to regulate the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Future research aimed at understanding this regulation should provide insight not only into the mechanism of teratogen-induced cell death but also the role of cell death in the genesis of birth defects.
...
PMID:2001 Warkany lecture: to die or not to die, the role of apoptosis in normal and abnormal mammalian development. 1196 22

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant disease of the head/neck region with a 5-year survival level of approximately 65%. To explore the novel therapeutic strategies in the management of this disease, the potential effects of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in NPC cells were investigated. PDT, a new mode of treatment, is based on the combined use of light-absorbing compounds and light irradiation. Two human NPC cells such as, poorly differentiated (NPC/CNE2) and moderately differentiated (NPC/TW0-1) and other types of tumor cells like colon (CCL-220.1) and bladder (SD) undergo rapid apoptosis when treated with PDT sensitized with hypericin (HY). It has been shown that this compound has a strong photodynamic effect on tumors and viruses. However, the initiating events of PDT sensitized HY-induced apoptosis are not identified completely. In this study, we sought to determine whether Fas/FasL upregulation and involvement of mitochondrial events are an early event in HY-treated PDT induced apoptosis. Loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, release of cytochrome c, involvement of caspases 8 and 3 and the status caspase-3 specific substrate PARP, were evaluated in PDT treated tumor cells. Photosensitization of HY enhanced both CD95/CD95L expression and induced CD95-signaling dependent cell death in all tumor cell lines studied. CD95/CD95L expression appeared within 2 h following light irradiation and appeared to be a principal event in PDT induced apoptosis. Furthermore, these results indicate that release of mitochondrial cytochrome c into the cytoplasm within 2-3 h post PDT is a secondary event following the activation of initiator caspase-8 preceding Apaf-1, caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation, cleavage of PARP and DNA fragmentation.
...
PMID:Hypericin induced death receptor-mediated apoptosis in photoactivated tumor cells. 1201 77

Previously we showed that teratogen-induced cell death in mouse embryos is apoptotic in nature, i.e., involves the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria and the subsequent activation of caspase-3, cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), and internucleosomal DNA fragmentation. Herein we show that hyperthermia, 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide, and staurosporine also activate caspase-9, the apical caspase in the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Activation of procaspase-9 is associated with the cleavage of this proenzyme and the generation of two forms of the large subunit, primarily a 39-kDa subunit (p39) but also a lesser amount of a 37-kDa subunit (p37). We also present data that support the idea that the teratogen-induced formation of the p37 subunit in vivo occurs by the cytochrome c-mediated processing of procaspase-9, whereas the p39 subunit is formed by an amplification loop involving caspase-3. We also previously showed that the release of cytochrome c, activation of caspase-3, cleavage of PARP, and DNA fragmentation are blocked in cells of the developing heart, which are resistant to teratogen-induced cell death. We now show that this block in the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in heart cells extends to the activation of procaspase-9. Thus, our cumulative data indicate that hyperthermia, 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide, and staurosporine induce cell death in Day 9 mouse embryos by activating the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. In addition, our data suggest that cells of the Day 9 mouse embryo that are resistant to teratogen-induced cell death possess multiple mechanisms for inhibiting the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway after a teratogenic exposure.
...
PMID:Teratogen-induced activation of caspase-9 and the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in early postimplantation mouse embryos. 1205 98

Deprivation of tyrosine (Tyr) and phenylalanine (Phe) inhibits growth and induces programmed cell death (apoptosis) of human A375 melanoma cells. Herein, we found that activation of caspases and release of mitochondrial cytochrome c are required for this process. Culturing A375 cells in Tyr/Phe-free medium, containing 10% dialyzed fetal bovine serum, results in activation of caspase-3-like activity. This is accompanied by decreased cell viability and increased apoptosis. Tyr/Phe deprivation also stimulates proteolytic cleavage of the DNA repair enzyme, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Western blot analysis showed that caspases 3, 7, 8, and 9 are activated by deprivation of Tyr/Phe. Tyr/Phe deprivation decreases mitochondrial membrane potential, induces cleavage of Bid, increases translocation of Bax from the cytosol to mitochondria, and results in release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria to the cytosol. Apoptosis due to Tyr/Phe deprivation is almost completely inhibited by the broad-spectrum cell-permeable caspase inhibitor, benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethyl ketone (Z.VAD.fmk). This inhibitor suppresses the cleavage of Bid, the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria to the cytosol, and the cleavage of PARP. Decylubiquinone, a mitochondrial permeability transition pore inhibitor, does not suppress the activation of caspase 8 but suppresses release of cytochrome c, activation of caspase 9, and induction of apoptosis. These results indicate that activation of caspases, cleavage of Bid, and mitochondrial release of cytochrome c are required for apoptosis induced by Tyr/Phe deprivation.
...
PMID:Activation of caspases and cleavage of Bid are required for tyrosine and phenylalanine deficiency-induced apoptosis of human A375 melanoma cells. 1206 1

XK469, a synthetic quinoxaline phenoxypropionic acid derivative, has been found to have selective activity against a broad panel of solid tumors including several drug-resistant cell lines and has been approved for phase I clinical evaluation. Recent studies suggested that XK469 is a selective topoisomerase IIbeta inhibitor, but the mechanism of XK469-induced cell death remains unknown. Here we investigate the ability of XK469 to induce apoptosis of human cancer cells. In the human ovarian cancer cell line PA1, XK469 caused the release of cytochrome c, activation of caspases including caspases 9, 7 and 3, cleavage of PARP, and subsequently cell death. Moreover, Bcl2 and Bax were cleaved in XK469 treated cells. PA1 cells expressing the dominant negative-caspase 9 were less sensitive to XK469. Importantly, in these PA1 cells expressing DN-casp 9, the activation of caspases including caspases 3, 7 and 9, and cleavage of Bax and Bcl2 were inhibited, suggesting that the activation of the mitochondrial pathway is required for XK469-induced anticancer activity. These results indicate that the induction of apoptosis by XK469 may account for its anti-tumor activity and such activity is required for the activation of the mitochondrial pathway. Thus, our study defines a possible mechanism, at least in part, underlying XK469-induced anti-cancer activity.
...
PMID:Induction of apoptosis by the new anticancer drug XK469 in human ovarian cancer cell lines. 1208 31


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>