Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.1.3.16 (calcineurin)
 17,112 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In contrast to positive signaling leading to proliferation, the mechanisms involved in negative signaling culminating in apoptosis after B cell Ag receptor (BCR) ligation have received little study. We find that apoptosis induced by BCR cross-linking on EBV-negative mature and immature human B cell lines involves the following sequential, required events: a cyclosporin A-inhibitable, likely calcineurin-mediated step; and activation of caspase-2, -3, and -9. Caspase-2 is activated early and plays a major role in the apoptotic pathway, while caspase-9 is activated later in the apoptotic pathway and most likely functions to amplify the apoptotic signal. Caspase-8 and -1, which are activated by ligation of the CD95 and TNF-R1 death receptors, are not involved. Apoptosis induced by BCR ligation thus proceeds via a previously unreported intracellular signaling pathway.
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PMID:B cell apoptosis triggered by antigen receptor ligation proceeds via a novel caspase-dependent pathway. 1045 84

Alternative splicing is an important mechanism in the generation of functionally distinct products from the same gene. Some apoptosis-regulating genes also undergo alternative splicing, generating splice variants that antagonzie normal transcripts on apoptosis. For example, caspase-2 is alternatively spliced, leading to exon 9-lacking caspase-2L (proapoptotic) and exon 9-containing caspase-2S (antiapoptotic) transcripts. Serine-arginine splicing factor proteins (SR proteins) are highly conserved and required for constitutive and alternative messenger RNA (mRNA) splicing. Their activity is regulated by reversible phosphorylation on serine residue. During apoptosis, many functional molecules undergo posttranslational modification, including phosphorylation, dephosphorylation, and caspase cleavage. In this study, we investigated the effect of proapoptotic stimuli on alternative splicing of caspase-2 mRNA in U937 cells. U937 cells were simulated with etoposide, staurosporine, pacritaxel, or cyclohexamide. We analzyed the alternative splicing of caspase-2 mRNA using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Etoposide, staurosporine, pacritaxel, and cyclohexamide treatment promoted exon-9 inclusion, increasing the ratio of caspase-2S to caspase-2L in a time-dependent manner. Pretreatment with calyculin A, an inhibitor of protein phosphatase-1, blocked etoposide-induced alternative splicing of caspase-2 mRNA. Furthermore, pretreatment of U937 cells with fumonisin B1, an inhibitor of ceramide synthase, also blocked alternative splicing of caspase-2 mRNA. These data demonstrate that endogenous ceramide generation and subsequent phosphatase activation during apoptosis are key steps in the alternative splicing of caspase-2 mRNA and further suggest a link between the signal-transduction pathway and alternative splicing.
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PMID:Regulation of alternative splicing of caspase-2 through an intracellular signaling pathway in response to pro-apoptotic stimuli. 1602 92

Recent studies indicate that caspase-2 is involved in the early stage of apoptosis before mitochondrial damage. Although the activation of caspase-2 has been shown to occur in a large protein complex, the mechanisms of caspase-2 activation remain unclear. Here we report a regulatory role of Bcl-2 on caspase-2 upstream of mitochondria. Stress stimuli, including ceramide and etoposide, caused caspase-2 activation, mitochondrial damage followed by downstream caspase-9 and -3 activation, and cell apoptosis in human lung epithelial cell line A549. When A549 cells were pretreated with the caspase-2 inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Asp(-OMe)-Val-Ala-Asp(-OMe)-fluoromethyl ketone or transfected with caspase-2 short interfering RNA, both ceramide- and etoposide-induced mitochondrial damage and apoptosis were blocked. Overexpression of Bcl-2 prevented ceramide- and etoposide-induced caspase-2 activation and mitochondrial apoptosis. Furthermore, caspase-2 was activated when A549 cells were introduced with Bcl-2 short interfering RNA or were treated with Bcl-2 inhibitor, which provided direct evidence of a negative regulatory effect of Bcl-2 on caspase-2. Cell survival was observed when caspase-2 was inhibited in Bcl-2-silencing cells. Blockage of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore and caspase-9 demonstrated that Bcl-2-modulated caspase-2 activity occurred upstream of mitochondria. Further studies showed that Bcl-2 was dephosphorylated at serine 70 after ceramide and etoposide treatment. A protein phosphatase inhibitor, okadaic acid, rescued Bcl-2 dephosphorylation and blocked caspase-2 activation, mitochondrial damage, and cell death. Taken together, ceramide and etoposide induced mitochondria-mediated apoptosis by initiating caspase-2 activation, which was, at least in part, regulated by Bcl-2.
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PMID:Bcl-2 rescues ceramide- and etoposide-induced mitochondrial apoptosis through blockage of caspase-2 activation. 1581 79

Lithium confers cell protection against stress and toxic stimuli. Although lithium inhibits a number of enzymes, the antiapoptotic mechanisms of lithium remain unresolved. Here, we report a novel role of lithium on the blockage of ceramide- and etoposide-induced apoptosis via inhibition of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) activity. Overexpression of PP2A resulted in caspase-2 activation, mitochondrial damage, and cell apoptosis that were inhibited by okadaic acid (OA) and lithium. Lithium and OA abrogated ceramide- and etoposide-induced Bcl-2 dephosphorylation at serine 70. Furthermore, ceramide- and etoposide-induced PP2A activation involved methylation of PP2A C subunit, which lithium suppressed. Lithium caused dissociation of PP2A B subunit from the PP2A core enzyme, whereas ceramide caused recruitment of the B subunit. Taken together, lithium exhibited an antiapoptotic effect by inhibiting Bcl-2 dephosphorylation and caspase-2 activation, which involved, at least in part, a mechanism of down-regulating PP2A methylation and PP2A activity.
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PMID:Lithium inhibits ceramide- and etoposide-induced protein phosphatase 2A methylation, Bcl-2 dephosphorylation, caspase-2 activation, and apoptosis. 1668 3

The signaling of glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) has been implicated in stress-induced apoptosis. However, the pro-apoptotic role of GSK-3beta is still unclear. Here, we show the involvement of GSK-3beta in ceramide-induced mitochondrial apoptosis. Ceramide induced GSK-3beta activation via protein dephosphorylation at serine 9. We previously reported that ceramide induced caspase-2 and caspase-8 activation, Bid cleavage, mitochondrial damage, and apoptosis. In this study, we found that caspase-2 activation and the subsequent apoptotic events were abolished by the GSK-3beta inhibitors lithium chloride and SB216763, and by GSK-3beta knockdown using short interfering RNA. We also found that ceramide-activated protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) indirectly caused GSK-3beta activation, and that the PP2A-regulated PI 3-kinase-Akt pathway was involved in GSK-3beta activation. These results indicate a role for GSK-3beta in ceramide-induced apoptosis, in which GSK-3beta acts downstream of PP2A and the PI 3-kinase-Akt pathway, and upstream of caspase-2 and caspase-8.
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PMID:GSK-3beta acts downstream of PP2A and the PI 3-kinase-Akt pathway, and upstream of caspase-2 in ceramide-induced mitochondrial apoptosis. 1766 35

A-kinase-anchoring protein 149 (AKAP149) is a member of a structurally diverse, though functionally similar anchoring protein family and is localized to the outer membrane of mitochondria and in the endoplasmic reticulum-nuclear envelope network. AKAP149 plays an important role in controlling the subcellular localization and temporal specificity of protein phosphorylation and mRNA metabolism by tethering kinases and phosphatases, such as protein kinase A and type I protein phosphatase, through its N-terminal protein-binding motifs and mRNAs via its C-terminal RNA-binding motifs. It is well recognized that caspases play a central role in transducing and amplifying the intracellular death signal and that apoptosis is executed as a consequence of caspase-mediated cleavage of multiple cellular substrates. The identification of novel death substrates and elucidation of the consequences of their proteolytic cleavages by caspases are therefore crucial for our understanding of cell death and other biological processes. Herein, we demonstrated that AKAP149 is a direct substrate of active caspase-3, -8 -and -10 in vitro and in vivo. 35S-labeled full-length AKAP149 was completely cleaved in vitro by active caspase-3, -8 and -10 into two fragments of approximately 105 and 45 kDa, while caspase-2 cleaved it partially and caspase-1 did not cleave it at all. AKAP149 was also cleaved by caspases during Fas- and staurosporine-induced apoptosis in Jurkat T and HeLa cells, which were blocked by specific inhibitors of caspase-3 and -8. The specific cleavage site for these caspases was mapped in vitro and in vivo to Asp582 at AKAP149, which is located between the protein kinase A regulatory subunit anchoring and KH RNA-binding domains. In addition, HeLa cells transiently overexpressing AKAP149 D582E mutant were resistant to staurosporine-induced HeLa cell apoptosis. Taken together, these data suggest that AKAP149 activity may be deregulated by caspase-dependent proteolysis during apoptotic cell death and may provide useful information for elucidating the apoptosis signaling pathways in detail.
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PMID:Specific proteolysis of the A-kinase-anchoring protein 149 at the Asp582 residue by caspases during apoptosis. 1849 68

Xenopus oocyte death is partly controlled by the apoptotic initiator caspase-2 (C2). We reported previously that oocyte nutrient depletion activates C2 upstream of mitochondrial cytochrome c release. Conversely, nutrient-replete oocytes inhibit C2 via S135 phosphorylation catalyzed by calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. We now show that C2 phosphorylated at S135 binds 14-3-3zeta, thus preventing C2 dephosphorylation. Moreover, we determined that S135 dephosphorylation is catalyzed by protein phosphatase-1 (PP1), which directly binds C2. Although C2 dephosphorylation is responsive to metabolism, neither PP1 activity nor binding is metabolically regulated. Rather, release of 14-3-3zeta from C2 is controlled by metabolism and allows for C2 dephosphorylation. Accordingly, a C2 mutant unable to bind 14-3-3zeta is highly susceptible to dephosphorylation. Although this mechanism was initially established in Xenopus, we now demonstrate similar control of murine C2 by phosphorylation and 14-3-3 binding in mouse eggs. These findings provide an unexpected evolutionary link between 14-3-3 and metabolism in oocyte death.
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PMID:Metabolic control of oocyte apoptosis mediated by 14-3-3zeta-regulated dephosphorylation of caspase-2. 1953 56