Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.22.36 (caspase-1)
 6,285 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Beta-amyloid peptides (Abeta) are major constituents of senile plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain and contribute to neurodegeneration, operating through activation of apoptotic pathways. It has been proposed that Abeta induces death by oxidative stress, possibly through the generation of peroxynitrite from superoxide and nitric oxide. Estrogen is thought to play a protective role against neurodegeneration through a variety of mechanisms including scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, we have challenged with Abeta, either in the presence or in the absence of 17beta-estradiol, differentiated human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells (named line SH) and the same line overexpressing anti-oxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1; named line WT). We have observed that: (1) WT cells are less susceptible than SH cells to Abeta insult; (2) caspase-3, but not caspase-1, is involved in Abeta-induced apoptosis in this system; (3) estrogen protects both lines, without significantly affecting SOD activity; and (4) copper chelators prevent Abeta-induced toxicity. Our results further support the notion that anti-oxidant therapy might be beneficial in the treatment of AD by preventing activation of selected apoptotic pathways.
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PMID:Overexpression of superoxide dismutase 1 protects against beta-amyloid peptide toxicity: effect of estrogen and copper chelators. 1296 85

Recent studies have suggested that neuronal death in Alzheimer's disease or ischemia could arise from dysfunction of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Although caspase-12 has been implicated in ER stress-induced apoptosis and amyloid-beta (Abeta)-induced apoptosis in rodents, it is controversial whether similar mechanisms operate in humans. We found that human caspase-4, a member of caspase-1 subfamily that includes caspase-12, is localized to the ER membrane, and is cleaved when cells are treated with ER stress-inducing reagents, but not with other apoptotic reagents. Cleavage of caspase-4 is not affected by overexpression of Bcl-2, which prevents signal transduction on the mitochondria, suggesting that caspase-4 is primarily activated in ER stress-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, a reduction of caspase-4 expression by small interfering RNA decreases ER stress-induced apoptosis in some cell lines, but not other ER stress-independent apoptosis. Caspase-4 is also cleaved by administration of Abeta, and Abeta-induced apoptosis is reduced by small interfering RNAs to caspase-4. Thus, caspase-4 can function as an ER stress-specific caspase in humans, and may be involved in pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.
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PMID:Involvement of caspase-4 in endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis and Abeta-induced cell death. 1512 40

Caspases mediate essential key proteolytic events in inflammatory cascades and the apoptotic cell death pathway. Human caspases functionally segregate into two distinct subfamilies: those involved in cytokine maturation (caspase-1, -4 and -5) and those involved in cellular apoptosis (caspase-2, -3, -6, -7, -8, -9 and -10). Although caspase-12 is phylogenetically related to the cytokine maturation caspases, in mice it has been proposed as a mediator of apoptosis induced by endoplasmic reticulum stress including amyloid-beta cytotoxicity, suggesting that it might contribute to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Here we show that a single nucleotide polymorphism in caspase-12 in humans results in the synthesis of either a truncated protein (Csp12-S) or a full-length caspase proenzyme (Csp12-L). The read-through single nucleotide polymorphism encoding Csp12-L is confined to populations of African descent and confers hypo-responsiveness to lipopolysaccharide-stimulated cytokine production in ex vivo whole blood, but has no significant effect on apoptotic sensitivity. In a preliminary study, we find that the frequency of the Csp12-L allele is increased in African American individuals with severe sepsis. Thus, Csp12-L attenuates the inflammatory and innate immune response to endotoxins and in doing so may constitute a risk factor for developing sepsis.
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PMID:Differential modulation of endotoxin responsiveness by human caspase-12 polymorphisms. 1512 68

In the present study, we have determined levels of soluble interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor type II (sIL-1RII), interleukin-18 (IL-18) and caspase-1 in cerebrospinal fluid and serum from mild cognitive impairment patients that later progressed to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and severe AD patients. Previous studies have shown that a chronic local inflammatory process is a part of AD neuropathology. In this process, activated microglial production of IL-1 seems to play an important role. In a previous study, we have shown increased levels of sIL-1RII in CSF from AD patients in a mild-moderate disease stage. In the present study, we found no significant differences in CSF or serum levels of sIL-1RII in either mild cognitive impairment or advanced AD patients as compared to control subjects. Likewise, there was no significant difference between mild cognitive impairment and severe AD patients. The same was true for caspase-1 and IL-18 serum levels, whereas CSF levels of caspase-1 and IL-18 were below detection limits. Our data indicate that the IL-1 system is relatively intact in the early and late stages of AD.
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PMID:Soluble interleukin-1 receptor type II, IL-18 and caspase-1 in mild cognitive impairment and severe Alzheimer's disease. 1584 49

Inflammation in the central nervous system is an early hallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recently, increasing evidence suggests that hypercholesterolemia during midlife and abnormalities in the cholesterol metabolism could have an important role in the pathogenesis of AD. In the present study, we have evaluated the effect of high cholesterol (HC) diet on the expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a cytokine involved in neurodegeneration, and caspase-1, that is responsible for the cleavage of the precursors of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) in the brain of apolipoprotein E (Apo E) knock-out (KO) and wild type (WT) mice. The density of IL-6-positive cells was increased in the hippocampus (p<0.0001) and the dorsal part of the cortex (p<0.001) of KO and WT mice on HC diet (KOHC and WTHC mice, respectively) compared to KO and WT mice on ND (KOND and WTND mice, respectively). KOHC mice had increased caspase-1 positive cells and staining intensity in the hippocampus in comparison with WTHC mice (p<0.01). In the hippocampus, the density of caspase-1 positive cells was also higher in KOHC compared to KOND mice (p<0.05) and KOHC compared with WTHC mice (p<0.01). There was a major increase in caspase-1 immunoreactivity and cell density in both the dosal part of the cortex (p<0.001) and the lateral part of the cortex (p<0.005) in KO and WT mice on HC diet compared to ND. The findings of the present study indicate that chronic exposure to HC diet increases the expression of the two important inflammatory mediators IL-6 and caspase-1 in the brain of KO and WT mice. In the case of caspase-1, we report a major difference in the effect of HC diet on the KO mice compared to WT mice in the hippocampus. Increased expression of inflammatory mediators involved in neurodegeneration could be a potential mechanism by which hypercholesterolemia and HC diet increase the risk of AD.
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PMID:High cholesterol diet results in increased expression of interleukin-6 and caspase-1 in the brain of apolipoprotein E knockout and wild type mice. 1619 27

The inflammatory cytokines can initiate nerve cell degeneration and enhance the plaque production typically found in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Interleukin-18 (IL-18) is an inflammatory cytokine, which can induce the expression of interferon-gamma. This interleukin shares similarities with the IL-1 family of proteins. Like IL-1 beta, IL-18 is cleaved by caspase-1 (ICE) to an active secreted form. We examined the expressions of IL-18, -1 beta and ICE in different brain regions from AD patients that were categorized with respect to the Braak stage, and age-matched with non-demented controls. The levels of total-RNA and protein of IL-18 and ICE were increased, especially in the frontal lobe of AD patients and this change was not modified by ApoE genotype. Immunohistochemistry of AD brain samples detected IL-18 in microglia, astrocytes, and surprisingly in neurons, and it is also co-localized not only with amyloid-beta plaques but also with tau. In CSF, elevated IL-18 level was detected only in men and it also correlated with CSF tau in MCI. IL-18 may thus be a potential biomarker for men. Plasma levels of IL-18 showed no correlation with the disease. In conclusion, amyloid-beta may induce the synthesis of IL-18, and IL-18 kinases involved in tau phosphorylation as a part of the amyloid-associated inflammatory reaction.
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PMID:Expression of interleukin-18 is increased in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients. 1765 66

Neuroinflammation is often associated with neurodegenerative diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS), stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and HIV-1-associated dementia (HAD). The proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) is one of the main mediators of inflammation, and IL-1beta expression in the brain is rapidly upregulated in response to acute and chronic insults. IL-1beta is synthesized as biologically inactive precursor (pro-IL-1beta), which is classically processed by caspase-1 [also known as interleukin-converting enzyme (ICE)] into the active, mature cytokine. However, caspase-1/ICE-independent mechanisms of IL-1beta processing have recently been suggested. Here we report that matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) participate in the maturation process (cleavage and activation) of IL-1beta in an in vivo model of HIV-associated neurodegeneration based on the intracerebroventricular injection of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp120. We show that, following gp120 exposure, MMP-9 and MMP-2, but not caspase-1/ICE, are rapidly induced. Pharmacological manipulation of MMPs activity, using the broad spectrum MMPs inhibitor GM6001, reduces the increase in IL-1beta immunoreactivity and the neuronal apoptosis induced by gp120. Taken together, these findings point to a critical role for MMPs in IL-1beta increase and consequent neurotoxicity triggered by gp120 in the neocortex of rat and suggest new links between IL-1beta processing and MMP activation during the neuroinflammatory process.
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PMID:Evidence implicating matrix metalloproteinases in the mechanism underlying accumulation of IL-1beta and neuronal apoptosis in the neocortex of HIV/gp120-exposed rats. 1767 75

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the major cause of dementia, accounting for 50% to 70% of the late-onset patients, with 17 to 20 million affected. It is characterized by neurofibrillary tangles, neuronal loss, and amyloid plaques in tissues of the cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. Apoptosis or programmed cell death appears in the progression of AD. In this study, we investigated the gene expression of 14 apoptotic genes (E2F1, p21/WAF, ICE-LAP3, Fas Antigen, CPP-32, GADD153, ICE-beta, c-Fos, c-Jun, Bax-alpha, Bcl-2, Bcl-(x)L, BAK, and p53) in 5 normal and 6 AD human hippocampal tissues, using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Our results show an upregulation of gene expression in AD patients for c-Fos and BAK. ICE-beta, c-Jun, Bax-alpha, Bcl-x(L), p53, and GADD153 were found to be upregulated in some AD samples but were not detected or downregulated in other AD or normal samples. No gene expression was found for E2F1 , p21/WAF, ICE-LAP3, Fas Antigen, CPP32, or Bcl-2. These results indicate significant increases in c-Fos , c-Jun, and Bak; therefore, we suggest that these genes may be critical in the apoptotic cascades of AD.
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PMID:Apoptotic gene expression in Alzheimer's disease hippocampal tissue. 1771 63

The fibrillar peptide amyloid-beta (A beta) has a chief function in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta) is a key cytokine in the inflammatory response to A beta. Insoluble materials such as crystals activate the inflammasome formed by the cytoplasmic receptor NALP3, which results in the release of IL-1 beta. Here we identify the NALP3 inflammasome as a sensor of A beta in a process involving the phagocytosis of A beta and subsequent lysosomal damage and release of cathepsin B. Furthermore, the IL-1 beta pathway was essential for the microglial synthesis of proinflammatory and neurotoxic factors, and the inflammasome, caspase-1 and IL-1 beta were critical for the recruitment of microglia to exogenous A beta in the brain. Our findings suggest that activation of the NALP3 inflammasome is important for inflammation and tissue damage in Alzheimer's disease.
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PMID:The NALP3 inflammasome is involved in the innate immune response to amyloid-beta. 1864 88

Genetic and molecular studies have confirmed the central role of amyloid-beta production and fibrillation in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the pathological pathways from amyloid-beta peptide oligomerization to the major pathological hallmarks of AD, such as neurofibrillary tangles, inflammation and loss of cholinergic neurons, are largely unknown. The innate immunity defence system utilizes pattern recognition receptors to respond to a variety of danger- and pathogen-associated molecular structures. Amyloid-beta oligomers and fibrils and their cellular effects can activate the innate immunity defence and induce inflammatory and apoptotic responses in human brain. Amyloid-beta oligomers can interfere with many aspects of neuronal membrane functions and can evoke potassium (K+) efflux from neurons. A low K+ concentration is a potent activator for the NALP1 inflammasomes, which then stimulate caspase-1 to cleave the proforms of IL-1beta and IL-18 cytokines. Interestingly, recent observations have demonstrated that amyloid-beta fibrils can activate NALP3 inflammasomes Via the lysosomal damage in mouse microglia. We will review here the activation mechanisms of NALP inflammasomes in neurons and microglia and several downstream effects in brain demonstrating that toxic amyloid-beta oligomers and fibrils can light afire in inflammasomes and induce Alzheimer's pathology.
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PMID:Amyloid-beta oligomers set fire to inflammasomes and induce Alzheimer's pathology. 1879 50


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