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

It is well known that caspases are produced as proforms, which are proteolytically cleaved and activated during apoptosis or programmed cell death. We report here that caspases are activated during apoptosis by treatment with NOC18, a nitric oxide (NO) donor. Our present experiments have examined the way in which NO induces neuronal cell death, using a new type of NO donor that spontaneously releases only NO without enzymatic metabolism. NOC18 induced apoptosis in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner as estimated by DNA fragmentation assay, FACScan analysis, and nuclear morphology. Oxyhemoglobin, an NO trapper, suppressed NOC18-triggered DNA fragmentation, indicating that NO from NOC18 is a real activator in this study. Upon the induction of apoptosis, an increase in caspase-3-like protease activity, but not caspase-1, was observed. Procaspase-2 protein, an inactive form of caspase-2, decreased dramatically. In addition, NOC18 also resulted in poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage, yielding an 85-kDa fragment typical of caspase activity. Oxyhemoglobin blocked the decrease of procaspase-2 and the cleavage of PARP by NOC18 in a concentration-dependent manner. Moreover, NO elicited the release of cytochrome c into the cytosol during apoptosis. These results suggest that both stimulation of caspase activity and cytochrome c release are partly involved in NO-induced neuronal apoptosis.
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PMID:Caspase activation accompanying cytochrome c release from mitochondria is possibly involved in nitric oxide-induced neuronal apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells. 988 70

It is now well established that the caspases, a family of cysteine proteases, play a key role in apoptosis. Although overexpressing each of the caspases in cells triggered apoptosis, the precise role and contribution of individual caspases are still unclear. Caspase-1, the first caspase discovered, was initially implicated in mammalian apoptosis because of its similarity to the gene product ced-3. Using whole cells as well as an in vitro system to study apoptosis, the role of caspase-1 in Fas-mediated apoptosis in Jurkat T cells was examined in greater detail. Using various peptide-based caspase inhibitors, our results showed that N-acetyl-Tyr-Val-Ala-Asp chloromethyl ketone and benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp (OMe) fluoromethyl ketone efficiently blocked Fas-mediated apoptosis in Jurkat T cells, whereas N-acetyl-Tyr-Val-Ala-Asp aldehyde, which is more specific for caspase-1, had little effect. Cell lysates derived from anti-Fas-stimulated cells, which readily induced apoptotic nuclei morphology and DNA fragmentation in isolated thymocyte nuclei, had no caspase-1 activity using proIL-1beta as a substrate. Time-course studies showed no caspase-1 activity during the activation of apoptosis in Jurkat cells by agonistic Fas antibodies. Furthermore, no pro-caspase-1 protein nor activated form of the protein was detected in normal or apoptotic Jurkat cells. In contrast, both caspase-2 and caspase-3 were readily detected as proenzymes in control cells and their activated forms were detected in apoptotic cells. Incubation of recombinant active caspase-1 with control cell lysates did not activate the apoptotic cascade as shown by the lack of detectable apoptotic nuclei promoting activity using isolated nuclei as substrate. However, under similar conditions proIL-1beta was readily processed into the mature cytokine, indicating that the recombinant caspase-1 remained active in the presence of control cell lysates. Taken together our results demonstrate that caspase-1 is not required for the induction of apoptosis in Jurkat T cells mediated by the Fas antigen.
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PMID:Caspase-1 is not involved in CD95/Fas-induced apoptosis in Jurkat T cells. 992 65

We here report involvement of caspases in NO-induced neuronal apoptosis. Our experiments were designed to elucidate how NO induces neuronal cell death using NOC18, a new type of NO donor that spontaneously releases NO alone, without enzymatic metabolization. NOC18 induced apoptosis in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner estimated with DNA fragmentation assay, FACScan analysis, and nuclear morphology. In this study, oxyhemoglobin, an NO trapper, suppressed NOC18-triggered DNA fragmentation, indicating that NO from NOC18 is an apoptosis-inducer. An increase in caspase-3-like protease activity was observed in parallel with the induction of apoptosis, but no caspase-1-like protease activity was detected. The level of pro-caspase-2 protein, a precursor of caspase-2, was decreased dramatically. In addition, NOC18 also caused the cleavage of PARP, yielding an 85 kDa protein, a typical fragment of the caspases reaction. Oxyhemoglobin blocked the decrease in pro-caspase-2 and the cleavage of PARP by NOC18. Moreover, NO elicited the release of cytochrome c into the cytosol from mitochondria during apoptosis. These results suggest that activation of caspases by cytochrome c released from mitochondria is involved in neuronal apoptosis induced by NO.
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PMID:[Possible involvement of caspase activation in nitric oxide-induced neuronal apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells]. 1019 Jan 47

Treatment with NGF causes long-term cultures of oligodendrocytes to die via a yet undefined mechanism mediated by the p75 neurotrophin receptor. The p75 receptor belongs to the TNF receptor superfamily of molecules, which includes Fas and p55 TNF receptors. The Fas and TNF receptors use adaptor molecules to recruit and activate caspase-8 to the receptor. Using a combination of immunohistochemical and Western blotting assays, we have examined caspase activity during NGF-induced apoptosis. Interestingly, although caspase-1 [interleukin-1beta-converting enzyme (ICE)], caspase-2, caspase-3, and caspase-8 were expressed in oligodendrocytes, only caspase-1, -2, and -3 were activated after NGF treatment, whereas caspase-8 was not. These data suggest that the mechanism of apoptosis by NGF through the p75 receptor is different from TNF and Fas-mediated killing. gamma Radiation of oligodendrocytes also activated a similar subset of caspases as NGF, indicating that NGF-induced oligodendrocyte apoptosis uses a similar cell death execution mechanism as injury models. This consolidates a potential role of the p75 neurotrophin receptor during stress and inflammatory conditions.
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PMID:Oligodendrocyte apoptosis mediated by caspase activation. 1019 21

Caspases are cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteinases, many of which play a central role in apoptosis. Here, we report the identification of a new murine caspase homologue, viz. caspase-14. It is most related to human/murine caspase-2 and human caspase-9, possesses all the typical amino acid residues of the caspases involved in catalysis, including the QACRG box, and contains no or only a very short prodomain. Murine caspase-14 shows 83% similarity to human caspase-14. Human caspase-14 is assigned to chromosome 19p13.1. Northern blot analysis revealed that mRNA expression of caspase-14 is undetectable in all mouse adult tissues examined except for skin, while it is abundantly expressed in mouse embryos. In contrast to many other caspase family members, murine caspase-14 is not cleaved by granzyme B, caspase-1, caspase-2, caspase-3, caspase-6, caspase-7 or caspase-11, but is weakly processed into p18 and p11 subunits by murine caspase-8. No aspartase activity of murine caspase-14 could be generated by bacterial or yeast expression. Transient overexpression of murine caspase-14 in mammalian cells did not elicit cell death and did not interfere with caspase-8-induced apoptosis. In conclusion, caspase-14 is a member of the caspase family but no proteolytic or biological activities have been identified so far. The high constitutive expression levels in embryos and specific expression in adult skin suggest a role in ontogenesis and skin physiology.
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PMID:Identification of a new caspase homologue: caspase-14. 1020 98

In this study, we demonstrate the developmental activation, in the zebrafish embryo, of a surveillance mechanism which triggers apoptosis to remove damaged cells. We determine the time course of activation of this mechanism by exposing embryos to camptothecin, an agent which specifically inhibits topoisomerase I within the DNA replication complex and which, as a consequence of this inhibition, also produces strand breaks in the genomic DNA. In response to an early (pre-gastrula) treatment with camptothecin, apoptosis is induced at a time corresponding approximately to mid-gastrula stage in controls. This apoptotic response to a block of DNA replication can also be induced by early (pre-MBT) treatment with the DNA synthesis inhibitors hydroxyurea and aphidicolin. After camptothecin treatment, a high proportion of cells in two of the embryo's three mitotic domains (the enveloping and deep cell layers), but not in the remaining domain (the yolk syncytial layer), undergoes apoptosis in a cell-autonomous fashion. The first step in this response is an arrest of the proliferation of all deep- and enveloping-layer cells. These cells continue to increase in nuclear volume and to synthesize DNA. Eventually they become apoptotic, by a stereotypic pathway which involves cell membrane blebbing, "margination" and fragmentation of nuclei, and cleavage of the genomic DNA to produce a nucleosomal ladder. Fragmentation of nuclei can be blocked by the caspase-1,4,5 inhibitor Ac-YVAD-CHO, but not by the caspase-2,3,7[, 1] inhibitor Ac-DEVD-CHO. This suggests a functional requirement for caspase-4 or caspase-5 in the apoptotic response to camptothecin. Recently, Xenopus has been shown to display a developmental activation of the capability for stress- or damaged-induced apoptosis at early gastrula stage. En masse, our experiments suggest that the apoptotic responses in zebrafish and Xenopus are fundamentally similar. Thus, as for mammals, embryos of the lower vertebrates exhibit the activation of surveillance mechanisms, early in development, to produce the selective apoptosis of damaged cells.
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PMID:Developmental activation of the capability to undergo checkpoint-induced apoptosis in the early zebrafish embryo. 1032 30

In general, apoptotic stimuli lead to activation of caspases. Once activated, a caspase can induce intracellular signaling pathways involving proteolytic activation of other caspase family members. We report the in vitro processing of eight murine procaspases by their enzymatically active counterparts. Caspase-8 processed all procaspases examined. Caspase-1 and -11 processed the effector caspases procaspase-3 and -7, and to a lesser extent procaspase-6. However, vice versa, none of the caspase-1-like procaspases was activated by the effector caspases. This suggests that the caspase-1 subfamily members either act upstream of the apoptosis effector caspases or else are part of a totally separate activation pathway. Procaspase-2 was maturated by caspase-8 and -3, and to a lesser extent by caspase-7, while the active caspase-2 did not process any of the procaspases examined, except its own precursor. Hence, caspase-2 might not be able to initiate a wide proteolytic signaling cascade. Additionally, cleavage data reveal not only proteolytic amplification between caspase-3 and -8, caspase-6 and -3, and caspase-6 and -7, but also positive feedback loops involving multiple activated caspases. Our results suggest the existence of a hierarchic proteolytic procaspase activation network, which would lead to a dramatic increase in multiple caspase activities once key caspases are activated. The proteolytic procaspase activation network might allow that different apoptotic stimuli result in specific cleavage of substrates responsible for typical processes at the cell membrane, the cytosol, the organelles, and the nucleus, which characterize a cell dying by apoptosis.
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PMID:The proteolytic procaspase activation network: an in vitro analysis. 1057 81

beta-amyloid (Abeta) has been proposed to play a role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Deposits of insoluble Abeta are found in the brains of patients with AD and are one of the pathological hallmarks of the disease. It has been proposed that Abeta induces death by oxidative stress, possibly through the generation of peroxynitrite from superoxide and nitric oxide. In our current study, treatment with nitric oxide generators protected against Abeta-induced death, whereas inhibition of nitric oxide synthase afforded no protection, suggesting that formation of peroxynitrite is not critical for Abeta-mediated death. Previous studies have shown that aggregated Abeta can induce caspase-dependent apoptosis in cultured neurons. In all of the neuronal populations studied here (hippocampal neurons, sympathetic neurons, and PC12 cells), cell death was blocked by the broad spectrum caspase inhibitor N-benzyloxycarbonyl-val-ala-asp-fluoromethyl ketone and more specifically by the downregulation of caspase-2 with antisense oligonucleotides. In contrast, downregulation of caspase-1 or caspase-3 did not block Abeta(1-42)-induced death. Neurons from caspase-2 null mice were totally resistant to Abeta(1-42) toxicity, confirming the importance of this caspase in Abeta-induced death. The results indicate that caspase-2 is necessary for Abeta(1-42)-induced apoptosis in vitro.
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PMID:Caspase-2 mediates neuronal cell death induced by beta-amyloid. 1066 29

Caspases, a family of cysteine proteases, have been recognized as the central executors of programmed cell death. Nonetheless, the information on the caspase family has been limited to mammals, Drosophila, and nematodes. To examine the structure and characterization of the Xenopus caspase family, we have cloned the cDNAs encoding caspase-2 and -6-10 in addition to caspase-1 and -3, which we characterized previously (Yaoita, Y., and Nakajima, K. (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272, 5122-5127). First, the existence of these caspases in frog suggests that the caspase cascades clarified in mammals are conserved at least from Amphibia. Interestingly, Xenopus caspase-1, -8, and -10 (especially caspase-8) showed a lower degree of identity to human equivalents than the other caspases. Second, mRNAs of many caspases increased during the climax of metamorphosis in regressing organs, tail, and intestine, where programmed cell death occurs, but not in apoptotic tail-derived cultured cells (XLT-15-11) treated with thyroid hormone, showing that new RNA synthesis of caspases is dispensable to programmed cell death. Third, comparison of human and Xenopus caspase sequences implies that some proposed regulations of human caspases are not conserved in frog.
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PMID:Structure, expression, and function of the Xenopus laevis caspase family. 1074 39

A RIP-like protein, RIP3, has recently been reported that contains an N-terminal kinase domain and a novel C-terminal domain that promotes apoptosis. These experiments further characterize RIP3-mediated apoptosis and NF-kappaB activation. Northern blots indicate that rip3 mRNA displays a restricted pattern of expression including regions of the adult central nervous system. The rip3 gene was localized by fluorescent in situ hybridization to human chromosome 14q11.2, a region frequently altered in several types of neoplasia. RIP3-mediated apoptosis was inhibited by Bcl-2, Bcl-x(L), dominant-negative FADD, as well as the general caspase inhibitor Z-VAD. Further dissection of caspase involvement in RIP3-induced apoptosis indicated inhibition by the more specific inhibitors Z-DEVD (caspase-3, -6, -7, -8, and -10) and Z-VDVAD (caspase-2). However, caspase-1, -6, -8 and -9 inhibitors had little or no effect on RIP3-mediated apoptosis. Mutational analysis of RIP3 revealed that the C-terminus of RIP3 contributed to its apoptotic activity. This region is similar, but distinct, to the death domain found in many pro-apoptotic receptors and adapter proteins, including FAS, FADD, TNFR1, and RIP. Furthermore, point mutations of RIP3 at amino acids conserved among death domains, abrogated its apoptotic activity. RIP3 was localized by immunofluorescence to the mitochondrion and may play a key role in the mitochondrial disruptions often associated with apoptosis.
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PMID:The RIP-like kinase, RIP3, induces apoptosis and NF-kappaB nuclear translocation and localizes to mitochondria. 1081 27


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