EC:3.4.22.56 - FACTA Search

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Query: EC:3.4.22.56 (caspase-3)
35,750 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Although alpha-chaconine, one of the two major potato trisaccharide glycoalkaloids, have shown cytotoxic effects on human cancer cells, the exact mechanism of this action of alpha-chaconine is not completely understood. In this study, we found that alpha-chaconine induced apoptosis of HT-29 cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner by using flow cytometric analysis. We also found that caspase-3 activity and the active form of caspase-3 were increased 12 h after alpha-chaconine treatment. Caspase inhibitors, N-Ac-DEVD-CHO and Z-VAD-fmk, prevented alpha-chaconine-induced apoptosis, whereas alpha-chaconine-induced apoptosis was potentiated by PD98059, an extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) inhibitor. However, pretreatment of the cells with LY294002 and SB203580, inhibitors of PI3K and p38, respectively, BAPTA-AM, an intracellular Ca(2+) chelator, and antioxidants such as N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and Trolox had no effect on the alpha-chaconine-induced cell death. In addition, phosphorylation of ERK was reduced by the treatment with alpha-chaconine. Moreover, alpha-chaconine-induced caspase-3 activity was further increased by the pretreatment with PD98059. Thus, the results indicate that alpha-chaconine induces apoptosis of HT-29 cells through inhibition of ERK and, in turn, activation of caspase-3.
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PMID:Alpha-chaconine, a potato glycoalkaloid, induces apoptosis of HT-29 human colon cancer cells through caspase-3 activation and inhibition of ERK 1/2 phosphorylation. 1638 4

Visceral glomerular epithelial cells (GEC) are crucial for glomerular permselectivity and structural integrity in the kidney. The current study addressed the role of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and its product prostaglandin (PG) E2 in GEC survival. We generated a subclone of cultured rat GEC, which overexpress COX-2 in an inducible manner. When COX-2 was induced, GEC survived better in serum-deprived conditions. Induction of COX-2 was correlated with increased PGE2 generation, increased activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase, decreased apoptosis, and increased cell proliferation. Rat GEC abundantly expressed the EP4 isoform of PGE2 receptor. Induction of COX-2 and addition of exogenous PGE2 both lead to decreased serum deprivation-induced apoptosis, which was accompanied by activation of the survival kinase Akt. Anti-apoptotic effect of COX-2 induction was reversed by the specific inhibitor of the EP4 receptor, L-161982. PGE2 also inhibited puromycin aminonucleoside-induced GEC apoptosis in vitro. Acute puromycin aminonucleoside nephrosis (PAN) is a rat model of GEC injury and proteinuria. In rats with PAN, glomerular apoptosis, quantified as caspase-3 activity, as well as urinary protein excretion were significantly increased, compared with control rats. Administration of L-161982 in rats with PAN further exacerbated caspase-3 activation and proteinuria. Thus COX-2 and its product PGE2 may have anti-apoptotic/protective effect on GEC via the EP4 receptor of PGE2.
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PMID:Prostaglandin E2 promotes cell survival of glomerular epithelial cells via the EP4 receptor. 1639 44

Trimidox (3,4,5-trihydroxybenzamidoxime) has been shown to reduce the activity of ribonucleotide reductase accompanied by growth inhibition and the differentiation of mammalian cells. Here we examine the induction of apoptosis by trimidox in several human leukaemia cell lines, focusing on the release of cytochrome c and the activation of caspase proteases in the human B cell line NALM-6. Induction of apoptosis by trimidox (300 microM) was detected in NALM-6, HL-60 (premyelocytic leukaemia cells), MOLT-4 (an acute lymphoblastic leukaemia cells), Jurkat (a T-cell leukaemia cells), U937 (expressing many monocyte-like characteristics), and K562 (erythroleukaemia). NALM-6 was most affected by trimidox among leukaemia cells; therefore, we employed NALM-6 cells in the subsequent experiments. The cells showed a time-dependent increase in DNA damage after trimidox (250 microM) treatment. A significant increase in the amount of cytochrome c release was detected after treatment with trimidox. Bcl-2 and Bax protein expressions were not changed by trimidox. Caspase-3 and -9 were activated by incubation with trimidox, whereas caspase-8 was not. Furthermore, trimidox-induced apoptosis was prevented by a broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor, a caspase-3, and a caspase-9 inhibitor, but not by a caspase-8 inhibitor. Inhibition of c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) by SP600125 appreciably protected cells from trimidox-induced apoptosis, but no effect inhibition of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) by SB203580. In contrast, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) inhibitors U0126 and PD98059 strongly potentiated the apoptotic effect of trimidox. This report shows that the induction of apoptosis by trimidox occurs through a cytochrome c-dependent pathway, which sequentially activates caspase-3 and caspase-9.
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PMID:Trimidox induces apoptosis via cytochrome c release in NALM-6 human B cell leukaemia cells. 1643 90

Cadmium is a nonessential heavy metal and a well-known persistent environmental pollutant. It causes a variety of toxic effects, including immunotoxicity. The exact mechanism of its cellular effects still is unclear. Cell-cycle regulation is an important factor that modulates cell death; however, cadmium-mediated cell-cycle arrest leading to cell death in murine macrophages has not been investigated. Cadmium at 20 microM induced both apoptotic and necrotic death in murine macrophage (J774A.1) cultures at 24 h. Cadmium at 20 microM triggered re-entry of G0/G1 to the next phase and increased the number of cells in the G2/M phase at 24 h. Phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) correlated with the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21WAF1/CIP1 induction. Inhibition of ERK activation by PD98059 resulted in G0/G1 arrest and partially released the cadmium-mediated G2/M arrest. Inhibition of ERK phosphorylation by PD98059 strongly attenuated cadmium-induced necrotic cell death, but did not prevent caspase-3 activation and DNA fragmentation. Necrosis rather than apoptosis was caused by cadmium-induced ERK signaling in J774A.1 cells. A scavenger of reactive oxygen species (ROS), N-acetylcystein, decreased cadmium-induced ERK activation and necrotic cell death, suggesting that cadmium induces the ROS-ERK-p21WAF1/CIP1 signaling pathway, leading to G2/M arrest and cell death. These findings may be important in further understanding the cellular mechanisms of cadmium toxicity to provide information to assess objectively risk for this metal.
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PMID:Extracellular signal-regulated kinase-signaling-dependent G2/M arrest and cell death in murine macrophages by cadmium. 1644 87

Fatty acid synthase is overexpressed in cancer especially in tumors with a poor prognosis. The specific fatty acid synthase inhibitor cerulenin can induce apoptosis in cancer cells. Likewise, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt kinase activities are elevated in primary tumors and cancer cell lines. Here, we tested whether inhibition of PI3K/Akt pathway would sensitize cancer cells to cerulenin-induced apoptosis. We show that LY294002, an inhibitor of PI3K, sensitized MDA-MB468 breast cancer cells to cerulenin-induced apoptosis. In MDA-MB468 cells, cerulenin- and LY294002-mediated apoptosis was associated with caspase-3 activation and the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to cytosol. In addition, we observed additional species of Bak in mitochondria, suggesting a possible Bak activation. Treatment of cells with cerulenin and LY294002 down-regulated the protein levels of X chromosome-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP), cellular inhibitor of apoptosis 1 (cIAP-1), and Akt, whereas the levels of mitogen-activated protein/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase and other antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins (Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl) did not change. Interestingly, the nonspecific caspase inhibitor, z-VAD-FMK, inhibited the down-regulation of Akt, XIAP, and cIAP-1 in cerulenin- and LY294002-treated cells. In conclusion, these studies show that inhibition of PI3K can sensitize cerulenin-induced apoptosis in MBA-MB468 breast cancer cells via activation of caspases, down-regulation of antiapoptotic proteins, such as XIAP, cIAP-1 and Akt, and possibly, activation of Bak in mitochondria.
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PMID:Inhibition of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt pathway sensitizes MDA-MB468 human breast cancer cells to cerulenin-induced apoptosis. 1654 63

Agonists to A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR) have been reported to inhibit cell growth and/or induce apoptosis in various tumors. We tested the effect of a novel A3AR agonist generically known as LJ-529 in breast cancer cells. Anchorage-dependent cell growth and in vivo tumor growth were attenuated by LJ-529, independently of its estrogen receptor (ER) alpha status. In addition, apoptosis was induced as evidenced by the activation of caspase-3 and c-poly(ADP)ribose polymerase. Furthermore, the Wnt signaling pathway was down-regulated and p27(kip) was induced by LJ-529. In ER-positive cells, the expression of ER was down-regulated by LJ-529, which might have additionally contributed to attenuated cell proliferation. In ER-negative, c-ErbB2-overexpressing SK-BR-3 cells, the expression of c-ErbB2 and its downstream extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway were down-regulated by LJ-529. However, such effect of LJ-529 acted independently of its receptor because no A3AR was detected by reverse transcription-PCR in all four cell lines tested. In conclusion, our novel findings open the possibility of LJ-529 as an effective therapeutic agent against both ER-positive and ER-negative breast cancers, particularly against the more aggressive ER-negative, c-ErbB2-overexpressing types.
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PMID:The antitumor effect of LJ-529, a novel agonist to A3 adenosine receptor, in both estrogen receptor-positive and estrogen receptor-negative human breast cancers. 1654 83

Iron is essential for neoplastic cell growth, and iron chelators have been tested for potential anti-proliferative and anti-cancer effects, but the effects of iron chelators on oral cancer have not been clearly elucidated. To determine the mechanism of cell death induced by iron chelators, we explored the pathways of the three structurally related mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase subfamilies during iron chelator-induced apoptosis and differentiation of immortalized human oral keratinocytes (IHOK) and oral cancer cells (HN4). The iron chelator deferoxamine (DFO) exerted potent time- and dose-dependent inhibitory effects on the growth and apoptosis of IHOK and HN4 cells. DFO strongly activates p38 MAP kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), but does not activate c-Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase. Of the three MAP kinase blockers used, the selective p38 MAP kinase inhibitor SB203580 and ERK inhibitor PD98059 protected IHOK and HN4 cells against iron chelator-induced cell death, which indicates that the p38 and ERK MAP kinase is a major mediator of apoptosis induced by this iron chelator. Interestingly, treatment of IHOK and HN4 cells with SB203580 and PD98059 abolished cytochrome c release, as well as the activation of caspase-3 and caspase-8. DFO suppressed the expression of epithelial differentiation markers such as involucrin, CK6, and CK19, and this suppression was blocked by p38 and ERK MAP kinase inhibitors. Collectively, these data suggested that p38 and ERK MAP kinase plays an important role in iron chelator-mediated cell death and in the suppression of differentiation of oral immortalized and malignant keratinocytes, by activating a downstream apoptotic cascade that executes the cell death pathway.
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PMID:p38 and ERK MAP kinase mediates iron chelator-induced apoptosis and -suppressed differentiation of immortalized and malignant human oral keratinocytes. 1669 18

Our previous studies have shown that atRA treatment resulted in cell-cycle block and growth inhibition in mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal (MEPM). In the current study, gestation day (GD) 13 MEPM cells were used to test the hypothesis that the growth inhibition by atRA is due to apoptosis. The effects of atRA on apoptosis were assessed by performing MTT assay, Cell Death Detection ELISA and flow cytometry, respectively. Data analysis confirmed that atRA treatment induced apoptosis-like cell death, as shown by decreased cell viability and increased fragmented DNA and sub-G1 fraction. atRA-induced apoptosis was associated with upregulation of bcl-2, translocation of bax protein to the mitochondria from the cytosol, activation of caspase-3 and cytochrome c release into cytosol. atRA-induced apoptosis was abrogated by z-DEVD-fmk, a caspase-3 specific inhibitor, and z-VAD-fmk, a general caspase inhibitor, suggesting that the atRA-induced cell death of MEPM cells occurs through the cytochrome c- and caspase-3-dependent pathways. In addition, atRA treatment caused a strong and sustained activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 kinase (p38), as well as an early but transient activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). Importantly, atRA-induced DNA fragmentation and capase-3 activation were prevented by pretreatment with the JNK inhibitor (SP600125) and the p38 MAPK inhibitor (SB202190), but not by pretreatment with MEK inhibitor (U0126). From these results, we suggest that mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent pathways is involved in the atRA-induced apoptosis of MEPM cells.
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PMID:atRA-induced apoptosis of mouse embryonic palate mesenchymal cells involves activation of MAPK pathway. 1671 91

Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal that accumulates in the environment and is commonly found in cigarette smoke and industrial effluents. This study was designed to determine the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and its antagonism by antioxidants, in cadmium-mediated cell signaling and apoptosis in murine macrophage cultures. Cadmium-generated ROS production was observed in J774A.1 cells at 6 h, reverting to control levels at 16 and 24 h. The ROS production was concentration related between 20 and 500 microM cadmium. Activation of caspase-3 was observed at 8 h and DNA fragmentation at 16 h in the presence of 20 microM cadmium, suggesting that caspase-3 activation is a prior step to DNA fragmentation in cadmium-induced apoptosis. Inhibitors of caspase-3, -8, -9, and a general caspase inhibitor suppressed cadmium-induced caspase-3 activation and apoptosis indicating the importance of caspase-3 in cadmium-induced toxicity in these cells. Protection against the oxidative stress with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and silymarin (an antioxidant flavonoid) blocked cadmium-induced apoptosis. Pretreatment of cells with NAC and silymarin prevented cadmium-induced cell injury, including growth arrest, mitochondrial impairment, and necrosis, and reduced the cadmium-elevated intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i), suggesting that the oxidative stress is a source of increased [Ca2+]i. NAC inhibited cadmium-induced activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases, the c-Jun NH2-terminal protein kinase (JNK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). However, silymarin provided only a partial protection for JNK activation, and only at the low concentration did it inhibit cadmium-induced ERK activation. Inhibition of caspase-3 protected oxidative stress produced by cadmium, suggesting that the activation of caspase-3 also contributes to generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Results emphasized the role of ROS, Ca2+ and mitogen-activated protein kinases in cadmium-induced cytotoxicity in murine macrophages.
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PMID:Cadmium-induced apoptosis in murine macrophages is antagonized by antioxidants and caspase inhibitors. 1672 80

Neutrophils die rapidly via apoptosis and their survival is contingent upon rescue from constitutive programmed cell death by signals from the microenvironment. In these experiments, we investigated whether prevention of K(+) efflux could affect the apoptotic machinery in human neutrophils. Disruption of the natural K(+) electrochemical gradient suppressed neutrophil apoptosis (assessed by annexin V binding, nuclear DNA content and nucleosomal DNA fragmentation) and prolonged cell survival within 24-48 h of culture. High extracellular K(+) (10-100 mM) did not activate extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and Akt, nor affected phosphorylation of p38 MAPK associated with constitutive apoptosis. Consistently, pharmacological blockade of ERK kinase or phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) did not affect the anti-apoptotic action of KCl. Inhibition of K(+) efflux effectively reduced, though never completely inhibited, decreases in mitochondrial transmembrane potential (DeltaPsi(m)) that preceded development of apoptotic morphology. Changes in DeltaPsi(m) resulted in attenuation of cytochrome c release from mitochondria into the cytosol and decreases in caspase-3 activity. Culture of neutrophils in medium containing 80 mM KCl with the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK resulted in slightly greater suppression of apoptosis than KCl alone. High extracellular KCl also attenuated translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) and endonuclease G (EndoG) from mitochondria to nuclei. The DNase inhibitor, aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA) partially inhibited nucleosomal DNA fragmentation, and the effects of ATA and 80 mM KCl were not additive. These results show that prevention of K(+) efflux promotes neutrophil survival by suppressing apoptosis through preventing mitochondrial dysfunction and release of the pro-apoptotic proteins cytochrome c, AIF and EndoG independent of ERK, PI 3-kinase and p38 MAPK. Thus, K(+) released locally from damaged cells may function as a survival signal for neutrophils.
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PMID:Inhibition of K+ efflux prevents mitochondrial dysfunction, and suppresses caspase-3-, apoptosis-inducing factor-, and endonuclease G-mediated constitutive apoptosis in human neutrophils. 1680 22

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