Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.22.56 (caspase-3)
 35,750 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP) is a ribosome inactivating protein isolated from the pokeweed plant (Phytolacca americana L.) that exhibits broad range antiviral activity against several human viruses including HIV and influenza. This characteristic suggests that PAP may have therapeutic applications; however, it is not known whether the protein elicits a ribotoxic stress response that would result in cell death. Therefore, we expressed PAP in 293T cells and showed that the enzyme did not inhibit protein translation even though approximately 15% of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) was depurinated. PAP expression induced the activation of c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK), which was specific to rRNA depurination, as the enzymatically inactive mutant PAPx did not affect kinase activity. Moreover, incubation of PAP-expressing cells with translation inhibitors diminished JNK activation, indicating that the signal for induction of the kinase pathway originated from ribosomes. JNK activation did not result in apoptosis as demonstrated by the absence of caspase-3 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage and by the lack of cell staining for morphological changes in membrane permeability. Unlike all ribosome inactivating proteins tested thus far, the stress response triggered by PAP expression did not result in cell death, which supports further investigation of the enzyme in the design of novel antiviral agents.
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PMID:Expression of pokeweed antiviral protein in mammalian cells activates c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase without causing apoptosis. 1857 78

The antidepressant desipramine has been shown to induce a rise in cytosolic Ca2+ levels ([Ca2+]i) and cytotoxicity in human PC3 prostate cancer cells, but the mechanisms underlying its cytotoxic effect is unclear. Cell viability was examined by WST-1 assays. Apoptosis was assessed by propidium iodide staining and an increase in caspase-3 activation. Phosphorylation of protein kinases was analyzed by immunoblotting. Desipramine caused cell death via apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner. Immunoblotting data revealed that desipramine activated the phosphorylation of c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK), but not extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). SP600125 (a selective JNK inhibitor) partially prevented cells from apoptosis. Pretreatment with BAPTA/AM, a Ca2+ chelator, to prevent desipramine-induced [Ca2+]i rises worsened desipramine-induced cytotoxicity. Immunoblotting data suggest that BAPTA/AM pretreatment enhanced desipramine-evoked JNK phosphorylation and caspase-3 cleavage. The results suggest that in PC3 cells, desipramine caused apoptosis via inducing JNK-associated caspase-3 activation, and [Ca2+]i rises may slow down or alleviate desipramine-induced cytotoxicity.
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PMID:Desipramine-induced apoptosis in human PC3 prostate cancer cells: activation of JNK kinase and caspase-3 pathways and a protective role of [Ca2+]i elevation. 1860 86

The ruthenium nitrosyl complex trans-[Ru(NO)(NH(3))(4)(py)](PF(6))(3) (pyNO), a nitric oxide (NO) donor, was studied in regard to the release of NO and its impact both on isolated mitochondria and HepG2 cells. In isolated mitochondria, NO release from pyNO was concomitant with NAD(P)H oxidation and, in the 25-100 microM range, it resulted in dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential, inhibition of state 3 respiration, ATP depletion and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. In the presence of Ca(2+), mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT), an unspecific membrane permeabilization involved in cell necrosis and some types of apoptosis, was elicited. As demonstrated by externalization of phosphatidylserine and activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, pyNO (50-100 microM) induced HepG2 cell death, mainly by apoptosis. The combined action of the NO itself, the peroxynitrite yielded by NO in the presence of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the oxidative stress generated by the NAD(P)H oxidation is proposed to be involved in cell death by pyNO, both via respiratory chain inhibition and ROS levels increase, or even via MPT, if Ca(2+) is present.
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PMID:Effects on mitochondria of mitochondria-induced nitric oxide release from a ruthenium nitrosyl complex. 1895 Jul 24

Oxidant stress is critically involved in various liver diseases. Superoxide formation causes c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK)- and caspase-dependent apoptosis in cultured hepatocytes. To verify these findings in vivo, male Fisher rats were treated with diquat and menadione. The oxidant stress induced by both compounds was confirmed by increased formation of glutathione disulfide and 4-hydroxynonenal protein adducts. Plasma alanine aminotransferase activities increased from 46+/-4 U/l in controls to 955+/-90 U/l at 6 h after diquat treatment. Hematoxylin and eosin staining of liver sections revealed large areas of necrotic cells at 3 and 6 h. DNA strandbreaks, evaluated with the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay, showed clusters of TUNEL-positive cells, where the staining was predominantly cytosolic and the cells were swollen, indicating oncotic necrosis. There was no significant increase in caspase-3 activities or relevant release of DNA fragments into the cytosol at any time between 0 and 6 h after diquat treatment. Despite the activation of JNK after high doses of diquat, the JNK inhibitor SP-600125 did not protect against diquat-induced necrosis. Menadione alone did not cause liver injury, but, in combination with phorone and FeSO4, induced moderate oncotic necrosis. On the other hand, if animals were treated with galactosamine/endotoxin as positive control for apoptosis, caspase-3 activities were increased by 259%, the number of TUNEL-positive cells with apoptotic morphology was increased 103-fold, and DNA fragmentation was enhanced 6-fold. The data indicate that liver cell death initiated by diquat-induced superoxide formation in vivo is mediated predominantly by oncotic necrosis and is independent of JNK activation.
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PMID:Oxidant stress-induced liver injury in vivo: role of apoptosis, oncotic necrosis, and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase activation. 1913 81

Programmed cell death is necessary for homeostasis in multicellular organisms and it is also widely recognized to occur in unicellular organisms. However, the mechanisms through which it occurs in unicells, and the enzymes involved within the final response is still the subject of heated debate. It is shown here that exposure of the unicellular microalga Dunaliella viridis to several environmental stresses, induced different cell death morphotypes, depending on the stimulus received. Senescent cells demonstrated classical and unambiguous apoptotic-like characteristics such as chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation, intact organelles, and blebbing of the cell membrane. Acute heat shock caused general swelling and altered plasma membrane, but the presence of chromatin clusters and DNA strand breaks suggested a necrotic-like event. UV irradiated cells presented changes typical for necrosis, together with apoptotic characteristics resembling an intermediate cell-death phenotype termed aponecrosis-like. Cells subjected to hyperosmotic shock revealed chromatin spotting without DNA fragmentation, and extensive cytoplasmic swelling and vacuolization, comparable to a paraptotic-like cell death phenotype. Nitrogen-starved cells showed pyknosis, blebbing, and cytoplasmic consumption, indicating a similarity to autophagic/vacuolar-like cell death. The caspase-like activity DEVDase was measured by using the fluorescent substrate Ac-DEVD-AMC and antibodies against the human caspase-3 active enzyme cross-reacted with bands, the intensity of which paralleled the activity. All the environmental stresses tested produced a substantial increase in both DEVDase activity and protein levels. The irreversible caspase-3 inhibitor Z-DEVD-FMK completely inhibited the enzymatic activity whereas serine and aspartyl proteases inhibitors did not. These results show that cell death in D. viridis does not conform to a single pattern and that environmental stimuli may produce different types of cell death depending on the type and intensity of the stimulus, all of which help to understand the cell death-dependent and cell death-independent functions of caspase-like proteins. Hence, these data support the theory that alternative, non-apoptotic programmed cell death (PCDs), exist either in parallel or in an independent manner with apoptosis and were already present in single-celled organisms that evolved some 1.2-1.6 billion years ago.
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PMID:Different ways to die: cell death modes of the unicellular chlorophyte Dunaliella viridis exposed to various environmental stresses are mediated by the caspase-like activity DEVDase. 1925 86

In the present study, the effects of lidamycin (LDM), a member of the enediyne antibiotic family, on two human multiple myeloma (MM) cell lines, U266 and SKO-007, were evaluated. In MTS assay, LDM showed much more potent cytotoxicity than conventional anti-MM agents to both cell lines. The IC(50) values of LDM for the U266 and SKO-007 cells were 0.0575 +/- 0.0015 and 0.1585 +/- 0.0166 nM, respectively, much lower than those of adriamycin, dexamethasone, and vincristine. Mechanistically, LDM triggered MM cells apoptosis by increasing the levels of cleaved poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) and caspase-3/7. In addition, activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) was a critical mediator in LDM-induced cell death. Inhibition of the expression of p38 MAPK and JNK by pharmacological inhibitors reversed the LDM-induced apoptosis through decreasing the level of cleaved PARP and caspase-3/7. Interestingly, phosphorylation of extracellular signal-related kinase was increased by LDM; conversely, MEK inhibitor synergistically enhanced LDM-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis in MM cells. The results demonstrated that LDM suppresses MM cell growth through the activation of p38 MAPK and JNK, with the potential to be developed as a chemotherapeutic agent for MM.
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PMID:Enediyne lidamycin induces apoptosis in human multiple myeloma cells through activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase. 1946 99

The tripeptide thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH, pGlu-His-Pro-NH2) has been shown to possess neuroprotective activity in in vitro and in vivo models. Since its potential utility is limited by relatively rapid metabolism, metabolically stabilized analogues have been constructed. In the present study we investigated the influence of TRH and its three stable analogues: Montirelin (MON, CG-3703), RGH-2202 (L-6-keto-piperidine-2carbonyl-l-leucyl-l-prolinamide) and Z-TRH (N-carbobenzyloxy-pGlutamyl-Histydyl-Proline) in various models of mouse cortical neuronal cell injury. Twenty four hour pre-treatment with TRH and its analogues in low micromolar concentrations attenuated the neuronal cell death evoked by excitatory amino acids (EAAs: glutamate, NMDA, kainate, quisqualate) and hydrogen peroxide. All the peptides showed neuroprotective action on staurosporine (St)-evoked apoptotic neuronal cell death, but this effect was caspase-3 independent. Interestingly, in mixed neuronal-glial cell preparations only MON decreased St- and glutamate-evoked neurotoxicity. None of the peptides inhibited the doxorubicin- and lactacystin-induced neuronal cortical cell death, agents acting via activation of death receptor (FAS) or inhibition of proteasome function, respectively. Furthermore, we found that neither inhibitors of PI3-K (wortmannin, LY 294002) nor MAPK/ERK1/2 (PD 098059, U 0126) were able to inhibit neuroprotective properties of TRH and MON in St model of apoptosis. The protection mediated by TRH and MON it that model was also not connected with influence of peptides on the pro-apoptotic GSK-3beta and JNK protein kinase expression and activity. Further studies showed that calpains, calcium-activated proteases were induced by Glu, but not by St in cortical neurons. Moreover, the Glu-evoked increase in spectrin alpha II cleavage product induced by calpains was blocked by TRH. The obtained data showed that the potency of TRH and its analogues in inhibiting EAAs- and H(2)O(2)-induced neuronal cell death from the highest to lowest activity was: MON>TRH>Z-TRH>RHG. Interestingly, all peptides were active against St-induced apoptosis, however, on concentration basis MON was far more potent than the other peptides. None of the peptides inhibited Dox- and LC-evoked apoptotic cell death. Additionally, the data exclude potential role of pro-survival (PI3-K/Akt and MAPK/ERK1/2) and pro-apoptotic (GSK-3beta and JNK) pathways in neuroprotective effects of TRH and its analogues on St-induced neuronal apoptosis. Moreover, the results point to involvement of the inhibition of calpains in the TRH neuroprotective effect in Glu model of neuronal cell death.
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PMID:Effects of TRH and its analogues on primary cortical neuronal cell damage induced by various excitotoxic, necrotic and apoptotic agents. 1966 92

We have developed a generic approach to determine enzyme activities in vitro and monitor their functional status in vivo. Specifically, a method to generate donor (CbOH)-acceptor (Me2NCp) near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye pairs for preparing enzyme activatable molecular systems were developed based on the structural template of heptamethine cyanine dyes. Using caspase-3 as a model enzyme, we prepared two new caspase-3 sensitive compounds with high fluorescence quenching efficiency: Me2NCp-DEVD-K(CbOH)-OH (4) and AcGK(Me2NCp)-DEVD-APK(CbOH)-NH2 (5). The mechanism of quenching was based on combined effects of direct (classical) and reverse fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Caspase-3 cleavage of the scissile DEVD amide bond regenerated the NIR fluorescence of both donor and acceptor dyes. While both compounds were cleaved by caspase-3, substrate 5 was cleaved more readily than 4, yielding k(cat) and K(M), values of 1.02 +/- 0.06 s(-1) and 15 +/- 3 microM, respectively. Treatment of A549 tumor cells with paclitaxel resulted in > 2-fold increase in the fluorescence intensity by NIR confocal microscopy, suggesting the activation of pro-caspase-3 to caspase-3. A similar trend was observed in a mouse model, where the fluorescence intensity was nearly twice the value in caspase-3-rich tissue relative to the control. These results demonstrate the use of the same NIR activatable molecular systems for monitoring the activities of enzymes across a wide spatial scale ranging from in vitro kinetics measurements to in cellulo and in vivo localization of caspase-3 activation. The NIR activatable molecular probes provide an effective strategy to screen new drugs in vitro and monitor treatment response in living organisms.
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PMID:Activatable molecular systems using homologous near-infrared fluorescent probes for monitoring enzyme activities in vitro, in cellulo, and in vivo. 1971 95

Tissue transglutaminase (TG2) is a multifunctional member of the transglutaminase (TGase) family (E.C.2.3.2.13), which catalyzes in a calcium-dependent reaction the formation of covalent bonds between the gamma-carboxamide groups of peptide-bound glutamine residues and various primary amines. Here, we investigated the role of TG2 in a response of the neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells to topoisomerase II inhibitor etoposide, known to trigger DNA-damage cell response. We found an early and transient (approximately 2 h) increase of the TG2 protein in SH-SY5Y cells treated with etoposide, along with the increase of phosphorylated and total levels of the p53 protein. Next, we showed that SH-SY5Y cells, which overexpress wild-type TG2 were significantly protected against etoposide-induced cell death. The TG2 protective effect was associated only with the transamidation active form of TG2, because overexpression the wild-type TG2, but not its transamidation inactive C277S form, resulted in a pronounced suppression of caspase-3 activity as well as p53 phosphorylation during the etoposide-induced stress. In addition, exacerbation of cell death with a significant increase in caspase-3 and p53 activation was observed in SH/anti-TG2 cells, in which expression of the endogenous TG2 protein has been greatly reduced by the antisense cDNA construct. Though the cell signaling and molecular mechanisms of the TG2-driven suppression of the cell death machinery remain to be investigated, our findings strongly suggest that TG2 plays an active role in the response of neuroblastoma cells to DNA-damage-induced stress by exerting a strong protective effect, likely by the suppression of p53 activation and p53-driven cell signaling events.
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PMID:TG2 protects neuroblastoma cells against DNA-damage-induced stress, suppresses p53 activation. 2011 34

6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) is a selective neurotoxin that is widely used to investigate cell death and protective strategies in models of Parkinson's disease. Here, we investigated the effects of the endogenous cannabinoid, anandamide, on 6-OHDA-induced toxicity in rat adrenal phaeochromocytoma PC12 cells. Morphological analysis and caspase-3 activity assay revealed that anandamide inhibited 6-OHDA-induced apoptosis. The protection was not affected by antagonists of either cannabinoid receptors (CB(1) or CB(2)) or the vanilloid receptor TRPV1. Anandamide-dependent protection was reduced by pretreatment with LY294002 (inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, PI3K) and unaffected by U0126 (inhibitor of extracellularly-regulated kinase). Interestingly, phosphorylation of c-Jun-NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) in cells exposed to 6-OHDA was strongly reduced by anandamide pre-treatment. Furthermore, 6-OHDA induced c-Jun activation and increased Bim expression, both of which were inhibited by anandamide. Together, these data demonstrate antiapoptotic effects of anandamide and also suggest a role for activation of PI3K and inhibition of JNK signalling in anandamide-mediated protection against 6-OHDA.
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PMID:Inhibition by anandamide of 6-hydroxydopamine-induced cell death in PC12 cells. 2018 44


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