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)

Ebselen, a selenium-containing heterocyclic compound, prevents ischemia-induced cell death. However, the molecular mechanism through which ebselen exerts its cytoprotective effect remains to be elucidated. Using sodium nitroprusside (SNP) as a nitric oxide (NO) donor, we show here that ebselen potently inhibits NO-induced apoptosis of differentiated PC12 cells. This was associated with inhibition of NO-induced phosphatidyl Serine exposure, cytochrome c release, and caspase-3 activation by ebselen. Analysis of key apoptotic regulators during NO-induced apoptosis of differentiated PC12 cells showed that ebselen blocks the activation of the apoptosis signaling-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1), and inhibits phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and c-jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK). Moreover, ebselen inhibits NO-induced p53 phosphorylation at Ser15 and c-Jun phosphorylation at Ser63 and Ser73. It appears that inhibition of p38 MAPK and p53 phosphorylation by ebselen occurs via a thiol-redox-dependent mechanism. Interestingly, ebselen also activates p44/42 MAPK, and inhibits the downregulation of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 in SNP-treated PC12 cells. Together, these findings suggest that ebselen protects neuronal cells from NO cytotoxicity by reciprocally regulating the apoptotic and antiapoptotic signaling cascades.
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PMID:Ebselen inhibits NO-induced apoptosis of differentiated PC12 cells via inhibition of ASK1-p38 MAPK-p53 and JNK signaling and activation of p44/42 MAPK and Bcl-2. 1471 91

Heparin/heparan sulfate interacting protein (HIP, also known as ribosome protein L29) is involved in cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions and influences cell proliferation, migration and differentiation. In the present study, we investigated the role of HIP in anticancer drug-induced apoptosis. Both colon cancer HCT-116 and HT-29 cells showed dose-dependent down-regulation of HIP expression when treated with sodium butyrate. The down-regulation was negatively correlated with the percentage of apoptotic cells (R = -0.955, P = 0.03 and R = -0.792, P = 0.06 for HCT-116 and HT-29 cells, respectively). The correlation between HIP expression and apoptosis in HCT-116 cells was also evident in the differential expression of HIP in the floating and adherent cell populations. Most apoptotic cells were distributed in the floating population. HIP expression in this population was approximately 30% lower than adherent and untreated control cells. HIP expression in HCT-116 cells was also significantly decreased in parallel with apoptosis after treatment with 50 micro M camptothecin and 20 micro M 5-fluorouracil. This indicates that the down-regulation of HIP may be a general phenomenon in anticancer drug-induced apoptosis. The down-regulation of HIP occurred in the early phase of apoptosis, in parallel with the activation of caspase-3 and the externalization of phosphatidylserine. The functional significance of HIP in apoptosis was shown by knocking down the expression of HIP using small interfering RNA. A 50% reduction in HIP expression was sufficient to increase the percentage of apoptotic cells (from 11 to 20%) and increase the sensitivity of the cells to apoptosis induced by 1 mM butyrate by 60%. These results indicate that HIP may play an important role in anticancer drug-induced apoptosis.
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PMID:Heparin/heparan sulfate interacting protein plays a role in apoptosis induced by anticancer drugs. 1472 79

Recently, a new coronavirus was isolated from the lung tissue of autopsy sample and nasal/throat swabs of the patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the causative association with SARS was determined. To reveal further the characteristics of the virus and to provide insight about the molecular mechanism of SARS etiology, a proteomic strategy was utilized to identify the structural proteins of SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) isolated from Vero E6 cells infected with the BJ-01 strain of the virus. At first, Western blotting with the convalescent sera from SARS patients demonstrated that there were various structural proteins of SARS-CoV in the cultured supernatant of virus infected-Vero E6 cells and that nucleocaspid (N) protein had a prominent immunogenicity to the convalescent sera from the patients with SARS, while the immune response of spike (S) protein probably binding with membrane (M) glycoprotein was much weaker. Then, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was used to separate the complex protein constituents, and the strategy of continuous slicing from loading well to the bottom of the gels was utilized to search thoroughly the structural proteins of the virus. The proteins in sliced slots were trypsinized in-gel and identified by mass spectrometry. Three structural proteins named S, N and M proteins of SARS-CoV were uncovered with the sequence coverage of 38.9, 93.1 and 28.1% respectively. Glycosylation modification in S protein was also analyzed and four glycosylation sites were discovered by comparing the mass spectra before and after deglycosylation of the peptides with PNGase F digestion. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry determination showed that relative molecular weight of intact N protein is 45 929 Da, which is very close to its theoretically calculated molecular weight 45 935 Da based on the amino acid sequence deduced from the genome with the first amino acid methionine at the N-terminus depleted and second, serine, acetylated, indicating that phosphorylation does not happen at all in the predicted phosphorylation sites within infected cells nor in virus particles. Intriguingly, a series of shorter isoforms of N protein was observed by SDS-PAGE and identified by mass spectrometry characterization. For further confirmation of this phenomenon and its related mechanism, recombinant N protein of SARS-CoV was cleaved in vitro by caspase-3 and -6 respectively. The results demonstrated that these shorter isoforms could be the products from cleavage of caspase-3 rather than that of caspase-6. Further, the relationship between the caspase cleavage and the viral infection to the host cell is discussed.
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PMID:Proteomic analysis on structural proteins of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus. 1476 Jul 22

The functional significance of disruption of p21(WAF1/CIP1) induction by flavopiridol (FP) in human leukemia cells (Jurkat) exposed to the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor sodium butyrate (SB) was investigated. Coexposure of leukemic cells to FP blocked SB-mediated induction of p21(WAF1/CIP1) and resulted in a marked increase in mitochondrial injury, activation of procaspases-3 and -8, Bid cleavage, and PARP degradation. Enforced expression of p21(WAF1/CIP1) (i.e., in Jurkat cells inducibly expressing p21(WAF1/CIP1) under the control of a doxycycline-responsive promoter) partially but significantly reduced cytochrome c and apoptosis-inducing factor release, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, caspase-3 and -8 activation, Bid cleavage, poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) degradation, and apoptosis in response to SB/FP. Furthermore, increasing expression of p21(WAF1/CIP1) (i.e., by culturing cells in the presence of higher concentrations of doxycycline) rendered cells more resistant to SB/FP-mediated lethality. Enforced expression of p21(WAF1/CIP1) did not modify SB/FP-mediated JNK activation or generation of reactive oxygen species. Consistent with these results, Jurkat cells stably expressing a p21(WAF1/CIP1) nuclear localization mutant (p21DeltaNLS) were also resistant to SB/FP-mediated mitochondrial injury, activation of procaspases-3 and -8, PARP cleavage, and apoptosis. Finally, enforced expression of full-length or ectopic expression of DeltaNLS p21(WAF1/CIP1) increased the amount of p21(WAF1/CIP1) coimmunoprecipitating with procaspase-3. Together, these findings suggest that interruption of HDAC-mediated p21(WAF1/CIP1) induction by FP plays a significant functional role in potentiating apoptosis, possibly by preventing the formation of a procaspase-3/p21(WAF1/CIP1) complex.
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PMID:Evidence of a functional role for p21WAF1/CIP1 down-regulation in synergistic antileukemic interactions between the histone deacetylase inhibitor sodium butyrate and flavopiridol. 1497 35

The cytotoxicity and apoptosis-inducing activity of butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and 2-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol (BMP) and the mixture of BHA and BHT (BHA/BHT) (1:1, molar ratio) were investigated, using human promeylocytic leukemia cell lines (HL-60) and human squamous cell carcinoma cell lines (HSC-2). The 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC50) declined in the order of BHA, BHT (0.2-0.3 mM) > BHA/BHT (0.04-0.07 mM) > BMP (0.02-0.05 mM). The addition of antioxidants (N-acetyl-Lcysteine, sodium ascorbate, catalase) reduced the cytotoxicity of BHA/BHT or BMP against HSC-2 cells, but not that of BHA or BHT, whereas the addition of NADH, a quinone reductase to BMP, enhanced the cytotoxicity. These findings suggested that the cytotoxicity of BHA/BHT and BMP might be caused by reactive intermediates. BHA-induced cytotoxicity was enhanced by horseradish peroxidases, suggesting that BHA was oxidizable and produced cytotoxic BHA radicals. Internucleosomal DNA fragmentation of HL-60 cells was preferably induced by BHA/BHT and BMP, followed by BHA. The MnSOD mRNA expression in HL-60 cells assayed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was highly inhibited by BHA/BHT or BMP, accompanied by the change in the electrophoretic mobility of MnSOD on polyacryamide gel. These compounds activated caspase-3, 8 and 9 in HL-60 cells. Activations of caspases, particularly caspase-3, declined in the order of BHA/BHT > BHA > BMP > BHT. The most cytotoxic BMP activated caspase-3 activity to the least extent, possibly in part due to the occurrence of necrosis. The great cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction by BHA/BHT may be due to reactive intermediates derived from the interaction between BHA phenoxyl radical and BHT or BHT phenoxyl radical.
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PMID:Cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction by butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). 1498 15

Hepatocarcinoma cells (TLT) were incubated in the presence of ascorbate and menadione, either alone or in combination. Cell death was only observed when such compounds were added simultaneously, most probably due to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) generated by ascorbate-driven menadione redox cycling. TLT cells were particularly sensitive to such an oxidative stress due to its poor antioxidant status. DNA strand breaks were induced by this association but this process did not correspond to oligosomal DNA fragmentation (a hallmark of cell death by apoptosis). Neither caspase-3-like DEVDase activity, nor processing of procaspase-3 and cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) were observed in the presence of ascorbate and menadione. Cell death induced by such an association was actively dependent on protein phosphorylation since it was totally prevented by preincubating cells with sodium orthovanadate, a tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor. Finally, while H2O2, when administered as a bolus, strongly enhances a constitutive basal NF-kappaB activity in TLT cells, their incubation in the presence of ascorbate and menadione results in a total abolition of such a constitutive activity.
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PMID:Ascorbate potentiates the cytotoxicity of menadione leading to an oxidative stress that kills cancer cells by a non-apoptotic caspase-3 independent form of cell death. 1500 19

The level of differentiation could influence sensitivity of colonic epithelial cells to various stimuli. In our study, the effects of TNF-alpha, inhibitors of arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism (baicalein, BA; indomethacin, INDO; niflumic acid, NA; nordihydroguaiaretic acid, NDGA), and/or their combinations on undifferentiated or sodium butyrate (NaBt)-differentiated human colon adenocarcinoma HT-29 cells were compared. NaBt-treated cells became growth arrested (blocked in G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle), and showed down-regulated Bcl-xL and up-regulated Bak proteins and increased expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX). These cells were more perceptive to anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects of TNF-alpha. Both inhibitors of LOX (BA and NDGA) and COX (INDO and NA) in higher concentrations modulated cell cycle changes accompanying NaBt-induced differentiation and induced various level of cell death in undifferentiated and differentiated cells. Most important is our finding that TNF-alpha action on proliferation and cell death can be potentiated by co-treatment of cells with AA metabolism inhibitors, and that these effects were more significant in undifferentiated cells. TNF-alpha and INDO co-treatment was associated with accumulation of cells in G0/G1 cell cycle phase, increased reactive oxygen species production, and elevated caspase-3 activity. These results indicate the role of differentiation status in the sensitivity of HT-29 cells to the anti-proliferative and proapoptotic effects of TNF-alpha, AA metabolism inhibitors, and their combinations, and imply promising possibility for novel anti-cancer strategies.
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PMID:The effects of TNF-alpha and inhibitors of arachidonic acid metabolism on human colon HT-29 cells depend on differentiation status. 1500 23

Beta-amyloid (Abeta) peptide is the major component of senile plaques and considered to have a causal role in the development and progression of Alzheimer's disease. There has been compelling evidence that Abeta-induced cytotoxicity is mediated through oxidative and/or nitrosative stress. Recently, considerable attention has been focused on dietary manipulation of oxidative and/or nitrosative damage. l-Ergothioneine (EGT; 2-mercaptohistidine trimethylbetaine) is a low-molecular-weight naturally occurring thiol compound of dietary origin that exists in the brain, liver, kidney, erythrocytes, ocular tissues, and seminal fluids of mammals. This water-soluble antioxidant has the ability to scavenge hydroxyl and peroxynitrite radicals as well as activated oxygen species, such as singlet oxygen. In this study, we investigated the effects of EGT on Abeta-induced oxidative and/or nitrosative cell death. Rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells treated with Abeta underwent apoptotic death as determined by positive in situ terminal end-labeling (TUNEL staining), decreased mitochondrial transmembrane potential, increased ratio of proapoptotic Bax to antiapoptotic Bcl-XL, elevated caspase-3 activity, and cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. EGT pretreatment attenuated Abeta-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells. Compared to N-acetyl-l-cysteine, which mainly scavenges reactive oxygen species, EGT effectively inhibited Abeta-induced cell death by suppressing peroxynitrite formation and subsequent nitration of protein tyrosine residues. The effects of EGT on the cytotoxicity induced by the nitric oxide donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and the peroxynitrite-generating 3-morpholinosydnonimine chlorhydrate (SIN-1) were compared. Whereas EGT significantly protected against SIN-1-mediated cell death, it barely affected the cytotoxicity induced by SNP. Thus EGT may attenuate apoptosis caused by Abeta, preferentially by eliminating peroxynitrite derived from the neurotoxic peptide. The importance of diet-derived antioxidants in the management of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders is discussed.
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PMID:Ergothioneine rescues PC12 cells from beta-amyloid-induced apoptotic death. 1503 48

Although (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) has been reported to induce apoptosis in a variety of tumor cells, detailed mechanisms remain to be explored. In the present study, we investigated the antitumor mechanism of EGCG by using human T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia Jurkat cells. We focused on the involvement of reactive oxygen species, as we found previously that EGCG caused apoptotic cell death in osteoclastic cells due mainly to promotion of the reduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II) to trigger Fenton reaction, which affords hydroxyl radical from hydrogen peroxide [H(2)O(2) + Fe(II) --> (*)OH + OH(-) + Fe(III)]. EGCG (12.5-50 micro M) decreased the viability of Jurkat cells and caused concomitant increase in cellular caspase-3 activity. Catalase and the Fe(II)-chelating reagent o-phenanthroline suppressed the EGCG effects, indicating involvements of both H(2)O(2) and Fe(II) in the mechanism. Unexpectedly, epicatechin gallate (ECG), which has Fe(III)-reducing potency comparable with EGCG, failed to decrease the viability of Jurkat cells, while epigallocatechin (EGC), which has low capacity to reduce Fe(III), showed cytotoxic effects similar to EGCG. These results suggest that, unlike in osteoclastic cells, a mechanism other than Fe(III) reduction plays a role in catechin-mediated Jurkat cell death. We found that EGCG causes an elevation of H(2)O(2) levels in Jurkat cell culture, in cell-free culture medium and sodium phosphate buffer. Catechins with a higher ability to produce H(2)O(2) were more cytotoxic to Jurkat cells. Hydrogen peroxide itself exerted Fe(II)-dependent cytotoxicity. Amongst tumor and normal cell lines tested, cells exhibiting lower H(2)O(2)-eliminating activity were more sensitive to EGCG. From these findings, we propose the mechanism that make catechins cytotoxic in certain tumor cells is due to their ability to produce H(2)O(2) and that the resulting increase in H(2)O(2) levels triggers Fe(II)-dependent formation of highly toxic hydroxyl radical, which in turn induces apoptotic cell death.
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PMID:Generation of hydrogen peroxide primarily contributes to the induction of Fe(II)-dependent apoptosis in Jurkat cells by (-)-epigallocatechin gallate. 1509 Apr 67

Undifferentiated, murine embryonic stem (mES) cells have shown promise as a substrate for identifying embryotoxic chemicals and for studying mechanisms of early developmental injury. However, long-term maintenance of mES cells in an undifferentiated state is problematic. The present study evaluates the combination of Matrigel matrix and three growth factors for this purpose. Biomarkers of mES cell pluripotency, apoptosis, chromosome number and cardiomyocyte differentiation were monitored over 119 population doublings. D3 mES cells retained undifferentiated characteristics, including sustained expression of alkaline phosphatase and stage specific embryonic antigen-1 (SSEA-1) and continued transcription of Pou5f1 (Oct-4). Cell viability remained at > or=95% and population-doubling times averaged 14.3 h over 10 weeks of observation. Caspase-3 activation, a marker of cellular death by apoptosis, was measured in early- and late-passage mES cells. Early-passage cells showed dose-responsive caspase-3 activation following exposure to sodium arsenite, whereas caspase-3 activation of late-passage cells dropped to background levels at toxicant dosages above 50 ppb. Aneuploidy and impaired differentiation into beating cardiomyocytes were noted for late-passage mES cells. Matrigel, combined with growth factors, may sustain undifferentiated mES cells. However, aneuploidy, reduced caspase-3 activation, and inability to differentiate suggests further modifications to the culture system may be needed for long-term propagation of cells for embryotoxicity endpoints.
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PMID:Combined effects of Matrigel and growth factors on maintaining undifferentiated murine embryonic stem cells for embryotoxicity testing. 1513 Jun 12


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