Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.22.60 (caspase-7)
920 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We investigated the ability of caspases (cysteine proteases with aspartic acid specificity) to induce cytochrome c release from mitochondria. When Jurkat cells were induced to undergo apoptosis by Fas receptor ligation, cytochrome c was released from mitochondria, an event that was prevented by the caspase inhibitor, zVAD-fmk (zVal-Ala-Asp-CH2F). Purified caspase-8 triggered rapid cytochrome c release from isolated mitochondria in vitro. The effect was indirect, as the presence of cytosol was required, suggesting that caspase-8 cleaves and activates a cytosolic substrate, which in turn is able to induce cytochrome c release from mitochondria. The cytochrome c releasing activity was not blocked by caspase inhibition, but was antagonized by Bcl-2 or Bcl-xL. Caspase-8 and caspase-3 cleaved Bid, a proapoptotic Bcl-2 family member, which gains cytochrome c releasing activity in response to caspase cleavage. However, caspase-6 and caspase-7 did not cleave Bid, although they initiated cytochrome c release from mitochondria in the presence of cytosol. Thus, effector caspases may cleave and activate another cytosolic substrate (other than Bid), which then promotes cytochrome c release from mitochondria. Mitochondria significantly amplified the caspase-8 initiated DEVD-specific cleavage activity. Our data suggest that cytochrome c release, initiated by the action of caspases on a cytosolic substrates, may act to amplify a caspase cascade during apoptosis.
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PMID:Caspases induce cytochrome c release from mitochondria by activating cytosolic factors. 1036 79

A20 is a Cys2/Cys2 zinc finger protein which is induced by a variety of inflammatory stimuli and which has been characterized as an inhibitor of cell death by a yet unknown mechanism. In order to clarify its molecular mechanism of action, we used the yeast two-hybrid system to screen for proteins that interact with A20. A cDNA fragment was isolated which encoded a portion of a novel protein (TXBP151), which was recently found to be a human T-cell leukemia virus type-I (HTLV-I) Tax-binding protein. The full-length 2386 bp TXBP151 mRNA encodes a protein of 86 kDa. Like A20, overexpression of TXBP151 could inhibit apoptosis induced by tumour necrosis factor (TNF) in NIH3T3 cells. Moreover, transfection of antisense TXBP151 partially abolished the anti-apoptotic effect of A20. Furthermore, apoptosis induced by TNF or CD95 (Fas/APO-1) was associated with proteolysis of TXBP151. This degradation could be inhibited by the broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor zVAD-fmk or by expression of the cowpox virus-derived inhibitor CrmA, suggesting that TXBP151 is a novel substrate for caspase family members. TXBP151 was indeed found to be specifically cleaved in vitro by members of the caspase-3-like subfamily, viz. caspase-3, caspase-6 and caspase-7. Thus TXBP151 appears to be a novel A20-binding protein which might mediate the anti-apoptotic activity of A20, and which can be processed by specific caspases.
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PMID:The zinc finger protein A20 interacts with a novel anti-apoptotic protein which is cleaved by specific caspases. 1043 31

In the absence of costimulating signals, B cell receptor (BCR) crosslinking on immature B cells triggers the apoptotic cell death program. In the WEHI-231 B cell lymphoma model, anti-IgM crosslinking triggers activation of caspase-7 independently of caspase-8, followed by apoptosis. Two main mechanisms for caspase-7 activation have been proposed: (i) caspase-8 recruitment to death receptors (Fas or tumour necrosis factor); and (ii) changes in mitochondrial membrane permeability and cytochrome c release, which activate caspase-9. Here we report that caspase-7 activation induced by BCR crosslinking is independent of caspase-8 and cytochrome c translocation from mitochondria to the cytosol, as well as of mitochondrial depolarization. In addition, in a cell-free system, the S-100 fraction of anti-IgM-treated WEHI-231 cells induces a caspase activation pattern different from that activated by cytochrome c and dATP. We demonstrate that calpain specifically triggers activation and processing of caspase-7 both in vitro and in vivo, and that both processes are inhibited by calpain inhibitors. Furthermore, calpain activation is associated with decreased expression levels of calpastatin, which is upregulated by CD40 ligation. These data confirm a role for calpain during BCR crosslinking, which may be critical for cell deletion by apoptosis during B cell development and activation.
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PMID:Implication of calpain in caspase activation during B cell clonal deletion. 1048 51

Lethal hepatitis can be induced by an agonistic anti-Fas Ab in normal mice or by TNF in mice sensitized to d -(+)-galactosamine or actinomycin D. In all three models, we found that apoptosis of hepatocytes is an early and necessary step to cause lethality. In the three models, we observed activation of the major executioner caspases-3 and -7. Two acute-phase proteins, alpha1-acid glycoprotein and alpha1-antitrypsin, differentially prevent lethality: alpha1-acid glycoprotein protects in both TNF models and not in the anti-Fas model, while alpha1-antitrypsin confers protection in the TNF/d -(+)-galactosamine model only. The protection is inversely correlated with activation of caspase-3 and caspase-7. The data suggest that activation of caspase-3 and -7 is essential in the in vivo induction of apoptosis leading to lethal hepatitis and that acute phase proteins are powerful inhibitors of apoptosis and caspase activation. Furthermore, Bcl-2 transgenic mice, expressing Bcl-2 specifically in hepatocytes, are protected against a lethal challenge with anti-Fas or with TNF/d -(+)-galactosamine, but not against TNF/actinomycin D. The acute-phase proteins might constitute an inducible anti-apoptotic protective system, which in pathology or disturbed homeostasis prevents excessive apoptosis.
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PMID:Activation of caspases in lethal experimental hepatitis and prevention by acute phase proteins. 1055 44

To identify essential components of the Fas-induced apoptotic signaling pathway, Jurkat T lymphocytes were chemically mutagenized and selected for clones that were resistant to Fas-induced apoptosis. We obtained five cell lines that contain mutations in the adaptor FADD. All five cell lines did not express FADD by immunoblot analysis and were completely resistant to Fas-induced death. Complementation of the FADD mutant cell lines with wild-type FADD restored Fas-mediated apoptosis. Fas activation of caspase-2, caspase-3, caspase-7, and caspase-8 and the proteolytic cleavage of substrates such as BID, protein kinase Cdelta, and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase were completely defective in the FADD mutant cell lines. In addition, Fas activation of the stress kinases p38 and c-Jun NH2 kinase and the generation of ceramide in response to Fas ligation were blocked in the FADD mutant cell lines. These data indicate that FADD is essential for multiple signaling events downstream of Fas.
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PMID:FADD is required for multiple signaling events downstream of the receptor Fas. 1061 4

We cloned a new inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) homolog, SfIAP, from Spodoptera frugiperda Sf-21 cells, a host of insect baculoviruses. SfIAP contains two baculovirus IAP repeat domains followed by a RING domain. SfIAP has striking amino acid sequence similarity with baculoviral IAPs, CpIAP and OpIAP, suggesting that baculoviral IAPs may be host-derived genes. SfIAP and baculoviral CpIAP inhibit Bax but not Fas-induced apoptosis in human cells. Their apoptosis-suppressing activity in mammalian cells requires both baculovirus IAP repeat and RING domains. Further biochemical data suggest that SfIAP and CpIAP are specific inhibitors of mammalian caspase-9, the pinnacle caspase in the mitochondria/cytochrome c pathway for apoptosis, but are not inhibitors of downstream caspase-3 and caspase-7. Thus the mechanisms by which insect and baculoviral IAPs suppress apoptosis may involve inhibition of an insect caspase-9 homologue. Peptides representing the IAP-binding domain of the Drosophila cell death protein Grim abrogated human caspase suppression by SfIAP and CpIAP, implying evolutionary conservation of the functions of IAPs and their inhibitors.
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PMID:Evolutionary conservation of apoptosis mechanisms: lepidopteran and baculoviral inhibitor of apoptosis proteins are inhibitors of mammalian caspase-9. 1067 78

We have shown previously that the pathways leading to Fas-mediated apoptosis in prostatic carcinoma cell lines are intact, because apoptosis can be triggered either by Fas ligation alone in the Fas-sensitive cell lines PC3 and ALVA31 or by rendering the Fas-resistant cell lines DU145 and JCA1 Fas-sensitive by combined treatment with anti-Fas monoclonal antibody and cycloheximide (O. W. Rokhlin et al., Cancer Res., 57: 1758-1768, 1997). In this study, we demonstrate that two of the early events after Fas ligation are the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria and activation of caspase-9. We also found that Bid is processed after Fas ligation and thus might activate the mitochondria-dependent apoptotic cascade. In a cell-free system, cytochrome c induced caspase-3-like activity in cytoplasmic extracts from all four cell lines studied, although differences in the level of enzymatic activity were observed. Western blot analysis revealed that caspase-7 is activated by cytochrome c at the same level in all extracts, whereas expression and activation of caspase-3 varied considerably. Cytochrome c-activated extracts displayed different abilities in the induction of apoptotic features in isolated nuclei such as morphological changes and DNA fragmentation. However, differences in nuclear apoptotic activity induced by cytochrome c did not correlate with the level of caspase-3 like activity in the different extracts. These results suggest that the mitochondrial pathway is involved in Fas-mediated apoptosis in prostatic carcinoma cell lines and that, in addition to caspase-7 and caspase-3, there are other factors that confer nuclear apoptotic activity.
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PMID:Cytochrome c is involved in Fas-mediated apoptosis of prostatic carcinoma cell lines. 1078 80

Fas-mediated apoptosis results in the activation of caspases, which subsequently cleave cellular substrates that are essential for normal cell viability. In the present study, we show that the Ras-related GTP-binding protein Cdc42 is susceptible to caspase-catalyzed proteolysis in a number of cell lines, including NIH3T3 fibroblasts, human breast cancer cells (e.g. T47D), and COS-7 cells. Both caspase-3 and caspase-7 were able to catalyze the cleavage of Cdc42, whereas caspase-6 and caspase-8 were without effect. The susceptibility to the caspase-stimulated degradation is specific; although Rac can also serve as a caspase substrate, neither Rho nor Ras is degraded. Caspase sensitivity is conferred by a consensus sequence (DXXD) that lies immediately upstream of the Rho insert regions (residues 122-134) of Cdc42 and Rac. The removal of a stretch of residues (120) that includes the insert region or site-directed mutagenesis of either aspartic acid 118 or 121 within a constitutively active background (i.e. Cdc42(F28L)) as well as a wild-type Cdc42 background yields Cdc42 molecules that provide a marked protection against Fas ligand-induced apoptosis. Overall, these results are consistent with a model in which Cdc42 acts downstream of Fas, perhaps to influence the rate of apoptosis, with the ultimate caspase-mediated degradation of Cdc42 then allowing for a maximal apoptotic response.
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PMID:Cdc42 is a substrate for caspases and influences Fas-induced apoptosis. 1127 72

Treatment of human breast carcinoma MCF7 cells with doxorubicin, one of the most active antineoplastic agents used in clinical oncology, induces apoptosis and leads to increases in sphingosine levels. The transient generation of this sphingolipid mediator preceded cytochrome c release from the mitochondria and activation of the executioner caspase-7 in MCF7 cells which do not express caspase-3. Bcl-x(L) overexpression did not affect sphingosine generation whereas it reduced apoptosis triggered by doxorubicin and completely blocked apoptosis triggered by sphingosine. Exogenous sphingosine-induced apoptosis was also accompanied by cytochrome c release and activation of caspase-7 in a Bcl-x(L)-sensitive manner. Furthermore, neither doxorubicin nor sphingosine treatment affected expression of Fas ligand or induced activation of the apical caspase-8, indicating a Fas/Fas ligand-independent mechanism. Our results suggest that a further metabolite of ceramide, sphingosine, may also be involved in mitochondria-mediated apoptotic signaling induced by doxorubicin in human breast cancer cells.
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PMID:Sphingosine generation, cytochrome c release, and activation of caspase-7 in doxorubicin-induced apoptosis of MCF7 breast adenocarcinoma cells. 1131 18

We cloned a novel inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family member, BmIAP, from Bombyx mori BmN cells. BmIAP contains two baculoviral IAP repeat (BIR) domains followed by a RING domain. BmIAP shares striking amino acid sequence similarity with lepidopteran IAPs, SfIAP and TnIAP, and with two baculoviral IAPs, CpIAP and OpIAP, suggesting evolutionary conservation. BmIAP blocks programmed cell death (apoptosis) in Spodoptera frugiperda Sf-21 cells induced by p35 deficient Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV). This anti-apoptotic function requires both the BIR domains and RING domain of BmIAP. In mammalian cells, BmIAP inhibits Bax induced but not Fas induced apoptosis. Further biochemical data suggest that BmIAP is a specific inhibitor of mammalian caspase-9, an initiator caspase in the mitochondria/cytochrome-c pathway, but not the downstream effector proteases, caspase-3 and caspase-7. These results suggest that suppression of apoptosis by lepidopteran IAPs in insect cells may involve inhibition of an upstream initiator caspase in the conserved mitochondria/cytochrome-c pathway for apoptosis.
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PMID:Cloning and characterization of an inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) from Bombyx mori. 1134 66


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