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)

Claspin is required for the phosphorylation and activation of the Chk1 protein kinase by ATR during DNA replication and in response to DNA damage. This checkpoint pathway plays a critical role in the resistance of cells to genotoxic stress. Here, we show that human Claspin is cleaved by caspase-7 during the initiation of apoptosis. In cells, induction of DNA damage by etoposide at first produced rapid phosphorylation of Chk1 at a site targeted by ATR. Subsequently, etoposide caused activation of caspase-7, cleavage of Claspin, and dephosphorylation of Chk1. In apoptotic cell extracts, Claspin was cleaved by caspase-7 at a single aspartate residue into a large N-terminal fragment and a smaller C-terminal fragment that contain different functional domains. The large N-terminal fragment was heavily phosphorylated in a human cell-free system in response to double-stranded DNA oligonucleotides, and this fragment retained Chk1 binding activity. In contrast, the smaller C-terminal fragment did not bind Chk1, but did associate with DNA and inhibited the DNA-dependent phosphorylation of Chk1 associated with its activation. These results indicate that cleavage of Claspin by caspase-7 inactivates the Chk1 signaling pathway. This mechanism may regulate the balance between cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis during the response to genotoxic stress.
 ...
PMID:Cleavage of claspin by caspase-7 during apoptosis inhibits the Chk1 pathway. 1612 41

Cisplatin induces renal cell injury and death, resulting in nephrotoxicity that limits its use in cancer therapy. Using cell culture models, recent work has suggested the involvement of p53 in renal cell apoptosis during cisplatin treatment. However, the signals upstream of p53 remain elusive. ATM and ATR are critical regulators of p53 under various conditions of DNA damage. Here, we show that ATM, and not ATR, was proteolytically cleaved into specific fragments of approximately 210 and 150 kDa during cisplatin-induced tubular cell apoptosis. ATM cleavage was paralleled by the development of apoptosis. VAD, a broad-spectrum inhibitor of caspases, attenuated the cleavage of ATM, whereas the inhibitors of specific caspases were less effective. In caspase-3-deficient MCF-7 cells, ATM was cleaved, releasing the 210- but not the 150-kDa fragment. Recombinant caspase-3 was much more effective than caspase-7 in cleaving ATM that was immunoprecipitated from cell lysates. During cisplatin incubation, VAD protected ATM and enhanced p53 phosphorylation. In vitro assay of protein kinase activity further showed that ATM immunoprecipitated from cisplatin-treated cells had significantly lower kinase activity toward p53 than that from control cells. Importantly, the protein kinase activity was restored in ATM that was protected by VAD during cisplatin incubation. ATM deficiency sensitized the cells to cisplatin-induced apoptosis, suggesting a cytoprotective role of ATM in this experimental model. Thus proteolysis of ATM by caspases may inactivate this regulatory molecule to facilitate the progression of apoptosis.
 ...
PMID:Caspase-mediated cleavage of ATM during cisplatin-induced tubular cell apoptosis: inactivation of its kinase activity toward p53. 1684 90