Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.22.61 (caspase-8)
 6,833 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is one of the most potent activators of nuclear transcription factor NF-kappaB, c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK), and apoptosis in a wide variety of cells. The biological effects of TNF are mediated through sequential interactions of various cytoplasmic proteins with intracellular domains of TNF receptors. Whether signal transducer and activator of transcription-1 (STAT1), which mediates interferon (IFN) signaling, also plays any role in the TNF-mediated activation of NF-kappaB, JNK, and apoptosis has not been established. Here, we report our investigation of the role of STAT1 in TNF signaling using STAT1-deficient U3A and STAT1-stably transfected U3A-PSG91 cells. IFNalpha inhibited the proliferation of STAT1-expressing U3A-PSG91 cells but had no effect on STAT1-negative U3A cells. TNF alone, even up to 10 nM, had no effect on the proliferation of either U3A-PSG91 or U3A cells. Irrespective of STAT1 status, TNF induced cytotoxic effects in the presence of cycloheximide (CHX) in both cell types. Additionally, TNF-induced caspase-3 and caspase-8 activation and TNF-induced PARP cleavage were unaffected by the presence or absence of STAT1. TNF activated NF-kappaB, consisting of p50 and p65, in both U3A and U3A-pSG91 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, but the degree and rate of activation were slightly lower in U3A cells, as were IkappaBalpha degradation and NF-kappaB-dependent reporter gene expression. STAT1 was, however, required for IFNalpha-mediated downregulation of TNF-induced NF-kappaB activation. TNF activated JNK in both cell types, but dose and time of exposure required for optimum activation differed slightly. Thus, overall our results indicate that STAT1 plays a minimal role in TNF-mediated cellular responses.
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PMID:Lack of requirement of STAT1 for activation of nuclear factor-kappaB, c-Jun NH2-terminal protein kinase, and apoptosis by tumor necrosis factor-alpha. 1183 5

TNF family receptors can lead to the activation of NF-kappaB and this can be a prosurvival signal in some cells. Although activation of NF-kappaB by ligation of Fas (CD95/Apo-1), a member of the TNFR family, has been observed in a few studies, Fas-mediated NF-kappaB activation has not previously been shown to protect cells from apoptosis. We examined the Fas-induced NF-kappaB activation and its antiapoptotic effects in a leukemic eosinophil cell line, AML14.3D10, an AML14 subline resistant to Fas-mediated apoptosis. EMSA and supershift assays showed that agonist anti-Fas (CH11) induced nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB heterodimer p65(RelA)/p50 in these cells in both a time- and dose-dependent fashion. The influence of NF-kappaB on the induction of apoptosis was studied using pharmacological proteasome inhibitors and an inhibitor of IkappaBalpha phosphorylation to block IkappaBalpha dissociation and degradation. These inhibitors at least partially inhibited NF-kappaB activation and augmented CH11-induced cell death. Stable transfection and overexpression of IkappaBalpha in 3D10 cells inhibited CH11-induced NF-kappaB activation and completely abrogated Fas resistance. Increases in caspase-8 and caspase-3 cleavage induced by CH11 and in consequent apoptotic killing were observed in these cells. Furthermore, while Fas-stimulation of resistant control 3D10 cells led to increases in the antiapoptotic proteins cellular inhibitor of apoptosis protein-1 and X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein, Fas-induced apoptosis in IkappaBalpha-overexpressing cells led to the down-modulation of both of these proteins, as well as that of the Bcl-2 family protein, Bcl-x(L). These data suggest that the resistance of these leukemic eosinophils to Fas-mediated killing is due to induced NF-kappaB activation.
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PMID:Fas resistance of leukemic eosinophils is due to activation of NF-kappa B by Fas ligation. 1224 43

TRAIL is a member of the tumor necrosis factor superfamily which induces apoptosis in cancer but not in normal cells. Akt1 promotes cell survival and blocks apoptosis. The scope of this paper was to investigate whether a HL60 human leukemia cell clone (named AR) with constitutively active Akt1 was resistant to TRAIL. We found that parental (PT) HL60 cells were very sensitive to a 6 h incubation in the presence of TRAIL and died by apoptosis. In contrast, AR cells were resistant to TRAIL concentrations as high as 2 microg/ml for 24 h. Two pharmacological inhibitors of PI3K, Ly294002 and wortmannin, restored TRAIL sensitivity of AR cells. AR cells stably overexpressing PTEN had lower Akt1 activity and were sensitive to TRAIL. Conversely, PT cells stably overexpressing a constitutive active form of Akt1 became TRAIL resistant. TRAIL activated caspase-8 but not caspase-9 or -10 in HL60 cells. We did not observe a protective effect of Bcl-X(L) or Bcl-2 against the cytotoxic activity of TRAIL, even though TRAIL induced cleavage of BID. There was a close correlation between TRAIL sensitivity and intranuclear presence of the p50 subunit of NF-kappaB. Higher levels of the FLICE inhibitory protein, cFLIP(L), were observed in TRAIL-resistant cells. Both the cell permeable NF-kappaB inhibitor SN50 and cycloheximide lowered cFLIP(L)expression and restored sentivity of AR cells to TRAIL. Our results suggest that Akt1 may be an important regulator of TRAIL sensitivity in HL60 cells through the activation of NF-kappaB and up-regulation of cFLIP(L) synthesis.
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PMID:Constitutively active Akt1 protects HL60 leukemia cells from TRAIL-induced apoptosis through a mechanism involving NF-kappaB activation and cFLIP(L) up-regulation. 1259 38

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), a member of the TNF superfamily, induces apoptosis in a variety of cancer cells with little or no effect on normal cells. Human hepatoma cells, however, are resistant to TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Since interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) is capable of enhancing TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis in certain cancer cells, we evaluated the effect of IFN-alpha on TRAIL-induced apoptosis of human hepatoma cells. IFN-alpha pretreatment enhanced TRAIL-induced apoptosis of HuH-7 and Hep3B cells, in which IFN-alpha upregulated the expression of DR5, a death receptor of TRAIL, and downregulated the expression of survivin, which has an antiapoptotic function. In contrast, IFN-alpha did not enhance TRAIL-induced apoptosis of HepG2 cells, in which expression of DR5 and survivin was not affected by IFN-alpha. On the other hand, TRAIL activated NF-kappa B composed of RelA-p50 heterodimer, a key transcription factor regulating cell survival, in HuH-7 and HepG2 cells. However, IFN-alpha pretreatment repressed the TRAIL-mediated activation of NF-kappaB and decreased its transcriptional activity in HuH-7 but not in HepG2 cells. Moreover, IFN-alpha pretreatment clearly augmented TRAIL-mediated caspase-8 activation in HuH-7 cells. Our results suggest that IFN-alpha could sensitize certain human hepatoma cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis by stimulating its death signaling and by repressing the survival function in these cells.
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PMID:Interferon-alpha sensitizes human hepatoma cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis through DR5 upregulation and NF-kappa B inactivation. 1264 68

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and TNF-alpha induced monocytic maturation of primary normal CD34-derived myeloid precursors and of the M2/M3-type acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cell line, associated to increased nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB activity and nuclear translocation of p75, p65, and p50 NF-kappaB family members. Consistently, both cytokines also induced the degradation of the NF-kappaB inhibitors, IkappaBalpha and IkappaB epsilon, and up-regulated the surface expression of TRAIL-R3, a known NF-kappaB target. However, NF-kappaB activation and IkappaB degradation occurred with different time-courses, since TNF-alpha was more potent, rapid, and transient than TRAIL. Of the two TRAIL receptors constitutively expressed by HL-60 (TRAIL-R1 and TRAIL-R2), only the former was involved in IkappaB degradation, as demonstrated by using agonistic anti-TRAIL receptor antibodies. Moreover, NF-kappaB nuclear translocation induced by TRAIL but not by TNF-alpha was abrogated by z-IETD-fmk, a caspase-8-specific inhibitor. The key role of NF-kappaB in mediating the biological effects of TNF-alpha and TRAIL was demonstrated by the ability of unrelated pharmacological inhibitors of the NF-kappaB pathway (parthenolide and MG-132) to abrogate TNF-alpha- and TRAIL-induced monocytic maturation. These findings demonstrate that NF-kappaB is essential for monocytic maturation and is activated via distinct pathways, involving or not involving caspases, by the related cytokines TRAIL and TNF-alpha.
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PMID:Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and TNF-alpha promote the NF-kappaB-dependent maturation of normal and leukemic myeloid cells. 1288 39

Casper/c-FLIP is a caspase-8-related molecule critically involved in regulation of death receptor-induced apoptosis. It has been shown that Casper can either promote or antagonize apoptosis and can activate the transcription factor NF-kappaB. The exact functions of Casper are controversial. To further understand how Casper signals, we searched Casper-interacting proteins by yeast two-hybrid screening. This effort identified NF-kappaB1 (p105), an atypical IkappaB molecule and the precursor of NF-kappaB subunit p50. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments indicated that Casper interacted with p105 in 293 cells and this interaction was mediated through the C-terminal IkappaB-like domain (IkappaBgamma). Overexpression of p105 and IkappaBgamma inhibited Casper-induced NF-kappaB activation and potentiated Casper-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, Casper and its C-terminal caspase-like domain inhibited p105 processing into p50. Our findings suggest that p105 is involved in Casper-mediated regulation of apoptosis and NF-kappaB activation.
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PMID:Casper/c-FLIP is physically and functionally associated with NF-kappaB1 p105. 1367 70

This study was undertaken to investigate whether a physiologically compatible concentration of 7-ketocholesterol had any effect on human vascular smooth muscle cells (HVSMCs). We found that 7-ketocholesterol changed the viability of human aorta smooth muscle cells (HAoSMC) not by cytotoxicity but by activation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor (TNFR)-mediated death. Whereas TNF-alpha did not affect the viability in the presence of 7alpha-hydroxycholesterol or cholesterol, the cytokine induced HAoSMC death in the presence of 7-ketocholesterol as detected by morphology, viability, and fragmentation of chromosomal DNA. The HAoSMC death was inhibited by a neutralizing anti-TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1) antibody and by the caspase inhibitors of z-VAD and z-DEVD. Activations of caspase-8 and -3 were detected from dying HAoSMCs. 7-Ketocholesterol inhibited translocation of the nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) subunits of p65 and p50 from the cytosol into the nucleus, increase of NF-kappaB activity, and expression of caspase-8 homolog Fas ligand interleukin-1-converting enzyme inhibitory protein by TNF-alpha. We also found that X-chromosome-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein was degraded in dying HAoSMC. The present study proposes that 7-ketocholesterol would contribute to the disappearance of HVSMC in the atherosclerotic lesions by enhancing receptor-mediated death. This is the first report demonstrating induction of TNF-alpha-mediated death by oxysterol in cells.
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PMID:TNF-alpha activates death pathway in human aorta smooth muscle cell in the presence of 7-ketocholesterol. 1599 97

Transfectants of human CM and NES2Y beta cell lines and primary islets transfected by FADD-DN (dominant-negative form of Fas-associated death domain), a mutant of FADD and/or a superrepressor of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) (AdIkappaB(SA)2), were examined for their susceptibility to the TRAIL (TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand)-induced death signal pathway, compared with controls, wild-type cells, and vector transfectants in caspase fluorescence, Western blot, electrophoretic mobility shift, apoptosis, and cytotoxicity assays. FADD-DN inhibited caspase-8 activation induced by TRAIL in the transfectants of CM and NES2Y cells. TRAIL-induced apoptosis and cytotoxicity to the FADD-DN transfectants were decreased in comparison to those responses in controls (CM, p < 0.01 and p < 0.01; NES2Y, p < 0.05, and p < 0.02, respectively). When CM, NES2Y, and primary islet cells were transfected by AdIkappaB(SA)2, TRAIL-induced IkappaB degradation and nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB p50/p65 were blocked. TRAIL-induced apoptosis and cytotoxicity to AdIkappaB(SA)2 transfectants of these cells were also reduced (CM, p < 0.02 and p < 0.02; NES2Y, p < 0.01 and p < 0.01, respectively, and islet p < 0.01 for cytotoxicity). Finally, cytotoxicity induced by TRAIL in CM and NES2Y cells transfected with both FADD-DN and AdIkappaB(SA)2 was reduced, compared with that observed in these cells transfected with either FADD-DN alone or AdIkappaB(SA)2 alone, suggesting that FADD and NF-kappaB have synergistic proapoptotic regulatory effects on the susceptibility of beta cell lines and islet cells to TRAIL-induced destruction.
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PMID:Regulation of TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand-mediated death-signal pathway in human beta cells by Fas-associated death domain and nuclear factor kappaB. 1611 27

In this study, we investigated the influence of platelet-activating factor (PAF) on the induction of apoptosis-regulating factors in B16F10 melanoma cells. PAF increased the expression of mRNA and the protein synthesis of antiapoptotic factors, such as Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, but did not increase the expression of the proapoptotic factor, Bax. A selective nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) inhibitor, parthenolide, inhibited the effects of PAF. Furthermore, PAF inhibited etoposide-induced increases in caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9 activities, as well as cell death. p50/p65 heterodimer increased the mRNA expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL and decreased etoposide-induced caspase activities and cell death. In an in vivo model in which Matrigel was injected s.c., PAF augmented the growth of B16F10 cells and attenuated etoposide-induced inhibition of B16F10 cells growth. These data indicate that PAF induces up-regulation of antiapoptotic factors in a NF-kappaB-dependent manner in a melanoma cell line, therefore suggesting that PAF may diminish the cytotoxic effect of chemotherapeutic agents.
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PMID:Platelet-activating factor induces up-regulation of antiapoptotic factors in a melanoma cell line through nuclear factor-kappaB activation. 1665 19

Chemoresistance has been one of the major problems in anticancer therapy. In our effort to find a potential molecular target for overcoming the chemoresistance in prostate cancer, a promising anticancer drug trichostatin A (TSA) induced cell death was found to be compromised by enhanced NF-kappaB activation in 267B1/K-ras human prostate epithelial cancer cells. However, both the NF-kappaB activation and chemoresistance were reduced by pretreatment with proteasome inhibitor-I (ProI), accompanied by accumulations of both IkappaBalpha and p65/RelA (but not p50/NF-kappaB1) in the cytoplasm. Clonogenic cell survival and soft agar assays further confirmed the increased TSA chemosensitivity of 267B1/K-ras cells by ProI treatment. Moreover, dominant negative mutant of IKKbeta, IkappaBalpha and p65 enhanced the chemosensitization, too. Unexpectedly, using LY294002 and PD98059, phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase and mitogen-activated protein kinase were also implied in TSA chemoresistance through NF-kappaB activation, while these compounds had showed no effect on radiosensitization in the cells. On the other hand, together with TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling) assay, activations of caspase-8 and caspase-3 by TSA and ProI were noticed, suggesting the involvement of apoptotic process in chemosensitization of 267B1/K-ras cells. Altogether, these results suggest that blocking the NF-kappaB activation pathway could be an efficient target for improving the TSA chemosensitization and applying to the development of anticancer therapeutics in Ki-Ras-overexpressing tumorigenic cells, including prostate cancer.
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PMID:NF-kappaB inhibition increases chemosensitivity to trichostatin A-induced cell death of Ki-Ras-transformed human prostate epithelial cells. 1677 37


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