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

When activated, membrane-bound receptors for Fas and tumour-necrosis factor initiate programmed cell death by recruiting the death domain of the adaptor protein FADD to the membrane. FADD then activates caspase 8 (also known as FLICE or MACH) through an interaction between the death-effector domains of FADD and caspase 8. This ultimately leads to the apoptotic response. Death-effector domains and homologous protein modules known as caspase-recruitment domains have been found in several proteins and are important regulators of caspase (FLICE) activity and of apoptosis. Here we describe the solution structure of a soluble, biologically active mutant of the FADD death-effector domain. The structure consists of six antiparallel, amphipathic alpha-helices and resembles the overall fold of the death domains of Fas and p75. Despite this structural similarity, mutations that inhibit protein-protein interactions involving the Fas death domain have no effect when introduced into the FADD death-effector domain. Instead, a hydrophobic region of the FADD death-effector domain that is not present in the death domains is vital for binding to FLICE and for apoptotic activity.
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PMID:NMR structure and mutagenesis of the FADD (Mort1) death-effector domain. 958 77

Fas is a surface receptor that can transmit signals for apoptosis. Using retroviral cDNA library-based functional cloning we identified a gene, toso, that blocks Fas-mediated apoptosis. Toso expression was confined to lymphoid cells and was enhanced after cell-specific activation processes in T cells. Toso appeared limited to inhibition of apoptosis mediated by members of the TNF receptor family and was capable of inhibiting T cell self-killing induced by TCR activation processes that up-regulate Fas ligand. We mapped the effect of Toso to inhibition of caspase-8 processing, the most upstream caspase activity in Fas-mediated signaling, potentially through activation of cFLIP. Toso therefore serves as a novel regulator of Fas-mediated apoptosis and may act as a regulator of cell fate in T cells and other hematopoietic lineages.
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PMID:Toso, a cell surface, specific regulator of Fas-induced apoptosis in T cells. 958 36

Nitric oxide (NO), an important effector molecule involved in immune regulation and host defense, was shown to induce apoptosis in lymphoma cells. In the present report the NO donor glycerol trinitrate was found to induce apoptosis in Jurkat cells that are sensitive to CD95-mediated kill. In contrast, a CD95-resistant Jurkat subclone showed substantial protection from apoptosis after exposure to NO. NO induced mRNA expression of CD95 (APO-1/Fas) and TRAIL/APO-2 ligands. Moreover, NO triggered apoptosis in freshly isolated human leukemic lymphocytes which were also sensitive to anti-CD95 treatment. The ability of NO to induce apoptosis was completely blocked by a broad-spectrum ICE (interleukin-1beta converting enzyme)-protease/caspase inhibitor and correlated with FLICE/caspase-8 activation. This activation was abrogated in some neoplastic lymphoid cells but not in others by the inhibitor of protein synthesis cycloheximide. Our results were confirmed using an in vitro experimental model of coculture of human lymphoid target cells with activated bovine endothelial cells generating NO as effectors. Furthermore, the inhibition of endogenous NO production with the inducible NO synthase inhibitor NG-monomethyl-L-arginine caused a complete abrogation of the apoptotic effect. Our data provide evidence that NO-induced apoptosis in human neoplastic lymphoid cells strictly requires activation of caspases, in particular FLICE, the most CD95 receptor-proximal caspase. Depending on the cell line tested this activation required or was independent of the CD95 receptor/ligand system.
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PMID:Caspase activation is required for nitric oxide-mediated, CD95(APO-1/Fas)-dependent and independent apoptosis in human neoplastic lymphoid cells. 959 80

Activation of the cysteine protease caspases, which are homologous to the product of Caenorhabditis elegans cell-death gene ced 3, is required to mediate APO-1/Fas-induced apoptosis. We report here that nitric oxide (NO) released by exogenous NO donors, as well as NO endogenously derived by transfection with the inducible NO synthase, substantially suppresses APO-1/Fas-triggered cell death of Jurkat cells. The inhibitory NO effect was independent of cGMP, because 8-bromo-cGMP did not influence APO-1/Fas-mediated apoptosis. In contrast, NO interferes with the APO-1/Fas-induced stimulation of caspases. NO inhibits the proteolytic cleavage of caspase-3 (CPP32) into its active subunits, thereby suppressing caspase-3 activity. In addition, NO potently inhibits apoptosis induction by overexpresssion of the death domain protein FADD or the immediate downstream target caspase-8. These results suggest that NO modulates the proteolytic cascade upstream of caspase-3. Indeed, NO specifically S-nitrosylates caspase-8 and caspase-1 and thereby may prevent activation of the proteolytic cascade. The NO-mediated increase in the resistance toward induction of apoptosis may play a major role in mediating immune responses, as well as in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases.
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PMID:Nitric oxide inhibits APO-1/Fas-mediated cell death. 960 62

Apoptosis often involves the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria, leading to caspase activation. However, in apoptosis mediated by CD95 (Fas/APO-1), caspase-8 (FLICE/MACH/Mch5) is immediately activated and, in principle, could process other caspases directly. To investigate whether caspase-8 could also act through mitochondria, we added active caspase-8 to a Xenopus cell-free system requiring these organelles. Caspase-8 rapidly promoted the apoptotic program, culminating in fragmentation of chromatin and the nuclear membrane. In extracts devoid of mitochondria, caspase-8 produced DNA degradation, but left nuclear membranes intact. Thus, mitochondria were required for complete engagement of the apoptotic machinery. In the absence of mitochondria, high concentrations of caspase-8 were required to activate downstream caspases. However, when mitochondria were present, the effects of low concentrations of caspase-8 were vastly amplified through cytochrome c-dependent caspase activation. Caspase-8 promoted cytochrome c release indirectly, by cleaving at least one cytosolic substrate. Bcl-2 blocked apoptosis only at the lowest caspase-8 concentrations, potentially explaining why CD95-induced apoptosis can often evade inhibition by Bcl-2.
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PMID:Apoptosis induction by caspase-8 is amplified through the mitochondrial release of cytochrome c. 963 31

Fas (APO-1/CD95) is a transmembrane receptor protein which induces apoptosis upon activation. In apoptosis triggered by Fas, a subset of cysteine proteases designated caspases is activated, playing a central role as effector molecules. Among these caspases, human caspase-8 (FLICE/MACH/Mch5) has been isolated and shown to be indispensable for Fas-mediated apoptotic signaling. In this study, we isolated the mouse homologue to human caspase-8 from a BaF3 cell cDNA library. This molecule conserved the death effector domain (DED) and protease domain as detected in human caspase-8, and was capable of inducing apoptosis in KB and Rat-1 cells when overexpressed. Expression of caspase-8 was detected in the various tissues of adult mouse and in embryos at 9.5 days and 17.5 days of development by Northern-blot analysis. Further, we isolated a chromosomal gene for caspase-8 from a mouse genomic library and analyzed the genomic structure of the isolated gene. This gene consisted of eight exons and seven introns spanning about 26 kb in the coding region.
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PMID:Molecular cloning and characterization of mouse caspase-8. 965 89

We report here the purification of a cytosolic protein that induces cytochrome c release from mitochondria in response to caspase-8, the apical caspase activated by cell surface death receptors such as Fas and TNF. Peptide mass fingerprinting identified this protein as Bid, a BH3 domain-containing protein known to interact with both Bcl2 and Bax. Caspase-8 cleaves Bid, and the COOH-terminal part translocates to mitochondria where it triggers cytochrome c release. Immunodepletion of Bid from cell extracts eliminated the cytochrome c releasing activity. The cytochrome c releasing activity of Bid was antagonized by Bcl2. A mutation at the BH3 domain diminished its cytochrome c releasing activity. Bid, therefore, relays an apoptotic signal from the cell surface to mitochondria.
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PMID:Bid, a Bcl2 interacting protein, mediates cytochrome c release from mitochondria in response to activation of cell surface death receptors. 972 91

Apoptosis mediated by anticancer drugs may involve activation of death-inducing ligand/receptor systems such as CD95 (APO-1/Fas), cleavage of caspases, and perturbance of mitochondrial functions. We investigated the sequence of these events in SHEP neuroblastoma cells transfected with Bcl-2 or Bcl-X(L) using two different drugs, namely, doxorubicin (Doxo), which activates the CD95/CD95 ligand (CD95-L) system, and betulinic acid (Bet A), which does not enhance the expression of CD95 or CD95-L and which, as shown here, directly targets mitochondria. Apoptosis induced by both drugs was inhibited by Bcl-2 or Bcl-X(L) overexpression or by bongkrekic acid, an agent that stabilizes mitochondrial membrane barrier function, suggesting a critical role for mitochondria. After Doxo treatment, enhanced CD95/CD95-L expression and caspase-8 activation were not blocked by Bcl-2 or Bcl-X(L) and were found in cells with a mitochondrial transmembrane potential (delta psi(m)) that was still normal (delta psi(m)high cells). In marked contrast, after Bet A treatment, caspase-8 activation occurred in a Bcl-2- or Bcl-X(L)-inhibitable fashion and was confined to cells that had lost their delta psi(m) (delta psi(m)low cells). Mitochondria from cells treated with either Doxo or Bet A induced cleavage of both caspase-8 and caspase-3 in cytosolic extracts. Thus, caspase-8 activation may occur upstream or downstream of mitochondria, depending on the apoptosis-initiating stimulus. In contrast to caspase-8, cleavage of caspase-3 or poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase was always restricted to delta psi(m)low cells, downstream of the Bcl-2- or Bcl-X(L)-controlled checkpoint of apoptosis. Cytochrome c, released from mitochondria undergoing permeability transition, activated caspase-3 but not caspase-8 in a cell-free system. However, both caspases were activated by apoptosis-inducing factor, indicating that the mechanism of caspase-8 activation differed from that of caspase-3 activation. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that perturbance of mitochondrial function constitutes a central coordinating event in drug-induced cell death.
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PMID:Molecular ordering of apoptosis induced by anticancer drugs in neuroblastoma cells. 976 78

FLICE-inhibitory protein, FLIP (Casper/I-FLICE/FLAME-1/CASH/CLARP/MRIT), which contains two death effector domains and an inactive caspase domain, binds to FADD and caspase-8, and thereby inhibits death receptor-mediated apoptosis. Here, we characterize the inhibitory effect of FLIP on a variety of apoptotic pathways. Human Jurkat T cells undergoing Fas ligand-mediated apoptosis in response to CD3 activation were completely resistant when transfected with FLIP. In contrast, the presence of FLIP did not affect apoptosis induced by granzyme B in combination with adenovirus or perforin. Moreover, the Fas ligand, but not the perforin/granzyme B-dependent lytic pathway of CTL, was inhibited by FLIP. Apoptosis mediated by chemotherapeutic drugs (i.e., doxorubicin, etoposide, and vincristine) and gamma irradiation was not affected by FLIP or the absence of Fas, indicating that these treatments can induce cell death in a Fas-independent and FLIP-insensitive manner.
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PMID:FLIP prevents apoptosis induced by death receptors but not by perforin/granzyme B, chemotherapeutic drugs, and gamma irradiation. 978 Jan 61

The death receptor Fas is a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor family; upon interaction with its ligand it efficiently activates caspases and induces apoptosis. Despite abundant Fas surface expression, however, Fas death-signals are frequently interrupted. Many viruses express antiapoptotic proteins, including caspase inhibitors, Bcl-2 homologues and death-effector-domain-containing proteins that are termed FLIPs (FLICE [Fas-associated death-domain-like IL-1beta-converting enzyme]-inhibitory proteins). Cellular homologues of these inhibitors have been identified. Cellular FLIPs structurally resemble caspase-8 except that they lack proteolytic activity. FLIPs are highly expressed in tumor cells, T lymphocytes and healthy, but not injured, myocytes; this suggests a critical role of FLIPs as endogenous modulators of apoptosis.
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PMID:Inhibition of fas death signals by FLIPs. 979 38


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