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)

One of the physiologic consequences of excessive UV radiation (UVR) exposure is apoptosis. This critical response serves to eliminate genetically injured cells and arises, in part, from activation of DNA damage and p53 signaling. Other contributory pathways, however, likely exist but have not been fully characterized. In a recent global screen of UVR response genes in melanocytes, we identified the receptor tyrosine kinase EPHA2. Using a combination of genetic and pharmacologic approaches, we set out to investigate the upstream regulation of EphA2 by UVR and the functional consequences of this effect. We found that the UVR-associated increase in EphA2 occurs in melanocytes, keratinocytes, and fibroblasts from both human and murine sources. More specifically, UVR effectively up-regulated EphA2 individually in p53-null, p63-null, and p73-null murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEF), suggesting that the p53 family of transcription factors is not essential for the observed effect. However, inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling by U0126 and PD98059 significantly reduced the UVR response whereas overexpression of oncogenic NRAS led to an increase in EphA2. These results confirm that UVR induces EphA2 by a p53-independent, but MAPK-dependent, mechanism. In response to UV irradiation, Epha2(-/-) MEFs were highly resistant to UVR-mediated cytotoxicity and apoptosis whereas introduction of EphA2 into both wild-type and p53-null MEFs led to activation of an apoptotic program that can be blocked by caspase-8 inhibition. These functional findings suggest that EphA2 is in fact an essential p53-independent, caspase-8-dependent proapoptotic factor induced by UVR.
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PMID:EphA2 is an essential mediator of UV radiation-induced apoptosis. 1833 48

Receptor EphA2 over-expression is associated with the aggressive nature of growth in malignant mesothelioma (MM) and silencing EphA2 with interference RNA suppressed MM proliferation. The mechanisms associated with targeting the EphA2 gene in MM were not clear. We sought to determine whether silencing EphA2 induces apoptosis in MM cells by either extrinsic or intrinsic pathways. The receptor EphA2 signaling pathway may provide attractive therapeutic strategy for MM. Apoptosis was determined by Cell Death ELISA in MM Cells transfected with siRNA-EphA2 and control siRNA. The gene expression profile of apoptosis pathways were analyzed by GEArray. Selected genes were further studied by quantitative PCR, Western analysis, and immunofluorescence. Caspases activities were measured by fluorescence spectrometer. Silencing EphA2 expression induced apoptosis in MMC. Apoptosis was characterized by FADD expression, activated caspase-8, caspase-3 and induction of Bax, Bak, and Bid as revealed by GEArray and protein fractionation assays. The expression of FADD, Bid, caspase-8, cytochrome-c and apaf-1 were significantly higher in the cytosolic fractions of EphA2-siRNA transfected cells. Furthermore, blocking the expression of caspase-8 by an inhibitor blunted FADD expression, indicating that caspase-8 is implicated in EphA2-siRNA induced apoptosis in MMC. Our data indicates that targeting the EphA2 gene by siRNA induced both extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways in MM Cells. Receptor EphA2 inhibition may be an effective approach for inhibiting MM growth and a promising direction for MM therapy.
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PMID:Silencing receptor EphA2 induces apoptosis and attenuates tumor growth in malignant mesothelioma. 2196 54