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)

Niemann-Pick disease type C (NP-C) is an autosomal recessive neurovisceral storage disease with neurodegeneration caused by mutations in either the NPC-1 or NPC-2 gene. The murine ortholog of NPC-1 is mutated in BALB/c npc(nih) and this mutant mouse shows equally conspicuous neurodegeneration and loss of neurons. However, the molecular mechanisms causing neurodegeneration in NP-C remain elusive. Here, we report the presence of apoptotic cells detected by both TUNEL staining and electron microscopy in the cerebrum and cerebellum of human patients and the mouse model. Moreover, we found that with progression of the disease process leading to neuronal cell death, an up-regulation of genes involved in the TNF-alpha death pathway caspase-8, FADD, TNFRp55, TRADD, and RIP-by an RNA protection assay. Furthermore, RT-PCR showed that TNF-alpha mRNA expression level also increased up to 30-50-fold in the cerebellum of 7- and 9-week-old NP-C mice compared with wild-type mice. Elevated expression of TNF-alpha was detected in both neurons and astrocytes with TNF-alpha-expressing astrocytes distributed in the affected brain regions. Collectively, our results suggest that the cell death in the brain of NP-C disease occurs through apoptosis and it is mediated by the TNF receptor superfamily pathway.
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PMID:Apoptosis accompanied by up-regulation of TNF-alpha death pathway genes in the brain of Niemann-Pick type C disease. 1563 90

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising treatment that is approved by the US FDA for the treatment of oesophageal and lung cancer as well as for age-related macular degeneration. In this study, using standard tissue culture techniques, the photo cytotoxicity and apoptotic mechanisms of Calphostin C (Cal C), a perylenequinone microbial compound in combination with visible light dose was examined in different tumor cell lines. Our results demonstrated both a time and drug-light dose dependence in Cal-C-PDT induced photo toxicity and apoptotic cell death. The induction of apoptosis by Cal C-PDT was found to transit to necrotic cell death at higher drug and light doses. The detection of apoptosis in irradiated tumor cells was performed using various approaches including cell morphology analysis, flow cytometry [DNA fragmentation and phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization] and biochemical assays (activation of caspases). Time-course analysis of Cal C cellular uptake and distribution showed a rapid increase within the cellular compartments. The activation of caspases and nuclear fragmentation was evidenced at a maximum time point of 3 h after irradiation. By the use of specific caspase substrates, significant activation of caspase-8 and -3 was found. Mitochondrial involvement during Cal C-PDT-induced apoptosis was proven by a rapid reduction of the mitochondrial membrane potential. Furthermore, Cal C-PDT also enhanced FasL expression, which then induced Fas signalling-dependent cell death in NPC and colon cancer cell lines tested. Our results contribute to a deeper understanding of the processes involved in apoptotic cell death following photodynamic treatment with Cal C.
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PMID:Apoptosis signalling mechanisms in human cancer cells induced by Calphostin-PDT. 1727 54

2-Methoxyestradiol (2ME2) is an endogenous metabolite of 17beta-estradiol (E(2)). This study aims to examine the anti-tumour activities of 2ME2 on the poorly differentiated HONE-1 NPC cell line. At the concentration of 1 microM, 2ME2 was found to induce a short-term reversible G2/M cell-cycle arrest. Further 10-fold increase to 10 microM, 2ME2 induced both irreversible G2/M phase cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis. Induction of apoptosis and G2/M cell-cycle arrest was due to oxidative stress as both apoptosis and the proportion of cells arresting at G2/M phase could be reduced by the superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimetic, TEMPO. Induction of apoptosis was accompanied with proteolytic cleavage of caspase-9 and -3, but not caspase-8. Kinetics studies revealed that 2ME2 induced a time-dependent inhibition of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) and an activation of c-jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs). The chemical inhibitor of JNKs, SP600125, was found to reduce 2ME2-induced apoptosis of the HONE-1 cells. Confocal microscopy revealed that the induction of G2/M cell-cycle arrest was associated with the presence of immunoreactivity of p-cdc2 (Tyr15) in the nucleus. The G2/M cell-cycle arrest is also correlated with an increased level of inactive p-cdc25C (Ser216) in 2ME2-treated HONE-1 cells. Results from this study indicate that production of superoxide anions might be involved in 2ME2-induced apoptosis and G2/M cell-cycle arrest of the HONE-1 cells.
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PMID:Mechanisms of 2-methoxyestradiol-induced apoptosis and G2/M cell-cycle arrest of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. 1849 2

The eIF4F complex regulated by a various group of eIF4E-binding proteins (4E-BPs) can initial the protein synthesis. Small molecule compound 4EGI-1, an inhibitor of the cap-dependent translation initiation through disturbing the interaction between eIF4E and eIF4G which are main elements of the eIF4E complex, has been reported to suppress cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis in many types of cancer. And death receptor 5 (DR5) is a major component in the extrinsic apoptotic pathway. However, the correlation among 4EGI-1, DR5 and 4E-BPs have not been discovered in NPC now. Therefore, we intend to find out the effect of 4EGI-1 on the apoptosis process of NPC and the relationship among 4EGI-1, DR5 and 4E-BPs. Our results revealed a significant down regulation of DR5 expression in NPC tissues, which inversely correlated with lymph node metastasis status and clinical stages. Depressed DR5 expression was an independent biomarker for poor prognosis in NPC, and elevated DR5 expression showed longer overall survival time in 174 NPC patients. Besides, 4EGI-1 induced apoptosis in NPC cells through the DR5-caspase-8 axis on 4E-BP1 and eIF4E dephosphorylation exerting positive influence on their anti-tumor activities. The induction of DR5 also sensitized NPC cells to radiotherapy, and the SER was 1.195. These results establish the death receptor pathway as a novel anticancer mechanism of eIF4E/eIF4G interaction inhibitor in NPC.
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PMID:4EGI-1 induces apoptosis and enhances radiotherapy sensitivity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells via DR5 induction on 4E-BP1 dephosphorylation. 2694 80