Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.22.62 (caspase-9)
 7,507 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Neutrophils have a very short life span and undergo apoptosis within 24 hours after leaving the bone marrow. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is essential for the recruitment of fresh neutrophils from the bone marrow but also delays apoptosis of mature neutrophils. To determine the mechanism by which G-CSF inhibits neutrophil apoptosis, the kinetics of neutrophil apoptosis during 24 hours in the absence or presence of G-CSF were analyzed in vitro. G-CSF delayed neutrophil apoptosis for approximately 12 hours and inhibited caspase-9 and -3 activation, but had virtually no effect on caspase-8 and little effect on the release of proapoptotic proteins from the mitochondria. However, G-CSF strongly inhibited the activation of calcium-dependent cysteine proteases calpains, upstream of caspase-3, via apparent control of Ca(2+)-influx. Calpain inhibition resulted in the stabilization of the X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) and hence inhibited caspase-9 and -3 in human neutrophils. Thus, neutrophil apoptosis is controlled by G-CSF after initial activation of caspase-8 and mitochondrial permeabilization by the control of postmitochondrial calpain activity.
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PMID:Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor delays neutrophil apoptosis by inhibition of calpains upstream of caspase-3. 1852 91

Spongistatin 1 is a new experimental chemotherapeutic agent isolated from marine sponges. Here we show that spongistatin 1 potently induces cell death in patient primary acute leukemic cells with higher efficiency than 8/10 clinically used cytotoxic drugs and prevents long-term survival of leukemic cell lines. Spongistatin 1 triggers caspase-dependent apoptosis in Jurkat T cells by the release of cytochrome c, Smac/DIABLO and Omi/HtrA2. As caspase-9 acts as an initiator caspase and Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL overexpression suppress spongistatin 1-induced apoptosis, cell death is mediated through the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway. Importantly, spongistatin 1 leads to the degradation of the antiapoptotic X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein. In apoptosis-resistant leukemic tumor cells overexpressing XIAP, spongistatin 1 effectively causes cell death and potentiates cell death induction by other apoptosis-promoting factors that might be caused by spongistatin 1-mediated degradation of XIAP. Our data show that spongistatin 1 represents a promising novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of leukemic tumor cells especially in the clinically highly relevant situation of chemoresistance due to overexpression of XIAP.
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PMID:Spongistatin 1: a new chemosensitizing marine compound that degrades XIAP. 1854 2

A pair of isogenic colon carcinoma cells, SW480 and 620, was used to investigate the mechanisms of acquired tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-resistance during tumour progression. Whereas primary tumour SW480 cells are sensitive to TRAIL-induced apoptosis, metastatic SW620 cells are resistant. The apoptotic signalling activated by TRAIL in SW480 cells is a type II pathway. We show that in SW620 cells, although caspase-8 is recruited and activated at the death-inducing-signalling complex and Bid is cleaved, this does not lead to caspase-9 activation. Comparison of Bcl-2, Bcl-xL and Mcl-1 levels in both cell lines showed no difference. In SW620 cells transfected with a tBid-GFP construct, tBid-GFP was correctly localized to the mitochondria. Thus, the resistance of SW620 cells is at the level of the mitochondria that can withstand large amounts of tBid. Although caspase-3 was directly cleaved by caspase-8 in SW620 cells to yield the p20 fragment, no further autocatalytic maturation into the p17 fragment was observed. We show that, in contrast to SW480 cells, the SW620 cell line expresses high amounts of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP). Downregulation of XIAP with bortezomib or small-interfering RNA was sufficient to restore the sensitivity of SW620 cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis in the absence of SMAC/Diablo or cytochrome c release from the mitochondria. Thus, SW620 cells have developed a dual resistance to TRAIL-induced apoptosis: a block at the level of the mitochondria and, after a conversion to a type I pathway, an increased expression of XIAP which inhibits this pathway.
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PMID:A mitochondrial block and expression of XIAP lead to resistance to TRAIL-induced apoptosis during progression to metastasis of a colon carcinoma. 1856 Mar 53

Here, we report the identification of GIDE, a mitochondrially located E3 ubiquitin ligase. GIDE contains a C-terminal RING finger domain, which is mostly conserved with those of the IAP family members and is required for GIDE's E3 ligase activity. Overexpression of GIDE induces apoptosis via a pathway involving activation of caspases, since caspase inhibitors, XIAP and an inactive mutant of caspase-9 block GIDE-induced apoptosis. GIDE also activates JNK, and blockage of JNK activation inhibits GIDE-induced release of cytochrome c and Smac as well as apoptosis, suggesting that JNK activation precedes release of cytochrome c and Smac and is required for GIDE-induced apoptosis. These pro-apoptotic properties of GIDE require its E3 ligase activity. When somewhat over- or underexpressed, GIDE slows or accelerates cell growth, respectively. These pro-apoptotic or growth inhibition effects of GIDE may account for its absence in tumor cells.
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PMID:GIDE is a mitochondrial E3 ubiquitin ligase that induces apoptosis and slows growth. 1859 63

Effective treatments for advanced prostate cancer are much needed. Toward this goal, we show apoptosis and impaired long-term survival of androgen-independent prostate cancer cells (PC3 and PC3 derivatives) co-treated with the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor roscovitine and an AKT inhibitor (LY294002 or API-2). Apoptosis of PC3 cells by the drug combination required caspase-9 but not caspase-8 activity and thus is mitochondria-dependent. Roscovitine reduced amounts of the caspase inhibitor XIAP, and API-2 increased amounts of the BH3-only protein Bim. PC3 cells apoptosed when co-treated with API-2 and either cdk9 siRNA, dominant-negative cdk9, or the cdk9 inhibitor DRB; they did not apoptose when co-treated with API-2 and XIAP siRNA. Bax accumulated in mitochondria in response to API-2, whereas release of cytochrome c from mitochondria required both API-2 and roscovitine. We suggest that roscovitine elicits events that activate Bax once it translocates to mitochondria and that inactivation of cdk9 signals these events and the down-regulation of XIAP. Collectively, our data show apoptosis of prostate cancer cells by a drug combination and identify Bax activation as a basis of cooperation.
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PMID:Apoptosis of metastatic prostate cancer cells by a combination of cyclin-dependent kinase and AKT inhibitors. 1870 58

Resistance to apoptosis is a hallmark of pancreatic cancer, a leading cause of cancer deaths. Therefore, novel strategies are required to target apoptosis resistance. Here, we report that the combination of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) inhibition and tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is an effective approach to trigger apoptosis despite Bcl-2 overexpression and to suppress pancreatic cancer growth in vitro and in vivo. Knockdown of XIAP by RNA interference cooperates with TRAIL to induce caspase activation, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, cytochrome c release, and apoptosis in pancreatic carcinoma cells. Loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and cytochrome c release are extensively inhibited by a broad range or caspase-3 selective caspase inhibitor and by RNAi-mediated silencing of caspase-3, indicating that XIAP inhibition enhances TRAIL-induced mitochondrial damage in a caspase-3-dependent manner. XIAP inhibition combined with TRAIL even breaks Bcl-2-imposed resistance by converting type II cells that depend on the mitochondrial contribution to the death receptor pathway to type I cells in which TRAIL-induced activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9 and apoptosis proceeds irrespective of high Bcl-2 levels. Most importantly, XIAP inhibition potentiates TRAIL-induced antitumor activity in two preclinical models of pancreatic cancer in vivo. In the chicken chorioallantoic membrane model, XIAP inhibition significantly enhances TRAIL-mediated apoptosis and suppression of tumor growth. In a tumor regression model in xenograft-bearing mice, XIAP inhibition acts in concert with TRAIL to cause even regression of established pancreatic carcinoma. Thus, this combination of XIAP inhibition plus TRAIL is a promising strategy to overcome apoptosis resistance of pancreatic cancer that warrants further investigation.
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PMID:Targeting XIAP bypasses Bcl-2-mediated resistance to TRAIL and cooperates with TRAIL to suppress pancreatic cancer growth in vitro and in vivo. 1882 53

Tumor hypoxia is a main obstacle for radiation therapy. To investigate whether exposure to a proton beam can overcome radioresistance in hypoxic tumor cells, three kinds of cancer cells, Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells, hepatoma HepG2 and Molt-4 leukemia cells, were treated with a proton beam (35 MeV, 1, 2, 5, 10 Gy) in the presence or absence of hypoxia. Cell death rates were determined 72 h after irradiation. Hypoxic cells exposed to the proton beam underwent a typical apoptotic program, showing condensed nuclei, fragmented DNA ladders, and poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) cleavage. Fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis revealed a significant increase in Annexin-V-positive cells. Cells treated with the proton beam and hypoxia displayed increased expression of p53, p21 and Bax, but decreased levels of phospho-Rb, Bcl-2 and XIAP, as well as activated caspase-9 and -3. The proton beam with hypoxia induced cell death in wild-type HCT116 cells, but not in a p53 knockout cell line, demonstrating a requirement for p53. As reactive oxygen species (ROS) were also significantly increased, apoptosis could also be abolished by treatment with the anti-oxidant N-acetyl cysteine (NAC). P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) were activated by the treatment, and their respective DN mutants restored the cell death induced by either proton therapy alone or with hypoxia. In conclusion, proton beam treatment did not differently regulate cancer cell apoptosis either in normoxic or hypoxic conditions via a p53-dependent mechanism and by the activation of p38/JNK MAPK pathways through ROS.
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PMID:Proton induces apoptosis of hypoxic tumor cells by the p53-dependent and p38/JNK MAPK signaling pathways. 1902 Jul 58

Overexpression of cFLIP protein seems to be critical in the antiapoptotic mechanism of immune escape of human COLO 205 colon adenocarcinoma cells. Actually, cFLIP appears to inhibit the death receptor ligand-mediated cell death. Application of the metabolic inhibitor sodium butyrate (NaBt), short-chain volatile fatty acid, sensitized COLO 205 cells to TNF-alpha-mediated apoptosis. Western-blot analysis revealed that the susceptibility of human COLO 205 cells to apoptogenic stimuli resulted from time-dependent reduction in cFLIP and simultaneous up-regulation of TNF-R1 protein levels. Additionally, the combined TNF-alpha and NaBt treatment caused cleavage of Bid and caspase-9 activation, as well as cytochrome c release from mitochondria. Thus, the evidence of this study indicates that NaBt facilitates the death receptor signal evoked by TNF-alpha. Moreover, NaBt alone initiated intrinsic apoptosis, that in turn was abolished by intracellular BCL-2 delivery. It confirms the involvement of mitochondria in the proapoptotic activity of NaBt. The activation of mitochondrial pathway was substantiated by up-regulated expression of BAK with concomitant reduction of antiapoptotic BCL-x(L), XIAP and survivin proteins. These findings suggest that NaBt could represent a good candidate for the new therapeutic strategy aimed to improve chemo- and immunotherapy of colon cancer.
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PMID:Sodium butyrate sensitizes human colon adenocarcinoma COLO 205 cells to both intrinsic and TNF-alpha-dependent extrinsic apoptosis. 1913 Feb 37

The inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family of molecules inhibit apoptosis through the suppression of caspase activity. It is known that the XIAP protein regulates both caspase-3 and caspase-9 through direct protein-protein interactions. Specifically, the BIR3 domain of XIAP binds to caspase-9 via a ;hotspot' interaction in which the N-terminal residues of caspase-9 bind in a shallow groove on the surface of XIAP. This interaction is regulated via SMAC, the N-terminus of which binds in the same groove, thus displacing caspase-9. The mechanism of suppression of apoptosis by cIAP1 is less clear. The structure of the BIR3 domain of cIAP1 (cIAP1-BIR3) in complex with N-terminal peptides from both SMAC and caspase-9 has been determined. The binding constants of these peptides to cIAP1-BIR3 have also been determined using the surface plasmon resonance technique. The structures show that the peptides interact with cIAP1 in the same way that they interact with XIAP: both peptides bind in a similar shallow groove in the BIR3 surface, anchored at the N-terminus by a charge-stabilized hydrogen bond. The binding data show that the SMAC and caspase-9 peptides bind with comparable affinities (85 and 48 nM, respectively).
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PMID:The structure of the BIR3 domain of cIAP1 in complex with the N-terminal peptides of SMAC and caspase-9. 1915 67

XIAP is an apoptotic regulator protein that binds to the effector caspases -3 and -7 through its BIR2 domain, and to initiator caspase-9 through its BIR3 domain. Molecular docking studies suggested that Smac-DIABLO may antagonize XIAP by concurrently targeting both BIR2 and BIR3 domains; on this basis bivalent Smac-mimetic compounds have been proposed and characterized. Here, we report the X-ray crystal structure of XIAP-BIR3 domain in complex with a two-headed compound (compound 3) with improved efficacy relative to its monomeric form. A small-angle X-ray scattering study of XIAP-BIR2BIR3, together with fluorescence polarization binding assays and compound 3 cytotoxicity tests on HL60 leukemia cell line are also reported. The crystal structure analysis reveals a network of interactions supporting XIAP-BIR3/compound 3 recognition; moreover, analytical gel-filtration chromatography shows that compound 3 forms a 1:1 stoichiometric complex with a XIAP protein construct containing both BIR2 and BIR3 domains. On the basis of the crystal structure and small-angle X-ray scattering, a model of the same BIR2-BIR3 construct bound to compound 3 is proposed, shedding light on the ability of compound 3 to relieve XIAP inhibitory effects on caspase-9 as well as caspases -3 and -7. A molecular modeling/docking analysis of compound 3 bound to cIAP1-BIR3 domain is presented, considering that Smac-mimetics have been shown to kill tumor cells by inducing cIAP1 and cIAP2 ubiquitination and degradation. Taken together, the results reported here provide a rationale for further development of compound 3 as a lead in the design of dimeric Smac mimetics for cancer treatment.
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PMID:Structural basis for bivalent Smac-mimetics recognition in the IAP protein family. 1939 43


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