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)

Etoposide (VP-16) a topoisomerase II inhibitor induces apoptosis of tumor cells. The present study was designed to elucidate the mechanisms of etoposide-induced apoptosis in C6 glioma cells. Etoposide induced increased formation of ceramide from sphingomyelin and release of mitochondrial cytochrome c followed by activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, but not caspase-1. In addition, exposure of cells to etoposide resulted in decreased expression of Bcl-2 with reciprocal increase in Bax protein. z-VAD.FMK, a broad spectrum caspase inhibitor, failed to suppress the etoposide-induced ceramide formation and change of the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, although it did inhibit etoposide-induced death of C6 cells. Reduced glutathione or N-acetylcysteine, which could reduce ceramide formation by inhibiting sphingomyelinase activity, prevented C6 cells from etoposide-induced apoptosis through blockage of caspase-3 activation and change of the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. In contrast, the increase in ceramide level by an inhibitor of ceramide glucosyltransferase-1, D-threo-1-phenyl-2-decanoylamino-3-morpholino-1-propanol caused elevation of the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and potentiation of caspase-3 activation, thereby resulting in enhancement of etoposide-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, cell-permeable exogenous ceramides (C2- and C6-ceramide) induced downregulation of Bcl-2, leading to an increase in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and subsequent activation of caspases-9 and -3. Taken together, these results suggest that ceramide may function as a mediator of etoposide-induced apoptosis of C6 glioma cells, which induces increase in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio followed by release of cytochrome c leading to caspases-9 and -3 activation.
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PMID:Ordering of ceramide formation, caspase activation, and Bax/Bcl-2 expression during etoposide-induced apoptosis in C6 glioma cells. 1104 71

The aim of this study was to examine the cytotoxicity and mechanism of apoptosis induction of verotoxin-1 (VT-1) in human glioma cell lines. VT-1 is a member of the shiga-toxin family expressed by some serotypes of Escherichia coli and Shigella dysenteriae. Shiga-toxins have been shown to induce apoptosis by binding to its membrane receptor Gb3. The human glioma cell lines SF-767, U-343 MG, and U-251 MG were studied together with BT4C, a rat glioma cell line. Cells were first screened for Gb3 expression by flow cytometry. Fluorescein diacetate was used to determine cell viability after VT-1 and irradiation exposure and apoptosis was studied by TUNEL staining, a mitochondrial membrane potential assay, and caspase activity assays. SF-767 and U-343 MG cells were found to express Gb3 and were also sensitive to VT-1-induced cytotoxicity, whereas nonGb3-expressing U-251 MG and BT4C glioma cells were not. VT-1 depolarized the mitochondrial membrane and activated caspase-9 and -3 of SF-767 and U-343 MG cells. VT-1 exposure for 72 h resulted in approx. 60 and 90% TUNEL-stained cells, respectively. D, L-Threo-1-phenyl-2-palmitoylamino-3-morpholino-1-propanol (PPMP) an inhibitor of glucosylceramide synthesis was used to block Gb3 synthesis. Two mumol/L PPMP for 72 h abolished SF-767 and U-343 MG expression of Gb3 and made the cells completely resistant to VT-1 induced apoptosis. Key components of MAP kinase signalling pathways that control BAX and mitochondrial function were investigated. VT-1 induced JNK phosphorylation in both cell lines, suggesting that survival signal pathways were overruled by VT-1-induced JNK activation leading to mitochondrial depolarization, caspase-9 activation and apoptosis. Immunohistochemistry of cryostat section from glioma biopsies demonstrated expression of Gb3 was in the vascular endothelial cells as well as tumor cells, but not in astrocytes. The high specificity and apoptosis inducing properties of verotoxin-1 indicates that the toxin may be a potential anti-neoplastic agent for Gb3-expressing gliomas.
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PMID:Verotoxin-1 induction of apoptosis in Gb3-expressing human glioma cell lines. 1720 57

Tumors can promote their own progressive growth by inducing T cell apoptosis. Though previous studies suggested that tumor-mediated T cell killing is receptor dependent, we recently showed that tumor gangliosides also participate, a notion consistent with reports indicating that, in some cell types, gangliosides can activate the intrinsic apoptotic pathway by stimulating reactive oxygen species production, cytochrome c release, and caspase-9 activation. In this study, we used normal peripheral blood T cells, as well as caspase-8-, caspase-9-, and Fas-associated death domain protein-deficient Jurkat cells, to assess whether the death ligands and gangliosides overexpressed by the renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cell line SK-RC-45 can independently stimulate T cell apoptosis as a mechanism of immune escape. Anti-FasL Abs and the glycosylceramide synthase inhibitor 1-phenyl-2-hexadecanoylamino-3-pyrrolidino-1-propanol (PPPP) each partially inhibited the ability of SK-RC-45 to kill cocultured activated T cells; together, as purified molecules, RCC gangliosides and rFasL induced a more extensive mitochondrial permeability transition and greater levels of apoptosis than either agent alone, equivalent to that induced by the FasL- and ganglioside-expressing RCC line itself. rFasL-mediated apoptosis was completely inhibited in caspase-8- and Fas-associated death domain protein-negative Jurkat cells, though apoptosis induced by purified gangliosides remained intact, findings that correlate with the observed partial inhibition of SK-RC-45-induced apoptosis in the Jurkat lines with defective death receptor signaling. Western blot analysis performed on lysates made from wild-type and mutant Jurkat cells cocultured with SK-RC-45 revealed caspase activation patterns and other biochemical correlates which additionally supported the concept that tumor-associated gangliosides and FasL independently activate the caspase cascade in T cells through the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways, respectively.
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PMID:Renal cell carcinoma tumors induce T cell apoptosis through receptor-dependent and receptor-independent pathways. 1835 92