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)

Dysregulation of apoptosis contributes to the pathogenesis of many human diseases. As effectors of the apoptotic machinery, caspases are considered potential therapeutic targets. Using an established in vivo model of Fas-mediated apoptosis, we demonstrate here that elimination of certain caspases was compensated in vivo by the activation of other caspases. Hepatocyte apoptosis and mouse death induced by the Fas agonistic antibody Jo2 required proapoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bid and used a Bid-mediated mitochondrial pathway of caspase activation; deficiency in caspases essential for this pathway, caspase-9 or caspase-3, unexpectedly resulted in rapid activation of alternate caspases after injection of Jo2, and therefore failed to protect mice against Jo2 toxicity. Moreover, both ultraviolet and gamma irradiation, two established inducers of the mitochondrial caspase-activation pathway, also elicited compensatory activation of caspases in cultured caspase-3(-/-) hepatocytes, indicating that the compensatory caspase activation was mediated through the mitochondria. Our findings provide direct experimental evidence for compensatory pathways of caspase activation. This issue should therefore be considered in developing caspase inhibitors for therapeutic applications.
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PMID:Deficiency in caspase-9 or caspase-3 induces compensatory caspase activation. 1106 35

Past studies have shown that TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) induced apoptosis in a high proportion of cultured melanoma by caspase-dependent mechanisms. In the present studies we have examined whether TRAIL-induced apoptosis of melanoma was mediated by direct activation of effector caspases or whether apoptosis was dependent on changes in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and mitochondrial-dependent pathways of apoptosis. Changes in MMP were measured by fluorescent emission from rhodamine 123 in mitochondria. TRAIL, but not TNF-alpha or Fas ligand, was shown to induce marked changes in MMP in melanoma, which showed a high correlation with TRAIL-induced apoptosis. This was associated with activation of proapoptotic protein Bid and release of cytochrome c into the cytosol. Overexpression of B cell lymphoma gene 2 (Bcl-2) inhibited TRAIL-induced release of cytochrome c, changes in MMP, and apoptosis. The pan caspase inhibitor z-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethylketone (zVAD-fmk) and the inhibitor of caspase-8 (z-Ile-Glu-Thr-Asp-fluoromethylketone; zIETD-fmk) blocked changes in MMP and apoptosis, suggesting that the changes in MMP were dependent on activation of caspase-8. Activation of caspase-9 also appeared necessary for TRAIL-induced apoptosis of melanoma. In addition, TRAIL, but not TNF-alpha or Fas ligand, was shown to induce clustering of mitochondria around the nucleus. This process was not essential for apoptosis but appeared to increase the rate of apoptosis. Taken together, these results suggest that TRAIL induces apoptosis of melanoma cells by recruitment of mitochondrial pathways to apoptosis that are dependent on activation of caspase-8. Therefore, factors that regulate the mitochondrial pathway may be important determinants of TRAIL-induced apoptosis of melanoma.
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PMID:TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand-induced apoptosis of melanoma is associated with changes in mitochondrial membrane potential and perinuclear clustering of mitochondria. 1106 17

In present studies, treatment with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL, also known as Apo-2 ligand [Apo-2L]) is shown to induce apoptosis of the human acute leukemia HL-60, U937, and Jurkat cells in a dose-dependent manner, with the maximum effect seen following treatment of Jurkat cells with 0.25 microg/mL of Apo-2L (95.0% +/- 3.5% of apoptotic cells). Susceptibility of these acute leukemia cell types, which are known to lack p53(wt) function, did not appear to correlate with the levels of the apoptosis-signaling death receptors (DRs) of Apo-2L, ie, DR4 and DR5; decoy receptors (DcR1 and 2); FLAME-1 (cFLIP); or proteins in the inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (IAP) family. Apo-2L-induced apoptosis was associated with the processing of caspase-8, Bid, and the cytosolic accumulation of cytochrome c as well as the processing of caspase-9 and caspase-3. Apo-2L-induced apoptosis was significantly inhibited in HL-60 cells that overexpressed Bcl-2 or Bcl-x(L). Cotreatment with either a caspase-8 or a caspase-9 inhibitor suppressed Apo-2L-induced apoptosis. Treatment of human leukemic cells with etoposide, Ara-C, or doxorubicin increased DR5 but not DR4, Fas, DcR1, DcR2, Fas ligand, or Apo-2L levels. Importantly, sequential treatment of HL-60 cells with etoposide, Ara-C, or doxorubicin followed by Apo-2L induced significantly more apoptosis than treatment with Apo-2L, etoposide, doxorubicin, or Ara-C alone, or cotreatment with Apo-2L and the antileukemic drugs, or treatment with the reverse sequence of Apo-2L followed by one of the antileukemic drugs. These findings indicate that treatment with etoposide, Ara-C, or doxorubicin up-regulates DR5 levels in a p53-independent manner and sensitizes human acute leukemia cells to Apo-2L-induced apoptosis. (Blood. 2000;96:3900-3906)
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PMID:Antileukemic drugs increase death receptor 5 levels and enhance Apo-2L-induced apoptosis of human acute leukemia cells. 1109 76

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) induces apoptosis via the death receptors DR4 and DR5 in different transformed cells in vitro and exhibits potent antitumor activity in vivo with minor side effects. The synthetic retinoid CD437 is a potent inducer of apoptosis in cancer cells through increased levels of death receptors. We demonstrate that treatment of human lung cancer cells with a combination of suboptimal concentrations of CD437 and TRAIL enhanced induction of apoptosis in tumor cell lines with wild-type p53 but not in normal lung epithelial cells. CD437 up-regulated DR4 and DR5 expression. The CD437 and TRAIL combination enhanced activation of caspase-3, caspase-7, caspase-8, and caspase-9 and the subsequent cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and DNA fragmentation factor 45. Caspase inhibitors blocked the induction of apoptosis by this combination. Moreover, this combination induced Bid cleavage and increased cytochrome c release from mitochondria. These results suggest that the mechanism of enhanced apoptosis by this combination involves p53-dependent increase of death receptors by CD437, activation of these receptors by TRAIL, enhanced Bid cleavage, release of cytochrome c, and activation of caspase-3, caspase-7, caspase-8, and caspase-9. These findings suggest a novel strategy for the prevention and treatment of human lung cancer with the CD437 and TRAIL combination.
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PMID:Augmentation of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-induced apoptosis by the synthetic retinoid 6-[3-(1-adamantyl)-4-hydroxyphenyl]-2-naphthalene carboxylic acid (CD437) through up-regulation of TRAIL receptors in human lung cancer cells. 1115 24

Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitor STI-571 induces differentiation and apoptosis of HL-60/Bcr-Abl (with ectopic expression of p190 Bcr-Abl) and K562 (with endogenous expression of p210 Bcr-Abl) cells (Blood, 96: 2246-2253, 2000). Cotreatment with STI-571 partially overcomes the resistance to antileukemic drug-induced apoptosis of HL-60/Bcr-Abl and K562 cells. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (Apo-2L/TRAIL), after binding with its signaling death receptors (DR4 and DR5), triggers the intrinsic "mitochondrial" pathway of apoptosis more efficiently in the cancer than do normal cells. In the present studies, we compared the apoptotic effects of Apo-2L/TRAIL, with or without cotreatment with STI-571, in HL-60/neo, HL-60/Bcr-Abl, and K562 cells. As compared with HL-60/neo, HL-60/Bcr-Abl and K562 cells are relatively resistant to Apo-2L/TRAIL-induced apoptosis. In HL-60/Bcr-Abl and K562 versus HL-60/neo cells, Apo-2L/TRAIL caused less cytosolic accumulation of cytochrome c and the processing of caspase-9 and -3. This was also associated with decreased processing of caspase-8, c-FLIP(L) and Bid. Reduced effects of Apo-2L/TRAIL in Bcr-Abl-positive leukemic cells were not attributable to diminished expression of DR4 and DR5, or higher expressions of the decoy receptors DcR1 and -2 or c-FLIP(L). Cotreatment with STI-571 significantly enhanced Apo-2L/TRAIL-induced apoptosis (P < 0.01) as well as increased the processing of caspase-9 and -3 and XIAP, without affecting the levels of DR4, DR5, decoy receptors, or c-FLIP(L). Cotreatment with STI-571 did not enhance Apo-2L/TRAIL-induced apoptosis of HL-60/neo cells. These studies suggest that a combined treatment with STI-571 may be an effective strategy to selectively sensitize Bcr-Abl-positive leukemic blasts to Apo-2L/TRAIL-induced apoptosis.
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PMID:Cotreatment with STI-571 enhances tumor necrosis factor alpha-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL or apo-2L)-induced apoptosis of Bcr-Abl-positive human acute leukemia cells. 3126 34

The enhanced gastric epithelial cell apoptosis observed during infection with Helicobacter pylori has been suggested to be of significance in the etiology of gastritis, peptic ulcers, and neoplasia. To investigate the cell death signaling induced by H. pylori infection, human gastric epithelial cells were incubated with H. pylori for up to 72 h. H. pylori infection induced the activation of caspase -8, -9, and -3 and the expression of the proapoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins Bad and Bid. The peak of the activity of the caspases occurred at 24 h. At this time, the inhibition of caspase-8 or -9 almost completely suppressed H. pylori-induced apoptosis. Inhibition of caspase-8 suppressed the expression of Bad and Bid and the subsequent activation of caspase-9 and -3. These observations indicate that H. pylori induces apoptosis through a pathway involving the sequential induction of apical caspase-8 activity, the proapoptotic proteins Bad and Bid, caspase-9 activity, and effector caspase-3 activity. Activation of the pathway was independent of CagA or vacuolating toxin. A membrane fraction of H. pylori was sufficient to activate this pathway, and treatment with proteinase K eliminated the activity. Apoptotic activity of the membrane fraction was significantly increased by incubating the bacteria under serum-starved conditions for 24 h. These observations suggest that environmental conditions in the human stomach could induce H. pylori-mediated pathogenesis, leading to a variety of clinical outcomes.
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PMID:Apoptotic signaling pathway activated by Helicobacter pylori infection and increase of apoptosis-inducing activity under serum-starved conditions. 1129 39

Apoptosis can be induced by various stimuli including DNA-damaging anticancer drugs and the protein kinase inhibitor staurosporine. It is generally believed that the molecular events during execution of apoptosis are shared, as both anticancer drugs and staurosporine derivatives induce mitochondrial damage, cytochrome c release and the activation of the caspase-9 proteolytic cascade. In the present study we show that overexpression of a dominant-negative caspase-9 mutant abolished the activation of endogenous caspase-9, caspase-3 and the cleavage of the caspase substrate Bid in response to anticancer drug treatment. Surprisingly, however, only marginal effects were observed during staurosporine-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, we describe a Jurkat T-cell clone that is completely resistant towards different anticancer drugs, but remains sensitive towards staurosporine-induced apoptosis. In these cells only staurosporine, but neither anti-CD95 nor anticancer drugs were able to trigger caspase activity and the cleavage of caspase substrates. Our results therefore suggest that the mechanism of staurosporine-induced apoptosis is more complex and at least partially differs from anticancer drug-induced caspase activation. These distinct features of staurosporine may allow to bypass chemoresistance of tumor cells and may encourage further clinical trials for the use of staurosporine derivatives in antitumor therapy.
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PMID:Staurosporine and conventional anticancer drugs induce overlapping, yet distinct pathways of apoptosis and caspase activation. 1131 63

We have previously reported that B cell receptors, depending on the degree to which they are cross-linked, can promote apoptosis in various human B cell types. In this study, we show that B cell receptors can trigger two apoptotic pathways according to cross-linking and that these pathways control mitochondrial activation in human Burkitt's lymphoma cells. Whereas soluble anti-mu Ab triggers caspase-independent mitochondrial activation, cross-linked anti-mu Ab induces an apoptotic response associated with a caspase-dependent loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential. This B cell receptor-mediated caspase-dependent mitochondrial activation is associated with caspase-8 activation. We show here that caspase-8 inhibitors strongly decrease cross-linking-dependent B cell receptor-mediated apoptosis in Burkitt's lymphoma BL41 cells. These inhibitors act upstream from the mitochondria as they prevented the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential observed in B cell receptor-treated BL41 cells. Caspase-8 activation in these cells was also evident from the detection of cleaved fragments of caspase-8 and the cleavage of specific substrates, including Bid. Our data show that cross-linked B cell receptors induced an apoptotic pathway involving sequential caspase-8 activation, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and the activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3. Cells expressing a dominant negative mutant of Fas-associated death domain protein were sensitive to cross-linked B cell receptor-induced caspase-8 activation and apoptosis; therefore, this caspase-8 activation was independent of the death effector domain of Fas-associated death domain protein.
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PMID:B cell receptor cross-linking triggers a caspase-8-dependent apoptotic pathway that is independent of the death effector domain of Fas-associated death domain protein. 1144 Oct 77

The mechanism by which seizures induce neuronal death is not completely understood. Caspase-8 is a key initiator of apoptosis via extrinsic, death receptor-mediated pathways; we therefore investigated its role in mediating seizure-induced neuronal death evoked by unilateral kainic acid injection into the amygdala of the rat, terminated after 40 min by diazepam. We demonstrate that cleaved (p18) caspase-8 was detectable immediately following seizure termination coincident with an increase in cleavage of the substrate Ile-Glu-Thr-Asp (IETD)-p-nitroanilide and the appearance of cleaved (p15) Bid. Expression of Fas and FADD, components of death receptor signaling, was increased following seizures. In vivo intracerebroventricular z-IETD-fluoromethyl ketone administration significantly reduced seizure-induced activities of caspases 8, 9, and 3 as well as reducing Bid and caspase-9 cleavage, cytochrome c release, DNA fragmentation, and neuronal death. These data suggest that intervention in caspase-8 and/or death receptor signaling may confer protection on the brain from the injurious effects of seizures.
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PMID:Cleavage of bid may amplify caspase-8-induced neuronal death following focally evoked limbic seizures. 1149 22

Cepharanthine (CEP) is a known membrane stabilizer that has been widely used in Japan for the treatment of several disorders such as anticancer therapy-provoked leukopenia. We here report that apoptosis was induced by low concentrations (1-5 microM) of CEP in a human leukemia T cell line, Jurkat, and by slightly higher concentrations (5-10 microM) in a human chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cell line K562, which expresses a p210 antiapoptotic Bcr-Abl fusion protein. Induction of apoptosis was confirmed in both Jurkat and K562 cells by DNA fragmentation and typical apoptotic nuclear change, which were preceded by disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential and were induced through a Fas-independent pathway. CEP treatment induced activation of caspase-9 and -3 accompanied by cleavage of PARP, Bid, lamin B1, and DFF45/ICAD in both Jurkat and K562 cells, whereas caspase-8 activation and Akt cleavage were observed only in Jurkat cells. The CEP-induced apoptosis was completely blocked by zVAD-fmk, a broad caspase inhibitor. Interestingly, CEP treatment induced remarkable degradation of the Bcr-Abl protein in K562 cells, and this degradation was prevented partially by zVAD-fmk. When used in combination with a nontoxic concentration of herbimycin A, lower concentrations (2-5 microM) of CEP induced obvious apoptosis in K562 cells with rapid degradation or decrease in the amount of Bcr-Abl and Akt proteins. Our results suggest that CEP, which does not have bone marrow toxicity, may possess therapeutic potential against human leukemias, including CML, which is resistant to anticancer drugs and radiotherapy.
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PMID:Cepharanthine activates caspases and induces apoptosis in Jurkat and K562 human leukemia cell lines. 1152 46


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