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)

The mechanism(s) of c-Myc transcription factor-induced apoptosis is still obscure. The activation of c-Myc has been found to lead into the processing/activation of caspases (caspase-3), but the significance of this for the cell demise is debatable. Here we report that several targets of caspases (PKCdelta, MDM2, PARP, replication factor C, 70 kDa U1snRNP, fodrin and lamins) are cleaved during c-Myc-induced apoptosis in Rat-1 MycER cells, indicating an important role for caspases in the apoptotic process. We further found that the ATM (ataxia telangiectasia mutated)--protein is a novel key substrate of caspases. In in vitro assays, purified recombinant ATM protein was found to be cleaved by the effector caspases 3 and 7. The functional significance of the ATM cleavage is supported by the finding that ectopic expression of ATM protected in part against apoptosis. We also show that c-Myc-induced apoptosis involves loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, release of cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol and subsequent processing of caspase-9. The cleavage of caspase-9 is, however, minimal and a much later event than the processing/activation of caspase-3, suggesting that it is not the apical caspase. Evidence is provided that there is, nevertheless, an upstream caspase(s) regulating the functions of caspase-3 and mitochondria. Additionally, it was found that p53 becomes upregulated, together with its transcriptional targets MDM2 and p21, upon c-Myc induction, but this occurs also at a later time than the activation of caspase-3.
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PMID:Caspases and mitochondria in c-Myc-induced apoptosis: identification of ATM as a new target of caspases. 1082 87

The signaling pathway for DNA damaging drug-triggered apoptosis was examined in a chemosensitive human neuroblastoma cell line, SH-SY5Y. Doxorubicin and etoposide induce rapid and extensive apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells. After the drug treatment, p53 protein levels increase in the nucleus, leading to the induction of its transcription targets p21(Waf1/Cip1) and MDM2. Inactivation of p53, either by the human papillomavirus type 16 E6 protein or by a dominant-negative mutant p53 (R175H), completely protects SH-SY5Y cells from drug-triggered apoptosis. Cytochrome c and caspase-9 function downstream of p53 in mediating the drug-triggered apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells. In drug-treated cells, cytochrome c is released, and caspase-9 becomes activated. Inactivation of p53 blocks cytochrome c release and caspase-9 activation. Furthermore, drug-induced cell death can be prevented by expression of a dominant-negative mutant of caspase-9. These findings define a molecular pathway for mediating DNA damaging drug-induced apoptosis in the human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells and suggest that inactivation of essential components of this apoptotic pathway may confer drug resistance on neuroblastoma cells.
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PMID:p53 mediates DNA damaging drug-induced apoptosis through a caspase-9-dependent pathway in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. 1247 64

BPR0Y007, a bis-benzylidenecyclopentanone derivative (2,5-bis- (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylidene) cyclopentanone), was identified in our laboratory as a novel antineoplastic agent with a broad spectrum of antitumor activity against many human cancer cells. A previous study showed that BPR0Y007 inhibited DNA topoisomerase I (Top 1) activity and prevented tubulin polymerization. Notably, no cross-resistance with BPR0Y007 was observed in camptothecin-, VP-16- or vincristine-resistant cell lines. In this study, we further investigated the cellular and molecular events underlying the antitumoral function of this compound in human oral epidermoid carcinoma KB cells, focusing on the early cytotoxic effect. Treatment of KB cells with BPR0Y007-induced G(2)/M phase arrest followed by sub-G(1) phase accumulation. Annexin-V-propidium iodide (PI) binding assay and DNA fragmentation assay further indicated that BPR0Y007-induced cell death proceeded through an apoptotic pathway as opposed to via necrosis. This compound produced a time-dependent activation of caspases-3 and -8, however, another caspase-3 initiator, caspase-9, was only marginally activated at later time point. We further demonstrated that the activation of the caspases cascade and nuclear fragmentation was not associated with inactivated Bcl-2 and perturbed mitochondrial membrane potential by BPR0Y007. The finding that BPR0Y007-induced apoptosis through a membrane-mediated mechanism was supported by up-regulated expression of Fas (CD95/APO-1), but not Fas-L. Furthermore, up-regulation of p53 and its affected gene, MDM2, in KB cells was found after BPR0Y007 exposure. Overall, our results demonstrated that the BPR0Y007 could induce an early cytotoxic apoptosis through a caspase-8-dependent but mitochondrial-caspase-9 independent pathway, and involving upregulation of p53.
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PMID:A novel bis-benzylidenecyclopentanone derivative, BPR0Y007, inducing a rapid caspase activation involving upregulation of Fas (CD95/APO-1) and wild-type p53 in human oral epidermoid carcinoma cells. 1519 1

This study first investigates the anticancer effect of plumbagin (5-hydroxy-2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone) in human nonsmall cell lung cancer cells, A549. Plumbagin has exhibited effective cell growth inhibition by inducing cancer cells to undergo G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis. Blockade of cell cycle was associated with increased levels of p21 and reduced amounts of cyclinB1, Cdc2, and Cdc25C. Plumbagin treatment also enhanced the levels of inactivated phosphorylated Cdc2 and Cdc25C. Blockade of p53 activity by dominant-negative p53 transfection partially decreased plumbagin-induced apoptosis and G2/M arrest, suggesting it might be operated by p53-dependent and independent pathway. Plumbagin treatment triggered the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway indicated by a change in Bax/Bcl-2 ratios, resulting in mitochondrial membrane potential loss, cytochrome c release, and caspase-9 activation. We also found that c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) is a critical mediator in plumbagin-induced cell growth inhibition. Activation of JNK by plumbagin phosphorylated p53 at serine 15, resulting in increased stability of p53 by decreasing p53 and MDM2 interaction. SP600125 (anthra [1,9-cd]pyrazol-6(2H)-one-1,9-pyrazoloanthrone), a specific inhibitor of JNK, significantly decreased apoptosis by inhibiting the phosphorylation of p53 (serine 15) and subsequently increased the interaction of p53 and MDM2. SP6000125 also inhibited the phosphorylation of Bcl-2 (Ser70) induced by plumbagin. Further investigation revealed that plumbagin's inhibition of cell growth effect was also evident in a nude mice model. Taken together, these results suggest a critical role for JNK and p53 in plumbagin-induced G2/M arrest and apoptosis of human nonsmall cell lung cancer cells.
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PMID:Plumbagin (5-hydroxy-2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone) induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in A549 cells through p53 accumulation via c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase-mediated phosphorylation at serine 15 in vitro and in vivo. 1663 41

Mildly affected individuals from xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group G (XP-G) possess single amino acid substitutions in the XPG protein that adversely affects its 3' endonuclease function in nucleotide excision repair. More serious mutations in the XPG gene generate truncated or unstable XPG proteins and result in a particularly early and severe form of the combined XP/CS complex. Following UV irradiation, cells from such XP-G/CS patients enter apoptosis more readily than other DNA repair-deficient cells. Here, we explore the mechanisms by which UV triggers the apoptotic cell death program in XP-G and XP-G/CS primary fibroblasts. Activation of the CD95 signalling pathway occurs within minutes and it is the earliest detectable post-UV event in such cells. This is rapidly followed by activation of caspase-8 then caspase-3. Several hours later caspase-9 becomes activated and the mitochondrial membrane potential drops, but without any obvious prior release of cytochrome c. Although p53 accumulates in XPG-deficient cells after UV irradiation, use of RNA interference demonstrates that p53 is not required for their UV-induced apoptotic response. p53 ablation of wild-type fibroblasts reduces MDM2 mRNA levels, inhibits accumulation of the 90kDa/92kDa Mdm2 isoforms, and prevents the nuclear relocalisation of Mdm2 after UV treatment. The same post-UV effects occur in XPG-deficient cells that express normal p53 levels. These results emphasise the importance of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway and aberrant Mdm2 events for the severe UV-induced apoptosis of XPG-deficient primary fibroblasts. XP-G/CS cells constitutively overexpress the pro-apoptotic Bax protein and a long isoform of the E2F1 transcription factor that controls S phase entry, which may prime them to enter apoptosis very readily after UV irradiation.
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PMID:UV-induced apoptosis in XPG-deficient fibroblasts involves activation of CD95 and caspases but not p53. 1720 56

This study is the first to investigate isokotomolide A (IKA), a butanolide compound isolated from the leaves of Cinnamomum kotoense Kanehira & Sasaki (Lauraceaee), which exhibits an anti-proliferative activity in human non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells. The results show that IKA inhibits the proliferation of A549 by blocking cell cycle progression in the G0/G1 phase and inducing apoptosis. Blockade of cell cycle was associated with increased p21/WAF1 levels and reduced amounts of cyclin D1, cyclin E, Cdk2, Cdk4, and Cdk6 in a p53-mediated manner. IKA treatment also increased p53 phosphorylation (Ser15) and decreased the interaction of p53-MDM2. IKA treatment triggered the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, indicated by changing Bax/Bcl-2 ratios, cytochrome c release and caspase-9 activation. In addition, pre-treatment of cells with caspase-9 inhibitor inhibited IKA-induced apoptosis, indicating that caspase-9 activation was involved in A549 cells' apoptosis induced by IKA. Our study reports here for the first time that the induction of p53/p21 and the initiation of the mitochondrial apoptotic system may participate in the anti-proliferative activity of IKA in human non-small cell lung cancer cells.
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PMID:Isokotomolide A, a new butanolide extracted from the leaves of Cinnamomum kotoense, arrests cell cycle progression and induces apoptosis through the induction of p53/p21 and the initiation of mitochondrial system in human non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells. 1770 93

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common malignancy of the liver. It is unfortunate that HCCs are highly refractory to conventional chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and even immunotherapy. Thus, novel therapeutic targets need to be sought for the successful treatment of HCCs. We now report that (+/-)-(3aRS,4SR)-2-(2-chloro-4-methylsulfonylphenyl)-4'-chloro-3alpha,4-diethoxy-flavane[4,3-d]-D1,9b-1,2,3-thiadiazoline (MSFTZ), a synthesized flavanone derivative, induced growth arrest and apoptosis of HCCs both in vitro and in vivo. MSFTZ induced a time- and dose-dependent increase in HCC apoptosis through caspase-3 activation and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 cleavage. Activation of caspase-9 induced by MSFTZ suggested that MSFTZ-induced signaling was mediated through a mitochondrial death pathway. In addition, we observed an elevation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and a consequent loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, further suggesting that MSFTZ-induced death signaling was mediated through a mitochondrial oxygen stress pathway. These events were associated with a decrease and increase in Bcl-2 and Bax expression, respectively, as well as phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and activation of p53-MDM2 pathway. However, the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine opposed MSFTZ-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction, caspase activation, Bcl-2/Bax modulation, and apoptosis, supporting the role of ROS in the apoptotic process. We were surprised that we failed to observe the protective effect of N-acetylcysteine against MSFTZ-induced MAPK activation. Furthermore, MSFTZ had an antitumor effect in vivo by 34.8 to 78.7% reduction of tumor size in SMMC-7721-xenografted nude mice. We conclude that MSFTZ induces HCC cell apoptosis both in vivo and in vitro via caspase- and ROS-dependent mitochondrial pathway. In addition, MSFTZ has potential as a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of HCC.
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PMID:MSFTZ, a flavanone derivative, induces human hepatoma cell apoptosis via a reactive oxygen species- and caspase-dependent mitochondrial pathway. 1832 57

Pharmacological manipulation of protein acetylation levels by histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors represents a novel therapeutic strategy to treat neurodegeneration as well as cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms that determine how HDAC inhibition exerts a protective effect in neurons as opposed to a cytotoxic action in tumor cells has not been elucidated. We addressed this issue in cultured postnatal mouse cortical neurons whose p53-dependent and p53-independent intrinsic apoptotic programs require the proapoptotic multidomain protein, Bax. Despite promoting nuclear p53 accumulation, Class I/II HDAC inhibitors (HDACIs) protected neurons from p53-dependent cell death induced by camptothecin, etoposide, heterologous p53 expression or the MDM2 inhibitor, nutlin-3a. HDACIs suppressed p53-dependent PUMA expression, a critical signaling intermediate linking p53 to Bax activation, thus preventing postmitochondrial events including cleavage of caspase-9 and caspase-3. In human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, however, HDACIs were not able to prevent p53-dependent cell death. Moreover, HDACIs also prevented caspase-3 cleavage in postnatal cortical neurons treated with staurosporine, 3-nitropropionic acid and a Bcl-2 inhibitor, all of which require the presence of Bax but not p53 to promote apoptosis. Although these three toxic agents displayed a requirement for Bax, they did not promote PUMA induction. These results demonstrate that HDACIs block Bax-dependent cell death by two distinct mechanisms to prevent neuronal apoptosis, thus identifying for the first time a defined molecular target for their neuroprotective actions.
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PMID:Histone deacetylase inhibitors prevent p53-dependent and p53-independent Bax-mediated neuronal apoptosis through two distinct mechanisms. 1926 78

This study demonstrated a pronounced synergistic growth-inhibitory effect of an MDM2 inhibitor Nutlin-3 and a proteasome inhibitor bortezomib in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) cells regardless of TP53 mutant status and innate bortezomib sensitivity. In the mutant TP53 MCL cells which are intrinsically resistant to bortezomib, the combination of Nutlin-3/bortezomib synergistically induced cytotoxicity through the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway mediated by transcription-independent upregulation of NOXA, sequestration of MCL-1, activation of BAX, BAK, caspase-9 and -3. In the bortezomib sensitive wild-type TP53 MCL cells, the Nutlin-3/bortezomib combination caused G0/G1 cell cycle arrest followed by the increase in apoptosis induction. These findings indicate potential therapeutic efficacy of Nutlin-3/bortezomib combination for the treatment of chemorefractory MCL.
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PMID:MDM2 antagonist Nutlin-3 enhances bortezomib-mediated mitochondrial apoptosis in TP53-mutated mantle cell lymphoma. 2085 Sep 24

In this study, we examined whether melatonin promotes apoptotic cell death via p53 in prostate LNCaP cells. Melatonin treatment significantly curtailed the growth of LNCaP cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Melatonin treatment (0 to 3 mM) induced the fragmentation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and activation of caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9. Moreover, melatonin markedly activated Bax expression and decreased Bcl-2 expression in dose increments. To investigate p53 and p21 expression, LNCaP cells were treated with 0 to 3 mM melatonin. Melatonin increased the expressions of p53, p21, and p27. Treatment with mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitors, PD98059 (ERK inhibitor), SP600125 (JNK inhibitor) and SB202190 (p38 inhibitor), confirmed that the melatonin-induced apoptosis was p21-dependent, but ERK-independent. With the co-treatment of PD98059 and melatonin, the expression of p-p53, p21, and MDM2 did not decrease. These effects were opposite to the expression of p-p53, p21, and MDM2 observed with SP600125 and SB202190 treatments. Together, these results suggest that p53-dependent induction of JNK/p38 MAPK directly participates in apoptosis induced by melatonin.
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PMID:Melatonin Induces Apoptotic Cell Death via p53 in LNCaP Cells. 2131 76


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