Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P04637 (p53)
 77,613 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In mammalian cells, terminal differentiation is mutually exclusive with proliferation. However, resistance to differentiation-inducing therapy requires alternative strategies to control poorly responsive tumors. We now show that retroviral transfer of the antisense cyclin D1 gene to differentiation-refractory K1735 melanoma leads to loss of in vivo tumorigenicity, shortened replicative ability, induction of the tumor suppressor p53 protein and of the cdk-inhibitor p21WAF1, increased beta-galactosidase pH 6.0 activity, and elevation in the ratio of superoxide dismutases to peroxidases, all properties associated with replicative senescence. However, pigmentation and tyrosinase expression, characteristic of differentiated melanocytic cells or apoptosis-associated PARP cleavage, were not increased by antisense cyclin D1 transduction. Our data suggests that targetting cyclin D1 inhibition suppresses melanoma tumorigenicity by promoting a cytostatic differentiation-independent pathway, mediated by activation of p53 and anti-oxidant functions.
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PMID:Tumor suppression without differentiation or apoptosis by antisense cyclin D1 gene transfer in K1735 melanoma involves induction of p53, p21WAF1 and superoxide dismutases. 1063 37

The sensitivity of normal diploid Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) cells to apoptosis was tested after treatment with the topoisomerase inhibitors camptothecin and etoposide and after serum withdrawal. Programmed cell death (PCD) was identified through morphological, biochemical, and molecular changes and compared with that of HL60 cell line. The results showed that topoisomerase inhibitors, which were shown to be potent PCD inducers in the HL60 cell line, induced a weaker apoptotic response in SHE cells than after growth factor deprivation. In addition, serum-free medium, which rapidly induced apoptosis in SHE cells, did not affect the HL60 cell line. In both cell types, PCD was expressed by condensed chromatin, fragmented nuclei, and DNA laddering on electrophoretic gels, an indisputable sign of apoptosis. In apoptotic HL60 cells, the cleavage of 113-kDa poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) resulted in the so-called apoptotic 89-kDa fragment and was associated with increased caspase-3 activity. In apoptotic SHE cells, PARP degraded early but the degradation profile was not characterized by the appearance of an 89-kDa fragment. Moreover, no activation of caspase-3 was noted. ZnCl(2), which is known to prevent protease activity responsible for apoptosis features, inhibited PARP cleavage and nuclear modifications induced by apoptotic stimuli in both cell types, but with a higher sensitivity in SHE cells. Apoptosis induced by serum deprivation was linked with c-myc negative regulation in SHE cells, but not with p53 protein accumulation, while topoisomerase inhibitors led to p53 stabilization without any change in c-myc expression. Serum-free medium and topoisomerase inhibitors did not modify c-myc expression in the HL60 cell line. The overall results demonstrated that apoptosis, which is a carefully regulated process of cell death, may proceed through mechanisms varying according to cell type or apoptosis inducer. In addition, markers which are generally considered hallmarks of apoptosis may fail to appear in some cell types.
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PMID:Detection of apoptosis induced by topoisomerase inhibitors and serum deprivation in syrian hamster embryo cells. 1066 31

beta-Lapachone (beta-lap) effectively killed MCF-7 and T47D cell lines via apoptosis in a cell-cycle-independent manner. However, the mechanism by which this compound activated downstream proteolytic execution processes were studied. At low concentrations, beta-lap activated the caspase-mediated pathway, similar to the topoisomerase I poison, topotecan; apoptotic reactions caused by both agents at these doses were inhibited by zVAD-fmk. However at higher doses of beta-lap, a novel non-caspase-mediated "atypical" cleavage of PARP (i.e., an approximately 60-kDa cleavage fragment) was observed. Atypical PARP cleavage directly correlated with apoptosis in MCF-7 cells and was inhibited by the global cysteine protease inhibitors iodoacetamide and N-ethylmaleimide. This cleavage was insensitive to inhibitors of caspases, granzyme B, cathepsins B and L, trypsin, and chymotrypsin-like proteases. The protease responsible appears to be calcium-dependent and the concomitant cleavage of PARP and p53 was consistent with a beta-lap-mediated activation of calpain. beta-Lap exposure also stimulated the cleavage of lamin B, a putative caspase 6 substrate. Reexpression of procaspase-3 into caspase-3-null MCF-7 cells did not affect this atypical PARP proteolytic pathway. These findings demonstrate that beta-lap kills cells through the cell-cycle-independent activation of a noncaspase proteolytic pathway.
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PMID:Activation of a cysteine protease in MCF-7 and T47D breast cancer cells during beta-lapachone-mediated apoptosis. 1069 31

Death receptors of the Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) family form membrane-bound self-activating signaling complexes that initiate apoptosis through cleavage of proximal caspases including CASP8 and 10. Here we show that overexpression of the cytoplasmic domain (CD) of the DR4 TRAIL receptor (TNFRSF10A, TRAIL R1) in human breast, lung, and colon cancer cell lines, using an adenovirus vector (Ad-DR4-CD), leads to p53-independent apoptotic cell death involving cleavage of CASP8 and 10 proximally and CASP3, 6, and 7 distally. DR4-CD overexpression also leads to cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and the DNA fragmentation factor (DFF45; ICAD). Importantly, normal lung fibroblasts are resistant to DR4-CD overexpression and show no evidence of PARP-, CASP8- or CASP3-cleavage despite similar levels of adenovirus-delivered DR4-CD protein as the cancer cells. These results suggest that DR4 may signal death through known caspases and that further studies are required to evaluate Ad-DR4-CD as a novel anti-cancer agent. Finally, we show that overexpression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21(WAF1/CIP1) (CDKN1A), or its N-terminal 91 amino acids containing cell cycle-inhibitory activity, inhibits DR4-CD-dependent proximal caspase cleavage. The blockage of initiator caspase activation provides a novel insight into how p21 may suppress apoptosis and enhance cell survival.
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PMID:p21(WAF1/CIP1) inhibits initiator caspase cleavage by TRAIL death receptor DR4. 1069 97

The role of ceramide in triggering apoptosis is still a matter of debate. While in some experimental systems, ceramide was shown to mediate Fas-induced cell death, in other instances it was claimed to induce the expression of Fas ligand (FasL), killing cells in a caspase-dependent fashion. We found that, in mature A20 B cells, ceramide-induced apoptosis is independent of the caspase pathway, since we observed no ICE-like, CPP32-like and Mch2 activities and no PARP proteolysis. Moreover, we were unable to protect these cells from ceramide-induced apoptosis using caspase inhibitors, while they blocked Fas-induced apoptosis and no FasL induction could be detected following ceramide treatment. These results suggest that ceramide does not induce apoptosis through the Fas/FasL pathway. We also found that overexpression of Nur77, a zinc-finger transcription factor described to upregulate FasL, antagonizes ceramide-induced apoptosis, but not Fas-induced apoptosis. This further supports the hypothesis that Fas and ceramide death pathways are independent in A20 cells. Ceramide-induced cell death was associated with increased c-myc, p53, Bax and p27kip1 levels; in contrast, cells transfected with Nur77 (A20Nur77), resistant to ceramide-induced apoptosis, showed a marked downregulation of p53 after ceramide treatment, with neither Bax nor p27kip1 induction. In conclusion, our results suggest that, in the A20 B cell line, Fas and ceramide trigger two distinct pathways and that Nur77 overexpression confers protection against ceramide-mediated apoptosis which correlates with inhibition of p53, Bax and p27kip1 induction.
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PMID:Ceramide-induced cell death is independent of the Fas/Fas ligand pathway and is prevented by Nur77 overexpression in A20 B cells. 1074 71

The human prostatic carcinoma cell line LNCaP is sensitive to TNF-alpha treatment and expresses wild-type p53. To analyse the possible role of p53 in TNF-alpha-mediated apoptosis, we generated a derivative of LNCaP, LN-56, expressing a dominant-negative element of p53, GSE56. P53 inactivation in LN-56 was associated with an increased resistance to apoptosis induced by TNF-alpha. Surface expression of TNF-alpha receptors was unchanged in LN-56 compared to LNCaP. TNF-alpha treatment resulted in accumulation of p53 in LNCaP and upregulation of p21/WAF1. Activation of caspase-7 and PARP proteolysis were delayed in LN-56 under TNF-alpha treatment. TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis in LNCaP cells was accompanied by caspase-dependent proteolysis of p21/WAF1 and Rb, which was significantly attenuated in LN-56. Cytochrome c release was induced by TNF-alpha treatment in both cell lines, but caspase-9 was not activated. LNCaP and LN-56 were injected s.c. in nude mice and tumors were identified in all LN-56, but not LNCaP, bearing mice indicating that p53 plays an important role in growth control of prostatic neoplasms. Interestingly, accumulation of p53 in TNF-alpha-treated LNCaP cells was decreased in the presence of the caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK, suggesting a new role of activated caspases in acceleration of p53 response. In summary, these results indicate that p53 is involved in TNF-alpha-mediated apoptosis in LNCaP.
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PMID:p53 is involved in tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced apoptosis in the human prostatic carcinoma cell line LNCaP. 1077 86

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) using the silicon phthalocyanine photosensitizer Pc 4 [HOSiPcOSi(CH3)2(CH2)3N-(CH3)2] is an oxidative stress associated with induction of apoptosis in various cell types. We assessed the effectiveness of Pc 4-PDT on SW480 colon cancer xenografts grown in athymic nude mice. Animals bearing xenografts were treated with 1 mg/kg body weight Pc 4 and 48 h later were irradiated with 150 J/cm2 672-nm light from a diode laser delivered at 150 mW/cm2. Biochemical studies were performed in xenografts resected at various time points up to 26 h after Pc 4-PDT treatment, whereas tumor size was evaluated over a 4-week period in parallel experiments. In the tumors resected for biochemical studies, apoptosis was visualized by activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3 and a gradual increase in the cleavage of the nuclear enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) to a maximum of approximately 60% of the total PARP present at approximately 26 h. At that time all Pc 4-PDT-treated tumors had regressed significantly. Two signaling responses that have previously been shown to be associated with Pc 4-PDT-induced apoptosis in cultured cells, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and p21/WAF1/Cip1, were examined. A marked increase in phosphorylation of p38 was observed within 1 h after Pc 4-PDT without changes in levels of the p38 protein. Levels of p21 were not altered in the xenografts in correspondence with the presence of mutant p53 in SW480 cells. Evaluation of tumor size showed that tumor growth resumed after a delay of 9-15 days. Our results suggest that: (a) Pc 4-PDT is effective in the treatment of SW480 human colon cancer xenografts independent of p53 status; (b) PARP cleavage may be mediated by caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation in the Pc 4-PDT-treated tumors; and (c) p38 phosphorylation may be a trigger of apoptosis in response to PDT in vivo in this tumor model.
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PMID:Photodynamic therapy with the phthalocyanine photosensitizer Pc 4 of SW480 human colon cancer xenografts in athymic mice. 1081 28

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

Recently we found a clearly reduced basal level of wt p53 protein in PARP-deficient cells. Interestingly, PARP deficiency affected only regularly spliced (RS) wt p53. No significant difference of the p53 transcription rate was observed between wt and PARP-lacking cells. To clarify whether the reduction of RS p53 protein is due to a lower translation rate or rather to its instability in the absence of functional PARP, we investigated the effect of the inhibition of proteasome activity and nuclear export on the p53 level. The p53 half-life was approximately eight-fold decreased in PARP-lacking cells. Surprisingly, treatment with three proteasome inhibitors increased RS p53 in normal but not in PARP-deficient cells. However, the inhibition of nuclear export resulted in a considerable accumulation of RS p53 in the latter. Therefore, we decided to increase concentrations of the inhibitors. Their higher concentrations strongly affected viability of normal, but not of PARP-deficient cells, about 70% of MEFs died. Interestingly, higher concentrations of proteasome inhibitors resulted in the appearance of RS p53 in PARP-lacking fibroblasts. Reconstitution of PARP-deficient cells with PARP restored the normal susceptibility to proteasome inhibitors thereby unequivocally demonstrating that the enhanced cytotoxicity of proteasome inhibitors and their action on p53 level depends on the presence of functional PARP.
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PMID:Differential susceptibility of normal and PARP knock-out mouse fibroblasts to proteasome inhibitors. 1086 65

In over 90% of cervical cancers and cancer-derived cell lines, the p53 tumor suppressor pathway is disrupted by human papillomavirus (HPV). The HPV E6 protein promotes the degradation of p53 and thus inhibits the stabilization and activation of p53 that would normally occur in response to HPV E7 oncogene expression. Restoration of p53 function in these cells by blocking this pathway should promote a selective therapeutic affect. Here we show that treatment with the small molecule nuclear export inhibitor, leptomycin B, and actinomycin D leads to the accumulation of transcriptionally active p53 in the nucleus of HeLa, CaSki, and SiHa cells. Northern blot analyses showed that both actinomycin D and leptomycin B reduced the amount of HPV E6-E7 mRNA whereas combined treatment with the drugs showed almost complete disappearance of the viral mRNA. The combined treatment activated p53-dependant transcription, and increases in both p21(WAF1/CIP1) and Hdm2 mRNA were seen. The combined treatment resulted in apoptotic death in the cells, as evidenced by nuclear fragmentation and PARP-cleavage indicative of caspase 3 activity. These effects were greatly reduced by expressing a dominant negative p53 protein. The present study shows that small molecules can reactivate p53 in cervical carcinoma cells, and this reactivation is associated with an extensive biological response, including the induction of the apoptotic death of the cells.
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PMID:Activation of p53 in cervical carcinoma cells by small molecules. 1090 10


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