Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P10415 (Bcl-2)
 33,771 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In a previous study, we demonstrated that bufalin, which is an active principle of Chinese medicine, chan'su, caused apoptosis in human leukemia U937 cells by anomalous activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) via the signaling pathway of Ras, Raf-1, and MAPK kinase-1. Here, we report the effect of overexpression of bcl-2 in U937 cells on the signaling pathway of apoptosis that is induced by bufalin. The results indicated that the apoptosis induced by bufalin in U937 cells was significantly inhibited by overexpression of the Bcl-2 protein. No significant difference was detected in the activation of MAPK kinase-1 that is induced by bufalin in wild-type or Bcl-2-overexpressed U937 cells; however, the activation of MAPK by bufalin was significantly attenuated in the cells overexpressing Bcl-2. Bufalin treatment activated activator protein-1 transcriptional activity; however, this activation was decreased to 40% in bcl-2-overexpressed U937 cells. These results indicate that Bcl-2 acts downstream of MAPK kinase-1 but upstream of MAPK and suggest that, in the signaling pathway of the apoptotic process induced by bufalin, the transcriptional activity of activator protein-1 may be down-regulated through the inhibition of MAPK activity by Bcl-2.
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PMID:Bcl-2 protein inhibits bufalin-induced apoptosis through inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase activation in human leukemia U937 cells. 924 31

The radiosensitivity of proliferating crypt epithelial cells makes the gut a major limiting factor in the use of radiotherapy for treatment of abdominal cancers. As post-mitotic epithelial cells migrate from mouse small intestinal crypts to the base of adjacent villi, they rapidly lose their ability to undergo apoptosis in response to ionizing irradiation (IR). To determine whether this radioresistance reflects withdrawal from the cell cycle, we used a lineage-specific promoter to direct expression of wild type Simian virus 40 T antigen (SV40 TAg(Wt)) to villus, but not crypt, enterocytes in FVB/N transgenic mice. SV40 TAg(Wt) induced, pRB-dependent, re-entry into the cell cycle is not associated with the acquisition of IR-stimulated apoptosis 4 h or 24 h after 6 Gy or 12 Gy of gamma-irradiation. Co-expression of SV40 TAg(Wt) and K-ras(val12) produces dysplasia in cycling villus enterocytes but no shift towards apoptotic responsiveness to IR. These findings suggest that the radioresistance of villus enterocytes is not simply due to their cell cycle arrest and may be a reflection of their microenvironment. Remarkably, reentry of villus enterocytes to the cell cycle increases the radiosensitivity of the crypt epithelium without changing Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Bak, or Bax expression. This effect is only manifest after IR and, based upon results obtained with mutant SV40 TAgs, depends upon reaching a critical level of proliferation in villus enterocytes. Like the normal crypt response to IR, the villus-derived enhancement of IR-stimulated crypt apoptosis is associated with an induction of p53 and Raf-1, and is dependent upon p53. Unlike the normal crypt response to IR, the p53 induction involves cells distributed throughout the crypt and the apoptotic response is not confined to the lower half of the crypt. These results indicate that signals initiated by cycling enterocytes can be transmitted to the crypt epithelium to induce p53 and influence their IR-induced apoptosis. Understanding the underlying signaling pathways may provide clues about how to modify a normal crypt's radiosensitivity for therapeutic benefit.
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PMID:gamma-Ray-induced apoptosis in transgenic mice with proliferative abnormalities in their intestinal epithelium: re-entry of villus enterocytes into the cell cycle does not affect their radioresistance but enhances the radiosensitivity of the crypt by inducing p53. 924 49

Release of mitochondrial cytochrome c has been recently linked to the activation of the "executioner" phase of the cellular programs for death by apoptosis. This release is known to be negatively regulated by Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL proteins. We show here that treatment of human leukemia cells HL60 with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25D3) results in progressive increases in the levels of cellular antiapoptotic protein Mcl-1, a transient increase in Al protein level, but no increases in Bcl-2 or Bcl-XL proteins. The increase in Mcl-1 protein levels correlates with a reduced extent of apoptotic cell death induced by etoposide or the calcium ionophore A23187. The Mcl-1 protein is primarily localized in the mitochondria, and etoposide- or A23187-induced cytochrome c release is reduced in cells in which the mitochondria contain the Mcl-1 protein demonstrable by immunoblots. Raf-1 protein can also be detected in the mitochondrial fractions that contain Mcl-1 protein but not in the Mcl-1-negative fractions. These findings suggest that in these promyelocytic leukemia cells Mcl-1 has a function analogous to that of Bcl-2 in other cells, i.e., to target Raf-1 to mitochondria and to reduce cell damage-induced release of mitochondrial cytochrome c. Our findings provide a potential mechanism for the antiapoptotic action of 1,25D3 and show that differentiation and apoptosis signaling pathways not only interact but involve a proliferation-associated gene, Raf-1.
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PMID:Antiapoptotic action of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 is associated with increased mitochondrial MCL-1 and RAF-1 proteins and reduced release of cytochrome c. 928 70

The 70 kDa heat shock family of molecular chaperones is essential to a variety of cellular processes, yet it is unclear how these proteins are regulated in vivo. We present evidence that the protein BAG-1 is a potential modulator of the molecular chaperones, Hsp70 and Hsc70. BAG-1 binds to the ATPase domain of Hsp70 and Hsc70, without requirement for their carboxy-terminal peptide-binding domain, and can be co-immunoprecipitated with Hsp/Hsc70 from cell lysates. Purified BAG-1 and Hsp/Hsc70 efficiently form heteromeric complexes in vitro. BAG-1 inhibits Hsp/Hsc70-mediated in vitro refolding of an unfolded protein substrate, whereas BAG-1 mutants that fail to bind Hsp/Hsc70 do not affect chaperone activity. The binding of BAG-1 to one of its known cellular targets, Bcl-2, in cell lysates was found to be dependent on ATP, consistent with the possible involvement of Hsp/Hsc70 in complex formation. Overexpression of BAG-1 also protected certain cell lines from heat shock-induced cell death. The identification of Hsp/Hsc70 as a partner protein for BAG-1 may explain the diverse interactions observed between BAG-1 and several other proteins, including Raf-1, steroid hormone receptors and certain tyrosine kinase growth factor receptors. The inhibitory effects of BAG-1 on Hsp/Hsc70 chaperone activity suggest that BAG-1 represents a novel type of chaperone regulatory proteins and thus suggest a link between cell signaling, cell death and the stress response.
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PMID:BAG-1 modulates the chaperone activity of Hsp70/Hsc70. 930 31

The BAG-1 protein appears to inhibit cell death by binding to Bcl-2, the Raf-1 protein kinase, and certain growth factor receptors, but the mechanism of inhibition remains enigmatic. BAG-1 also interacts with several steroid hormone receptors which require the molecular chaperones Hsc70 and Hsp90 for activation. Here we show that BAG-1 is a regulator of the Hsc70 chaperone. BAG-1 binds to the ATPase domain of Hsc70 and, in cooperation with Hsp40, stimulates Hsc70's steady-state ATP hydrolysis activity approximately 40-fold. Similar to the action of the GrpE protein on bacterial Hsp70, BAG-1 accelerates the release of ADP from Hsc70. Thus, BAG-1 regulates the Hsc70 ATPase in a manner contrary to the Hsc70-interacting protein Hip, which stabilizes the ADP-bound state. Intriguingly, BAG-1 and Hip compete in binding to the ATPase domain of Hsc70. Our results reveal an unexpected diversity in the regulation of Hsc70 and raise the possibility that the observed anti-apoptotic function of BAG-1 may be exerted through a modulation of the chaperone activity of Hsc70 on specific protein folding and maturation pathways.
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PMID:GrpE-like regulation of the hsc70 chaperone by the anti-apoptotic protein BAG-1. 932

The interferon (IFN)-induced enzyme RNase L produced by a recombinant vaccinia virus (VV) causes death of mammalian cells with morphological and biochemical characteristics of apoptosis. Coexpression of 2-5A-synthetase enhances apoptosis induced by RNase L Activation of endogenous RNase L by infection with a VV ts mutant (ts22) or with wild-type virus in the presence of the antipoxvirus drug isatin-beta-thiosemicarbazone, a treatment known to significantly increase the amount of double-stranded RNA late during infection, also causes pronounced apoptosis of infected cells. The effects observed with recombinant virus-derived RNase L or with the endogenous enzyme are specific, since apoptosis also occurs in cells derived from mice lacking the IFN-induced protein kinase (PKR). The apoptosis antagonist Bcl-2 prevents induction of cell death by RNase L activation. Apoptosis of mammalian cells by RNase L activation could be a mechanism mediating anticellular actions of IFN.
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PMID:Activation of the IFN-inducible enzyme RNase L causes apoptosis of animal cells. 932 43

Apoptosis and survival of diverse cell types are under hormonal control, but intracellular mechanisms regulating cell death are unclear. The Bcl-2/Ced-9 family of proteins contains conserved Bcl-2 homology regions that mediate the formation of homo- or heterodimers important for enhancing or suppressing apoptosis. Unlike most other members of the Bcl-2 family, BAD (Bcl-xL/Bcl-2 associated death promoter), a death enhancer, has no C-terminal transmembrane domain for targeting to the outer mitochondrial membrane and nuclear envelope. We hypothesized that BAD, in addition to binding Bcl-xL and Bcl-2, may interact with proteins outside the Bcl-2 family. Using the yeast two-hybrid system to search for BAD-binding proteins in an ovarian fusion cDNA library, we identified multiple cDNA clones encoding different isoforms of 14-3-3, a group of evolutionally conserved proteins essential for signal transduction and cell cycle progression. Point mutation of BAD in one (S137A), but not the other (S113A), putative binding site found in diverse 14-3-3 interacting proteins abolished the interaction between BAD and 14-3-3 without affecting interactions between BAD and Bcl-2. Because the S137A BAD mutant presumably resembles an underphosphorylated form of BAD, we used this mutant to screen for additional BAD-interacting proteins in the yeast two-hybrid system. P11, a nerve growth factor-induced neurite extension factor and member of the calcium-binding S-100 protein family, interacted strongly with the mutant BAD but less effectively with the wild type protein. In Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, transient expression of wild type BAD or its mutants increased apoptotic cell death, which was blocked by cotransfection with the baculovirus-derived cysteine protease inhibitor, P35. Cotransfection with 14-3-3 suppressed apoptosis induced by wild type or the S113A mutant BAD but not by the S137A mutant incapable of binding 14-3-3. Furthermore, cotransfection with P11 attenuated the proapoptotic effect of both wild type BAD and the S137A mutant. For both 14-3-3 and P11, direct binding to BAD was also demonstrated in vitro. These results suggest that both 14-3-3 and P11 may function as BAD-binding proteins to dampen its apoptotic activity. Because the 14-3-3 family of proteins could interact with key signaling proteins including Raf-1 kinase, protein kinase C, and phosphatidyl inositol 3 kinase, whereas P11 is an early response gene induced by the neuronal survival factor, nerve growth factor, the present findings suggest that BAD plays an important role in mediating communication between different signal transduction pathways regulated by hormonal signals and the apoptotic mechanism controlled by Bcl-2 family members.
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PMID:Interference of BAD (Bcl-xL/Bcl-2-associated death promoter)-induced apoptosis in mammalian cells by 14-3-3 isoforms and P11. 936 53

p27KiP1, a member of the Cip/Kip family of cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk) inhibitors, has been implicated in mediating G1 arrest in response to a variety of growth inhibitory signals. Its importance in regulating cell growth is emphasized by the fact that mice lacking p27Kip1 are abnormally large and display hyperplasia of multiple tissues. However, these mice retain the ability to undergo G1 arrest in response to growth inhibitory signals, suggesting that p27KiP1 may serve other functions important for controlling tissue growth. In the present study, we utilized an adenoviral vector-based expression system to examine the consequences of p27Kip1 overexpression in the human carcinoma cell lines A549, HeLa and RKO, in human melanoma SK-MEL-110 cells, in human lung fibroblasts IMR90 and in the rat fibroblast line Rat1. We demonstrate that overexpression of p27Kip1 leads to apoptotic cell death in all cell types, and further show that ectopic expression of Bcl-2 can protect HeLa cells from apoptosis mediated by p27Kip1 overexpression. To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating that p27Kip1 can induce apoptosis. Our findings provide new insight into the possible functions of this growth regulatory protein, and support the potential utility of gene therapeutic approaches aimed at elevating p27Kip1 expression for treatment of human cancers.
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PMID:p27Kip1 overexpression causes apoptotic death of mammalian cells. 941 43

Recent evidence demonstrates that the proto-oncogene product, Bcl-2 can protect cells from a variety of cell death-inducing stimuli. Because previous studies have demonstrated that protein kinase (PK) pathways may be involved in the regulation of cell death, we tested various PK inhibitors for their effects on cell death in a dopaminergic neuronal cell line, MN9D, as well as the potential of Bcl-2 family members and structural mutants to block this process. Cells expressing either human Bcl-2 (MN9D/Bcl-2), or neomycin (MN9D/Neo; control cells) were treated with either staurosporine (0.25-2 microM) or trifluoperazine (10-100 microM). In control MN9D/Neo cells, both reagents led to a dose-dependent cell death with morphological features of apoptosis. Overexpression of Bcl-2 rescued cells from staurosporine-induced but not trifluoperazine-induced apoptotic cell death. Cell death induced by the specific PKC inhibitor, calphostin C was also significantly attenuated in MN9D/Bcl-2 cells indicating that a PKC pathway represents one mechanism by which Bcl-2 prevents staurosporine-induced cell death. Similarly, the Bcl-2 family member, Bcl-X(L) also blocked staurosporine-induced cell death in MN9D cells whereas overexpression of Bcl-X(S) or Bax did not. Finally, staurosporine-induced cell death was still blocked by the expression of clones encoding mutations in the Bcl-2 homology domains, BH1 and BH2, as well as C-terminally truncated Bcl-2. These data suggest that in the staurosporine-mediated cell death model Bcl-2 is not heterodimerizing to related proteins through these highly conserved structural domains nor does it need to be membrane-anchored. Thus, in this paradigm, either Bcl-2 functions as a homodimer or essential sequences lie outside of the BH1 or BH2 domains.
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PMID:Regions outside of the Bcl-2 homology domains, BH1 and BH2 protect a dopaminergic neuronal cell line from staurosporine-induced cell death. 942 15

Physiological cell deaths occur ubiquitously throughout biology and have common attributes, including apoptotic morphology with mitosis-like chromatin condensation and prelytic genome digestion. The fundamental question is whether a common mechanism of dying underlies these common hallmarks of death. Here we describe evidence of such a conserved mechanism in different cells induced by distinct stimuli to undergo physiological cell death. Our genetic and quantitative biochemical analyses of T- and B-cell deaths reveal a conserved pattern of requisite components. We have dissected the role of cysteine proteases (caspases) in cell death to reflect two obligate classes of cytoplasmic activities functioning in an amplifying cascade, with upstream interleukin-1beta-converting enzyme-like proteases activating downstream caspase 3-like caspases. Bcl-2 spares cells from death by punctuating this cascade, preventing the activation of downstream caspases while leaving upstream activity undisturbed. This observation permits an operational definition of the stages of the cell death process. Upstream steps, which are necessary but not themselves lethal, are modulators of the death process. Downstream steps are effectors of, and not dissociable from, actual death; the irreversible commitment to cell death reflects the initiation of this downstream phase. In addition to caspase 3-like proteases, the effector phase of death involves the activation in the nucleus of cell cycle kinases of the cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) family. Nuclear recruitment and activation of Cdk components is dependent on the caspase cascade, suggesting that catastrophic Cdk activity may be the actual effector of cell death. The conservation of the cell death mechanism is not reflected in the molecular identity of its individual components, however. For example, we have detected different cyclin-Cdk pairs in different instances of cell death. The ordered course of events that we have observed in distinct cases reflects essential thematic elements of a conserved sequence of modulatory and effector activities comprising a common pathway of physiological cell death.
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PMID:Commitment and effector phases of the physiological cell death pathway elucidated with respect to Bcl-2 caspase, and cyclin-dependent kinase activities. 956 10


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