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)

The BH3-only proteins, including BNip3, are members of the Bcl-2 family of cell death-regulating factors. Whereas proteins such as Bax and Bak play a central role in most forms of apoptosis, the BH3-only proteins appear to modulate apoptosis through cell type- and signal-specific pathways. This review will focus on our studies of the specific role of BNip3 in cardiac myocyte apoptotic signaling during ischemia. We recently showed that hypoxia in the presence of high glucose leads to progressive acidosis of cardiac myocytes in culture. Cardiac myocytes are resistant to chronic hypoxia at neutral pH but undergo extensive death when the [pH]o drops below 6.5. A micro-array analysis of 20,000 genes identified the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member BNip3 as one of the most strongly upregulated of >100 hypoxia-inducible genes in cardiac myocytes. BNip3 mRNA increased by 12-fold, and BNip3 protein by sixfold, during 24 h of hypoxia; BNip3 protein accumulation was further enhanced by acidosis. BNip3 was loosely bound to mitochondria under conditions of neutral hypoxia but became more tightly associated at acid pH, coincident with opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP). Subsequent DNA fragmentation and cell death were not blocked by caspase inhibitors, but were inhibited by antisense BNip3 oligonucleotides and MPTP inhibitors, indicating that BNip3 activates an atypical programmed death pathway with features of both apoptosis and necrosis. The sequential induction and activation of BNip3 by hypoxia and acidosis provide a molecular basis for the observation that chronic hypoxia at neutral pH does not promote apoptosis or activate caspases in neonatal cardiac myocytes.
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PMID:BNip3 and signal-specific programmed death in the heart. 1562 20

Bcl-2 plays a pivotal role in the control of cell death and is upregulated by ischemic tolerance. Because Bcl-2 expression is regulated by the transcription factor cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB), we investigated the role of CREB activation in two models of ischemic preconditioning: focal ischemic tolerance after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and in vitro ischemic tolerance modeled by oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD). After preconditioning ischemia (30 minutes MCAO or 30 minutes OGD), phosphorylation of CREB was increased, and there was an increased interaction between the bcl-2 cyclic AMP-responsive element (CRE) promoter and nuclear proteins after preconditioning ischemia in vivo and in vitro. Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed an increased interaction between CREB-binding protein and the bcl-2 CRE rather than CREB, after preconditioning ischemia. Ischemic tolerance was blocked by a CRE decoy oligonucleotide, which also blocked Bcl-2 expression. The protein kinase A inhibitor H89, the calcium/calmodulin kinase inhibitor KN62, and the MEK inhibitor U0126 blocked ischemic tolerance, but not the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor LY294002. H89, KN62, and U0126 reduced CREB activation and Bcl-2 expression. Taken together, these data suggest that after ischemic preconditioning CREB activation regulates the expression of the prosurvival protein Bcl-2.
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PMID:CREB-mediated Bcl-2 protein expression after ischemic preconditioning. 1564 42

Immunosuppressive drugs are routinely used to provide tolerance after whole pancreas and islet cell transplantations. While they are essential in inhibiting graft rejection, little is known about their effect on islet function and beta-cell viability. In this study, we report that tacrolimus, sirolimus, and mycophenolic acid, when added to cultures of freshly isolated human islets, induce a downregulation of the synthesis and secretion of insulin. These functional changes are associated with decreased islet cell viability. All three agents induce a decrease of intracellular levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, with an increased level of Smac, indicating that they are capable of promoting a downregulation of anti-apoptotic factors and an accumulation of pro-apoptotic mediators. Transduction of islet cells with the anti-apoptotic gene XIAP prevents the negative effects of these drugs on the function and viability of islets. XIAP-infected cells show a higher expression of phospho-CREB (cAMP-responsive element binding protein) and a reduced level of Smac, resulting in a significant reduction of apoptotic cells and a preservation of the glucose-dependent secretion of insulin. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that genetically modified human islets expressing XIAP are resistant to the negative effects of immunosuppressive drugs on insulin secretion and cell viability.
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PMID:Adenovirus-mediated XIAP gene transfer reverses the negative effects of immunosuppressive drugs on insulin secretion and cell viability of isolated human islets. 1567

Apoptosis plays a critical role in normal vascular development and atherosclerosis. To test the hypothesis that diabetic vasculopathy may be due in part to altered apoptosis pathways, we investigated the effects of high glucose treatment on serum withdrawal-induced apoptosis, expression of Bcl-2 family members, and inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP)-1 in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Treatment with a high concentration of glucose (22 mmol/l) significantly attenuated apoptosis in response to serum withdrawal in cultured rat VSMCs compared with cells treated with a normal glucose concentration (5.5 mmol/l). This attenuation was accompanied by a significant decrease in the caspase-3 activity in comparison with the normal glucose group. Furthermore, exposure of VSMCs to high glucose markedly increased the abundance of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl mRNAs compared with treatment with normal glucose, while expression of bax and IAP-1 mRNA remained unchanged. Our results suggest that high glucose suppresses serum withdrawal-induced apoptosis in VSMCs by upregulating expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl, suggesting that enhanced expression of antiapoptotic proteins may play an important role in the development of macrovascular complications in diabetes.
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PMID:High glucose inhibits apoptosis induced by serum deprivation in vascular smooth muscle cells via upregulation of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl. 1567 13

The unfolded protein response pathway (UPR) compensates for excessive protein accumulation in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). As insulin induces global protein synthesis, it may cause accumulation of unfolded proteins in the ER, thus triggering UPR. We assessed UPR activation in insulin-treated murine peritoneal macrophages using a number of markers including 78 kDa glucose response protein (GRP78), X-box-binding protein (XBP)-1, pancreatic ER kinase (PERK), eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2)alpha, and growth arrest and DNA damage (GADD)34. Exposure of cells to insulin activated UPR, as evidenced by an increased expression of GRP78, XBP-1, phosphorylated PERK (p-PERK), and p-eIF2alpha. The insulin-induced, elevated expression of GRP78 was comparable with that observed with tunicamycin, a classical inducer of ER stress. Concomitantly, insulin also up-regulated prosurvival mechanisms by elevating GADD34 and elements of the antiapoptotic pathway including Bcl-2, X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis, and phosphorylated forkhead transcription factor. In conclusion, we show here that insulin treatment does cause ER stress in macrophages, but insulin-dependent mechanisms overcome this ER stress by up-regulating UPR and the antiapoptotic pathway to promote cell survival.
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PMID:Up-regulation of GRP78 and antiapoptotic signaling in murine peritoneal macrophages exposed to insulin. 1584 44

PANcreatic DERived factor (PANDER, FAM3B) is a recently discovered islet-specific cytokine. We have previously shown that, in vitro, truncated recombinant PANDER isoforms (20 and 21 kDa) are cytotoxic to beta-cell lines but the effects of full-length PANDER on islet biology remain unclear. In this study, we used adenovirus (Ad-PANDER) to overexpress full-length cDNA of PANDER in islets and betaTC3 cells. BetaTC3 cells were infected with Ad-PANDER or control vector. After 48 h, cell viability was significantly decreased as evaluated by MTT assay. The number of dead cells was significantly increased as indicated by the fluorescent intensity of the propidium iodide-stained cells (160 +/- 13 vs. control 100 +/- 7%, P = 0.001). Flow cytometric Tunel assay showed that overexpressing PANDER induced a significant fourfold increase in beta-cell apoptosis (19.4 +/- 6.3 vs. control 4.1 +/- 0.8%, P < 0.05). There was a significant increase in the number of annexin V-positive (apoptotic) cells and propidium iodide-positive (dead) cells in mouse islets infected with Ad-PANDER compared with control cells infected with Ad-LacZ. Addition of 4 nM recombinant PANDER protein to betaTC3 cells or infection of Ad-PANDER did not affect Akt and STAT1 phosphorylation, Bcl-2, Fas, and NF-kappaB protein levels. However, activation of caspase-3 was observed in betaTC3 and islets infected with Ad-PANDER. Overexpression of PANDER in mouse islets or addition of recombinant PANDER decreased insulin secretion induced by carbachol plus glucose or high potassium but not that by glucose alone. Culture with recombinant PANDER did not affect glucose-induced NAD(P)H elevation in mouse islets. In conclusion, Ad-PANDER infection is as effective as truncated recombinant PANDER to induce betaTC3 cell and mouse islet apoptosis.
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PMID:Effects of overexpression of pancreatic derived factor (FAM3B) in isolated mouse islets and insulin-secreting betaTC3 cells. 1592 25

Proliferation and cell death are regarded as key targets for the optimization of animal cell culture processes and for the maximization of product yield. Although chemical and physical factors are vitally important, of primary interest is the utilization of genetic engineering to regulate cellular processes. CHO cells were first genetically modified to enhance proliferation rate in both suspension and monolayer cultures. Under the constitutive control of c-myc overexpression the CHO cultures showed an increase in growth rate and maximum cell number accompanied by a similar decrease in specific glucose consumption rate. Although the c-myc transfected cell line exhibited apoptosis at much lower rates than is widely reported and associated with the overexpression of c-Myc, it was nevertheless apparent that c-Myc was responsible for the induction of higher apoptotic rates when compared with the control cell line. Hence, the anti-apoptotic gene bcl-2 was also used to transfect the c-Myc CHO cell line, to reduce cell death. Overexpression of both oncoproteins resulted in a cell line that exhibited higher proliferation rates and maximum cell numbers, with a decrease in apoptosis when compared to the parental cell line. In conclusion, it was shown that Bcl-2 protein overexpression specifically abrogates c-Myc-induced apoptosis without affecting the c-Myc mitogenic function.
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PMID:Regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis in CHO-K1 cells by the coexpression of c-Myc and Bcl-2. 1593 41

Protein phosphorylation constitutes one of the key signaling steps in physiological insulin secretion. The phosphorylation status of a given protein represents the balance of the activities of protein kinases and phosphatases, which induce the addition and removal of phosphate from that protein, respectively. Although several extant studies were focused on the identification and characterization of protein kinases in islets, relatively little information is available on the localization and regulation of protein phosphatases in beta cells. Emerging evidence implicates protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) in the phenomenon of insulin secretion. The three principal objectives of this commentary are to: (i) review the existing evidence, which suggests regulation, by glucose and other insulin secretagogues, of PP2A in the beta cell; (ii) discuss the experimental evidence, which implicates PP2A-like enzymes in the dephosphorylation and inactivation of key beta cell phosphoprotein substrates (e.g., Akt and Bcl-2), which may be necessary for beta cell proliferation and survival, culminating in the loss of the beta cell mass; and (iii) highlight potential avenues for future research, including the development of specific pharmacological and therapeutic interventional modalities for the inhibition of specific PP2A-like phosphatases for the prevention of loss of beta cell mass leading to the onset of diabetes.
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PMID:Novel regulatory roles for protein phosphatase-2A in the islet beta cell. 1593 44

Delayed cardio- and neuroprotection are observed following a preconditioning procedure evoked by a brief and nontoxic oxidative stress due to deprivation of oxygen, glucose, serum, trophic factors, and/or antioxidative enzymes. Preconditioning protection can be observed in vivo and is under clinical trials for preservation of cell viability following organ transplants of liver. Previous studies indicated that ischemic preconditioning increases the expression of heat-shock proteins (HSPs) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS). Our pilot studies indicate that the treatment of neuronal NOS inhibitor (7-nitroindazole) and 6Br-cGMP blocks and mimics, respectively, preconditioning protection in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. This minireview focuses on nitric oxide-mediated cellular adaptation and the related cGMP/PKG signaling pathway in a compensatory mechanism underlying preconditioning-induced hormesis. Both preconditioning and 6Br-cGMP increase the induction of human thioredoxin (Trx) mRNA and protein for cytoprotection, which is largely prevented by transfection of cells with Trx antisense but not sense oligonucleotides. Cytosolic Trx1 and mitochondrial Trx2 suppress free radical formation, lipid peroxidation, oxidative stress, and mitochondria-dependent apoptosis; knock out/down of either Trx1 or Trx2 is detrimental to cell survival. Other recent findings indicate that a transgenic increase of Trx in mice increases tolerance against oxidative nigral injury caused by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). Trx1 can be translocated into nucleus and phosphoactivated CREB for a delayed induction of mitochondrial anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and antioxidative MnSOD that is known to increase vitality and survival of cells in the brain and the heart. In conclusion, preconditioning adaptation or a brief oxidative stress induces a delayed nitric oxide-mediated compensatory mechanism for cell survival and vitality in the central nervous system and the cardiovascular system. Preconditioning-induced adaptive tolerance may be signaling through a cGMP-dependent induction of cytosolic redox protein Trx1 and subsequently mitochondrial proteins such as Bcl-2, MnSOD, and perhaps Trx2 or HSP70.
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PMID:Induction of thioredoxin and mitochondrial survival proteins mediates preconditioning-induced cardioprotection and neuroprotection. 1596 87

Depletion of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) or treatment with mitochondrial poison CCCP initiates mitochondrial stress signaling, which operates through altered Ca2+ homeostasis. In C2C12 rhabdomyoblasts and A549 human lung carcinoma cells mitochondrial stress signaling activates calcineurin and a number of Ca2+ responsive factors including ATF, NFAT, CEBP/delta and CREB. Additionally, PKC and MAP kinase are also activated. A number of nuclear gene targets including those involved in Ca2+ storage/release (RyR1, calreticulin, calsequestrin), glucose metabolism (hexokinase, pyruvate kinase, Glut4), oncogenesis (TGFbeta1, cathepsin L, IGFR1, melanoma antigen) and apoptosis (Bcl-2, Bid, Bad, p53) are upregulated. Mitochondrial stress in both C2C12 myoblasts and A549 cells induced morphological changes and invasive phenotypes. These cells also showed markedly increased resistance to etoposide-induced apoptosis that is a hallmark of highly invasive tumors. Our results describe a new mechanism of altered nuclear gene expression and phenotypic changes triggered by mitochondrial dysfunction and mtDNA damage.
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PMID:Mitochondria-to-nucleus stress signaling in mammalian cells: nature of nuclear gene targets, transcription regulation, and induced resistance to apoptosis. 1597 49


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