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Query: UNIPROT:P10415 (
Bcl-2
)
33,771
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
Compounds that inhibit protein kinases are currently undergoing clinical evaluation for the treatment of a variety of malignancies. The kinase inhibitors flavopiridol and 7 hydroxy-staurosporine (UCN-01) were examined for their effects on B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells in vitro (n = 49). Flavopiridol and UCN-01 induced concentration-dependent apoptosis of most B-CLL samples tested, with greater than 50% cell killing occurring at concentrations of less than 1 mcmol/L, and with flavopiridol displaying more potent activity than UCN-01. Flavopiridol (0.1 mcmol/L) and UCN-01 (1 mcmol/L) also induced striking decreases in the levels of the antiapoptosis proteins
Mcl-1
, X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP), and BAG-1 in nearly all cases of B-CLL and of
Bcl-2
in approximately half of B-CLL specimens evaluated. In contrast, expression of the proapoptotic proteins Bax and Bak was not significantly influenced by these kinase inhibitors. Flavopiridol-induced decreases in the levels of antiapoptosis proteins
Mcl-1
and XIAP preceded apoptosis and were not substantially affected by the addition of caspase inhibitors to cultures. In contrast, UCN-01-stimulated decreases in antiapoptosis proteins were slower, occurred concurrently with apoptosis, and were partially prevented by caspase inhibitors. The findings suggest that flavopiridol and UCN-01 induce apoptosis of B-CLL cells through different mechanisms. The potent apoptotic activities of flavopiridol and UCN-01 against cultured B-CLL cells suggest that they may be effective as single agents in the treatment of B-CLL or for sensitizing B-CLL cells to conventional cytotoxic drugs. (Blood. 2000;96:393-397)
...
PMID:Protein kinase inhibitors flavopiridol and 7-hydroxy-staurosporine down-regulate antiapoptosis proteins in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia. 1088 97
The regulation of polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) apoptosis can influence the duration of the inflammatory response. We have previously shown that PMN apoptosis is delayed by matrix adhesion and hypoxia; however, the mechanisms responsible for this delay are not well understood.
Mcl-1
, an antiapoptotic
Bcl-2
family member, is present in neutrophils; therefore, we sought to characterize its localization and function as it relates to PMN apoptosis. We found that
Mcl-1
localized to the nucleus and cytoplasm and that expression levels decreased as PMN were aged in culture. Reducing available
Mcl-1
through the use of antisense oligonucleotides demonstrated that
Mcl-1
is necessary to delay apoptosis during normal PMN aging and hypoxia but is not required for suppression of apoptosis by laminin adhesion. Our results demonstrate a distinct expression pattern of
Mcl-1
and that
Mcl-1
is crucial for the delay of apoptosis initiated by certain antiapoptotic factors.
...
PMID:The loss of Mcl-1 expression in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes promotes apoptosis. 1091 4
Mcl-1
is an anti-apoptotic member of the
Bcl-2
family of proteins. We have expressed full length and mutated GFP:
Mcl-1
fusion proteins to define structural motifs that control protein localisation and stability. When expressed in U-937 cells, full length
Mcl-1
locates primarily within mitochondria and its half-life was approximately 3 h, which was identical to the native, endogenously expressed protein. When the terminal 20 amino acids from the C-terminus of the protein were detected, the protein was diffused in the cytoplasm, but its stability was unaffected. This confirms that this region is responsible for efficient targeting to mitochondria. Surprisingly, deletion of 104 amino acids (residues 79-183) that contain putative PEST sequences and other stability regulating motifs, did not affect protein stability.
...
PMID:In vivo localisation and stability of human Mcl-1 using green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion proteins. 1092 72
The
Bcl-2
family of proteins has been shown to play a central role in the regulation of apoptosis. We have examined the expression of several
Bcl-2
homologs upon stimulation of CD34(+) human hematopoietic progenitor cells. CD34(+) cells were induced to differentiate into predominantly erythroid cells in the presence of erythropoietin (Epo) and stem cell factor (SCF), while the addition of G-CSF and SCF led to differentiation predominantly into granulocytic cells, as demonstrated by immunophenotyping and morphological examination of cultured cells. In Epo- and SCF-stimulated cells, we found a marked increase in the level of Bcl-x(L) protein expression and downregulation of Bax expression, apparent from day 4 and more pronounced on days 8 and 21. In contrast, Bcl-x(L) protein expression was downregulated in G-CSF- and SCF-stimulated cells compared with cells cultured in medium alone, whereas there was no sign of change in the level of Bax.
Mcl-1
expression showed a biphasic expression pattern in both early erythropoiesis and early granulopoiesis, but with an inverse regulation. Thus,
Mcl-1
levels initially decreased in granulocytic progenitor cells and increased in erythroid progenitor cells. Finally,
Bcl-2
expression was significantly downregulated in both Epo and SCF and G-CSF- and SCF-stimulated cells. The role of the distinct upregulation of Bcl-x(L) in early erythroid differentiation was further examined by use of specific ribozymes against Bcl-x(L). Addition of Bcl-x(L) ribozymes promoted a clear increase in cell death of Epo- and SCF-stimulated cells, while erythroid differentiation was not affected. In conclusion, we found a distinct regulation of several
Bcl-2
family members in CD34(+) cells dependent on the cytokine stimulation given. The use of Bcl-x(L)-specific ribozymes suggested that Bcl-x(L) is important for survival but not for differentiation of erythroid progenitor cells.
...
PMID:Differential expression of bcl-2 homologs in human CD34(+) hematopoietic progenitor cells induced to differentiate into erythroid or granulocytic cells. 1092 92
Mcl-1
is a member of the
Bcl-2
protein family, which has been shown to delay apoptosis in transfection and/or overexpression experiments. As yet no gene knockout mice have been engineered, and so there is little evidence to show that loss of
Mcl-1
expression is sufficient to trigger apoptosis. U937 cells constitutively express the antiapoptotic protein
Bcl-2
; but during differentiation, in response to the phorbol ester PMA (phorbol 12 beta-myristate 13 alpha-acetate),
Mcl-1
is transiently induced. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the functional role played by
Mcl-1
in this differentiation program.
Mcl-1
expression was specifically disrupted by chimeric methylphosphonate/phosphodiester antisense oligodeoxynucleotides to just 5% of control levels. The depletion of
Mcl-1
messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein was both rapid and specific, as indicated by the use of control oligodeoxynucleotides and analysis of the expression of other BCL2 family members and PMA-induced tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). Specific depletion of
Mcl-1
mRNA and protein, in the absence of changes in cellular levels of
Bcl-2
, results in a rapid entry into apoptosis. Levels of the proapoptotic protein Bax remained unchanged during differentiation, while Bak expression doubled within 24 hours. Apoptosis was detected within 4 hours of
Mcl-1
antisense treatment by a variety of parameters including a novel live cell imaging technique allowing correlation of antisense treatment and apoptosis in individual cells. The induction of
Mcl-1
is required to prevent apoptosis during differentiation of U937 cells, and the constitutive expression of
Bcl-2
is unable to compensate for the loss of
Mcl-1
. (Blood. 2000;96:1756-1763)
...
PMID:Apoptosis is rapidly triggered by antisense depletion of MCL-1 in differentiating U937 cells. 1096 74
Stem cell factor (SCF) has been suggested as essential for optimal production of various hematopoietic lineages mainly because of its apoptosis prevention function when it costimulates with other cytokines. However, the underlying mechanism of this synergism of apoptosis prevention is largely unknown. The present study examined the expression of some
Bcl-2
family members, including
Bcl-2
, Bcl-X(L),
Mcl-1
, and Bax, in response to cytokine stimulation in TF-1 and JYTF-1 cells in which SCF costimulation is differentially required for optimal proliferation. The results revealed that only the expression of
Mcl-1
highly correlated with the antiapoptotic activity of interleukin-5 (IL-5) and the synergistic effect of SCF. In TF-1 cells, the defect of IL-5 in apoptosis suppression and
Mcl-1
induction was associated with the incapability to highly phosphorylate Janus kinases (JAK1, JAK2), signal transducer and activator of transcription-5 (STAT5), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and Akt/PKB, whereas SCF costimulation restored the potent phosphorylation of MAPK and Akt/PKB, but not STAT5. The importance of MAPK and Akt/PKB signaling pathways in regulating the expression of
Mcl-1
and cell survival was further supported by the observation that inhibition of MEK by PD98059 or phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI-3K) by LY294002 independently resulted in the reduction of
Mcl-1
expression and loss of cell viability. Therefore, the data suggest that
Mcl-1
is a common antiapoptotic target of both early-stage cytokine SCF and late-stage cytokine IL-5. Both MEK/MAPK and PI-3K/Akt signaling pathways are essential in the regulation of
Mcl-1
expression and apoptosis prevention. (Blood. 2000;96:1764-1771)
...
PMID:Mcl-1 is a common target of stem cell factor and interleukin-5 for apoptosis prevention activity via MEK/MAPK and PI-3K/Akt pathways. 1096 75
Activation of PKC with 5 nM 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) for 72 h in human U937 myeloid leukemia cells is associated with induction of adherence, followed by monocytic differentiation and G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. In this study, we demonstrate that in addition to these effects about 25% of U937 cells accumulated in an apoptotic subG1 phase after TPA treatment. The appearance of these apoptotic suspension cells was detectable throughout the time course of the culture and was independent of TPA concentrations between 0.5 and 500 nM. Experiments with cells synchronized by centrifugal elutriation revealed dominant susceptibility of G1-phase cells to TPA-mediated apoptosis. While adherent cells expressed differentiation markers including the integrin CD11c, this effect was less pronounced in the TPA-treated suspension fraction. Moreover, previous work has demonstrated cell cycle arrest in differentiating U937 cells. Accordingly, PKC activation by TPA treatment was associated with a significant expression of the cdk/cyclin inhibitor p21WAF/CIP/sdi-1 in the adherent population and subsequent G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. In contrast, suspension cells failed to induce significant levels of p21WAF/CIP/sdi-1 after TPA stimulation. Immunoblotting experiments demonstrated no difference in the expression of the pro-apoptotic factors Bax, Bad, and Bak in either control U937 and TPA-treated adherent or suspension cells, respectively. However, anti-apoptotic factors including
Bcl-2
, Bcl-xL, and
Mcl-1
were significantly induced in the adherent population whereas no induction was detectable in the suspension cells. In this context, incubation with the caspase-3/caspase-7 specific tetrapeptide inhibitor DEVD prior to TPA treatment prevented an accumulation of cells in subG1, respectively, demonstrating an involvement of these caspases. Taken together, these data suggest that PKC activation can relay distinct signaling pathways such as induction of adherence coupled with monocytic differentiation and growth arrest, or induction of caspase-mediated apoptosis coupled with the failure to adhere and to differentiate.
...
PMID:Activation of protein kinase C relays distinct signaling pathways in the same cell type: differentiation and caspase-mediated apoptosis. 1104 74
The importance of the
Bcl-2
family proteins in normal vertebrate embryogenesis is being recognized; however, their regulatory mechanism is poorly understood. To elucidate the embryonic roles of
Bcl-2
family proteins, we cloned and characterized the first zebrafish
Bcl-2
family protein, zfMcl-1a. Zebrafish Mcl-1a shows the highest homology to rat
Mcl-1
and contains several conserved BH domains of the
Bcl-2
family proteins. It also contains a nuclear localization signal (NLS). Using EGFP reporter analysis, we verified the nuclear localization of zfMcl-1a. Deletion of the NLS resulted in distribution of the fusion protein in the cytoplasm. Northern blot analysis indicated that zfMcl-1a mRNA is 1.5 kb and was expressed in oocytes and throughout embryonic development. Notably, the expression of zfMcl-1a transcript was significantly downregulated during gastrulation. These results suggest that zfMcl-1a is a novel nuclear
Bcl-2
family protein and is likely to play an important role in zebrafish oogenesis and embryogenesis.
...
PMID:Cloning and characterization of a novel nuclear Bcl-2 family protein, zfMcl-1a, in zebrafish embryo. 1111 52
The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded latent membrane protein 1 (LMP-1) is absolutely required for EBV transformation of B cells. LMP-1 mimics a constitutively activated receptor of the tumor necrosis factor receptor family, mediating diverse oncogenic functions that influence growth, differentiation and susceptibility to apoptosis. Given the critical functions of LMP-1 in EBV-associated transformation, it represents a rational therapeutic target for modulation. We used antisense oligodeoxynucleotides targeted to LMP-1 as a strategy to suppress LMP-1 expression and thereby inhibit its functions. In previous studies, we have shown that short-term treatment of EBV-positive lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) with LMP-1 antisense oligodeoxynucleotides can dramatically reduce levels of LMP-1 protein in association with inhibition of proliferation, stimulation of apoptosis, down-regulation of
Bcl-2
and
Mcl-1
and enhanced sensitivity to the chemotherapeutic agent, etoposide. Here, we provide further evidence of the profound effects of reducing LMP-1 levels using antisense oligodeoxynucleotides in EBV-transformed B cells. We have shown that LMP-1 antisense treatment of LCLs partially restores sensitivity to the anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects of transforming growth factor-beta, a potent negative regulator of normal human B-cell growth, in association with a reduction in cyclin D2 levels. In addition, LMP-1 antisense sensitizes LCLs to chemotherapeutic drugs from diverse classes, including etoposide, vincristine and dexamethasone, by enhancing apoptotic cell death. Finally, the anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects of LMP-1 antisense treatment were observed not only in laboratory-derived LCLs, but also in an EBV-positive cell line derived from an AIDS-related lymphoma. These studies demonstrate that antisense targeting of LMP-1 represents a rational therapeutic strategy for EBV-positive lymphoproliferative disorders.
...
PMID:Antisense to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded latent membrane protein 1 (LMP-1) sensitizes EBV-immortalized B cells to transforming growth factor-beta and chemotherapeutic agents. 1114 26
Large granular lymphocyte (LGL) leukemia is characterized by the expansion of antigen-activated cytotoxic T lymphocytes. These leukemic cells are resistant to Fas-mediated apoptosis despite expressing high levels of Fas. We found that leukemic LGL from 19 patients displayed high levels of activated STAT3. Treatment of leukemic LGL with the JAK-selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor AG-490 induced apoptosis with a corresponding decrease in STAT-DNA binding activity. Moreover, using an antisense oligonucleotide approach to diminish STAT3 expression, we found that Fas sensitivity was restored in leukemic LGL. AG-490-induced apoptosis in leukemic LGL was independent of Bcl-xL or
Bcl-2
expression. However, we found that the
Bcl-2
-family protein
Mcl-1
was significantly reduced by AG-490 treatment. Activated STAT3 was shown to bind an SIE-related element in the murine mcl-1 promoter. Using a luciferase reporter assay, we demonstrated that v-src overexpression in NIH3T3 induced STAT3-dependent transcriptional activity from the mcl-1 promoter and increased endogenous
Mcl-1
protein levels. We conclude that STAT3 activation contributed to accumulation of the leukemic LGL clones. These findings suggest that investigation should focus on novel strategies targeting STAT3 in the treatment of LGL leukemia.
...
PMID:Inhibition of STAT3 signaling leads to apoptosis of leukemic large granular lymphocytes and decreased Mcl-1 expression. 1116 Jan 59
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