Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P42574 (caspase-3)
 45,978 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Neutrophils die by apoptosis spontaneously within 12-24 h of their release from the bone marrow. The mechanism regulating entry of neutrophils into apoptosis at the end of their life-span is currently under debate. Our data suggest that neutrophil apoptosis involves a novel mechanism of caspase 8 activation that is indirectly regulated by accumulation of reactive oxygen species. We detected early activation of caspase 8 upstream of caspase 3 activation, suggesting death receptor signalling. The CD95 DISC (death-inducing signalling complex) was detected in neutrophils, but blocking antibodies to death receptors did not inhibit apoptosis, suggesting a novel mechanism for caspase 8 activation. Death receptor clustering in ceramide-rich lipid rafts is thought to be an early event in their signalling, so we investigated the role of ceramide generated by ASM (acid sphingomyelinase) in neutrophil apoptosis. Ceramide was generated early in neutrophil apoptosis, and ASM activity was required for neutrophil apoptosis. Moreover, neutrophil apoptosis was significantly delayed in ASM(-/-) mice compared with their wild-type littermates. CD95 DISC components were present in lipid rafts in neutrophils, and were progressively clustered in cultured neutrophils. Generation of ceramide was blocked by desferrioxamine, suggesting that hydroxyl radicals are important for the activation of ASM. This observation was in line with our earlier observation of a precipitous drop in reduced glutathione in the aging neutrophil.
 ...
PMID:Clustering of death receptors in lipid rafts initiates neutrophil spontaneous apoptosis. 1549 86

Aggressive systemic mastocytosis (ASM) and mast cell leukemia (MCL) are advanced hematopoietic neoplasms with poor prognosis. In these patients, neoplastic mast cells (MCs) are resistant against various drugs. We examined the effects of 2 demethylating agents, 5-azacytidine and decitabine on growth and survival of neoplastic MCs and the MC line HMC-1. Two HMC-1 subclones were used, HMC-1.1 lacking KIT D816V and HMC-1.2 exhibiting KIT D816V. Both agents induced apoptosis in HMC-1.1 and HMC-1.2 cells. Decitabine, but not 5-azacytidine, also produced a G(2)/M cell-cycle arrest in HMC-1 cells. Drug-induced apoptosis was accompanied by cleavage of caspase-8 and caspase-3 as well as FAS-demethylation and FAS-re-expression in neoplastic MCs. Furthermore, both demethylating agents were found to synergize with the FAS-ligand in inducing apoptosis in neoplastic MCs. Correspondingly, siRNA against FAS was found to block drug-induced expression of FAS and drug-induced apoptosis in HMC-1 cells. Neither 5-azacytidine nor decitabine induced substantial apoptosis or growth arrest in normal MCs or normal bone marrow cells. Together, 5-azacytidine and decitabine exert growth-inhibitory and proapoptotic effects in neoplastic MCs. These effects are mediated through "FAS-re-expression" and are augmented by the FAS-ligand. Whether epigenetic drugs produce antineoplastic effects in vivo in patients with ASM and MCL remains to be determined.
 ...
PMID:5-azacytidine and decitabine exert proapoptotic effects on neoplastic mast cells: role of FAS-demethylation and FAS re-expression, and synergism with FAS-ligand. 2243 47