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

The goals of this work were to establish a reproducible and effective model of apoptosis in a cell line derived from advanced prostate cancer and to study the role of the caspase family of proteases in mediating apoptosis in this system. The study involved the use of the prostate cancer cell line LNCaP. Apoptosis was induced using the hydroxymethyl glutaryl CoA reductase inhibitor, lovastatin, and was evaluated by agarose gel electrophoresis of genomic DNA, morphological criteria, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nick end labeling. Caspases were studied by catalytic activity, mRNA induction, and protein processing. Lovastatin (30 microM) was an effective inducer of apoptosis, causing changes that were evident after 48 h and essentially complete after 96-120 h of treatment. These effects were prevented by the simultaneous addition of mevalonate (300 microM) to the culture medium. Lovastatin induced a proteolytic activity that was able to cleave the enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and the substrate Z-DEVD-AFC, which is modeled after the P1-P4 amino acids of the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage site. Caspase-7, but not caspase-3, underwent proteolytic activation during lovastatin-induced apoptosis, an effect prevented by mevalonate. Caspase-7 was the only detected interleukin 1beta converting enzyme family protease with DEVD cleavage activity that exhibited lovastatin-induced mRNA up-regulation. Again, mevalonate blocked this effect. Lovastatin-induced apoptosis also was prevented when the caspase inhibitors Z-DEVD-CH2F or Z-VAD-CH2F (100 microM) where added to the medium. These studies have identified lovastatin as a powerful inducer of apoptosis in the cell line LNCaP. Caspase activation was a necessary event for LNCaP cells to undergo apoptosis during treatment with lovastatin. Of the caspases tested, only caspase-7 underwent proteolytic activation after stimulation with lovastatin. Identification of caspase-7 as a potential mediator of lovastatin-induced apoptosis broadens our knowledge of the molecular events associated with programmed cell death in a cell line derived from prostatic epithelium.
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PMID:Caspase-7 is activated during lovastatin-induced apoptosis of the prostate cancer cell line LNCaP. 942 61

The inhibitors of protein prenylation have been proposed for chemotherapy of tumors. Lovastatin, a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor, displays proapoptotic activity in tumor cells blocking the synthesis of isoprenoids compounds. To test whether HMG-CoA reductase inhibition can induce apoptosis in proliferating thyroid cells, we studied the effects of lovastatin in normal and neoplastic thyroid cells and in primary cultures from normal human thyroids. In an immortalized human thyroid cell line (TAD-2) and in neoplastic cells, lovastatin induced cell rounding within 24 h of treatment. After 48 h the cells were detached from the plate and underwent apoptosis, as evidenced by DNA fragmentation. Morphological changes and apoptosis did not occur in serum-starved quiescent TAD-2 cells or in primary cultures of normal thyrocytes. Mevalonate, the product of the HMG-CoA reductase enzymatic activity, and the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide completely blocked the effects of lovastatin in a dose-dependent fashion. The geranylgeranyl transferase GGTI-298 inhibitor mimicked the effects of lovastatin on cell morphology and induced cell death, whereas the farnesyl transferase inhibitor FTI-277 was less effective to induce both cell rounding and apoptosis. Resistance to lovastatin-induced apoptosis by expression of the viral serpine CrmA and by the peptide inhibitor of caspases, Z-DEVD-fmk, demonstrated the involvement of CrmA-sensitive, caspase-3-like proteases. Inhibition of endogenous p53 activity did not affect the sensitivity of thyroid cells to lovastatin, demonstrating that this type of apoptosis is p53 independent. We conclude that lovastatin is a potent inducer of apoptosis in proliferating thyroid cells through inhibition of protein prenylation. This type of apoptosis requires protein synthesis, is CrmA sensitive and caspase-3-like protease dependent, and is independent from p53.
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PMID:Prenyltransferase inhibitors induce apoptosis in proliferating thyroid cells through a p53-independent CrmA-sensitive, and caspase-3-like protease-dependent mechanism. 992 96

Lovastatin, an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, was found to suppress growth and induce apoptosis in culture human promyelocytic leukaemic cell, HL-60. However, the mechanisms of lovastatin-induced apoptosis are still unclear. In this study, we attempted to elucidate the signal transduction pathway for lovastatin-induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The features of this apoptosis were attenuated by the presence of mevalonate, a metabolic intermediate of cholesterol synthesis. Treatment of lovastatin caused a rapid release of mitochondrial cytochrome c into cytosol and subsequent induction of caspase-3, but not caspase-1 activity. Lovastatin also stimulated proteolytic cleavage of poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), and followed by the appearance of caspase activity and DNA fragmentation. Pretreatment with caspase-3 inhibitors, Ac-DEVD-CHO and Z-VAD-FMK, inhibited lovastatin induced caspase-3 activity and DNA fragmentation. Furthermore, we demonstrated that DNase II was involved in the DNA fragmentation induced by lovastatin. These results suggested that the mechanism of lovastatin induced HL-60 cells apoptosis through activation of caspase-3 and DNase II activities.
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PMID:Induction of apoptosis by lovastatin through activation of caspase-3 and DNase II in leukaemia HL-60 cells. 1072 20

It has been reported that inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase suppress cell proliferation and induce apoptosis. One inhibitor which induces apoptosis is mevastatin. However, the molecular mechanism of apoptosis induction is not well understood so the effects of mevastatin on various functions of HL-60 cells were investigated. We confirmed that mevastatin activated caspase-3 by release of cytochrome c (Cyt. c) from mitochondria through a membrane permeability transition mechanism and also induced typical fragmentation and ladder formation of DNA in HL-60 cells. These effects were inhibited by mevalonate, a metabolic intermediate of cholesterol biosynthesis. Mevalonate and geranylgeraniol (GGOH) inhibited DNA fragmentation whereas farnesol (FOH) did not. Mevastatin also induced cell differentiation to monocytic cells via a mevalonate inhibitable mechanism. Furthermore, mevastatin decreased the amount of an isoprenylated membrane bound Rap1 small GTPase concomitant with an increase in cytosolic Rap1 which occurred before apoptosis and differentiation. On the contrary, both mevastatin and geranylgeranylacetone (GGA), which competes with geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate, induced membrane depolarization of isolated mitochondria without swelling and Cyt. c release. These results suggest that mevastatin-induced apoptosis of HL-60 cells might be caused indirectly by activation of the caspase cascade through the modulation of mitochondrial functions and that some relationship between a certain small GTPase molecule, such as Rap1, and mevastatin-induced apoptosis may exist.
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PMID:Mevastatin, an inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase, induces apoptosis, differentiation and Rap1 expression in HL-60 cells. 1240 72

3-Hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors (statins) are effective in patients with hypercholesterolemia to reduce risk of cardiovascular diseases, because of not only their lowering cholesterol effects but also their pleiotropic effects, such as improvement of endothelial cell dysfunction. On the other hand, statins prevent cell proliferation of various cells, including endothelial cells. We examined effects of all statins available at present on the viability of cultured rat pulmonary vein endothelial cells. Lovastatin, simvastatin, atorvastatin, fluvastatin and cerivastatin, which are hydrophobic statins, markedly reduced cell viability associated with DNA fragmentation, DNA laddering and activation of caspase-3, suggesting apoptotic cell death. Pravastatin, which is a hydrophilic statin, however, did not induce cell apoptosis. Apoptosis induced by hydrophobic statins was associated with activation of apoptosis-related intracellular signal transduction systems; attenuation of localization of RhoA to the membrane, induction of Rac1, and increase in phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase and c-Jun. Endothelial cell apoptosis is underlying the improvement of the endothelial dysfunction with hydrophobic statins.
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PMID:All hydrophobic HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors induce apoptotic death in rat pulmonary vein endothelial cells. 1461 3

The objective of this study was to evaluate the cardiac toxicity of the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors by testing the hypothesis that lovastatin induces apoptotic and/or oncotic cell death in the myocyte element of the heart and further that cell death is mediated through interruption of the mevalonate pathway and that apoptosis is induced through activation of caspase-2 and caspase-3. Cardiomyocytes were cultured from embryonic chick heart. Lovastatin-induced apoptosis in these cells was demonstrated by three independent techniques, namely (1) FACS analysis of low DNA content by propidium iodide (PI); (2) microscopic assessment for cellular changes of apoptosis; and (3) FACS analysis of cells stained with PI and fluorescein diacetate. Lovastatin produced a concentration-dependent increase in apoptotic cell death and 100 microM lovastatin showed over a 4-fold increase in apoptosis compared to control. Lovastatin also induced oncotic cell death, as there was a 2.5-fold increase in the amount of oncotic cell death compared to control. Lovastatin-induced apoptosis operated, in part, through the mevalonate pathway. The caspase-2 inhibitor z-VDVAD-fmk and the caspase-3 inhibitor Ac-DEVD-CHO reduced the extent of lovastatin-induced cardiac apoptosis. In contrast, lovastatin-induced oncosis was not only insensitive to these caspase-2 or -3 inhibitors but occurred through a mevalonate-independent mechanism of action. In summary, lovastatin-induced cardiotoxicity is complex and represents the sum of two distinct modes of cell death operating in part through the mevalonate pathway with the apoptotic component subject to modification by inhibitors of the initiator caspase, caspase-2, as well as the effector caspase, caspase-3.
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PMID:Lovastatin-induced cardiac toxicity involves both oncotic and apoptotic cell death with the apoptotic component blunted by both caspase-2 and caspase-3 inhibitors. 1467 44

Statins are lipid-lowering drugs that have been shown to reduce atherosclerotic cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, there is growing evidence from epidemiological studies that long-term treatment with statins has unwanted effects on extrahepatic tissue and increases the risk for neuropathy. To investigate underlying molecular mechanisms we analyzed whether statins influence the activity of caspase-3 in immortalized neurons. Lovastatin and mevastatin are not able to activate caspase-3 but they strongly potentiate its activity when apoptotic signal transduction is initiated by staurosporine. The increase in caspase-3 activity after coincubation with statins and staurosporine was paralleled by an increase in the protein level of the pro-apoptotic GTPase RhoB. Our data provide evidence that statins enhance neuronal apoptosis and therefore give reasons for a careful evaluation when patients with neurological diseases are treated with these drugs.
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PMID:Statins potentiate caspase-3 activity in immortalized murine neurons. 1472 30

The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that cytoskeletal actin fragmentation is mediated through caspase-2, specifically examining the ability of a caspase-2 inhibitor to interfere with actin fragmentation, in comparison with a caspase-3 inhibitor. Cardiomyocytes were cultured from embryonic chick heart. The fine structural element of cellular F-actin was visualized by staining cardiomyocytes with NBD-phallacidin. Lovastatin induced a dramatic and concentration-dependent loss of intact F-actin. The selectivity of this effect of lovastatin was demonstrated by the absence of similar changes in F-actin when cardiomyocytes were treated with the apoptotic stimulus palmitate, the metabolism of which produces acetyl CoA, the early substrate of cholesterol synthesis, through the mevalonate pathway. FACS analysis of NBD-phallacidin-stained cells was used to quantify the amount of F-actin loss. Actin fragmentation produced by lovastatin was operative through a caspase-2 pathway, as the caspase-2 inhibitor, z-VDVAD-fmk, significantly blocked lovastatin-induced changes in F-actin, but the caspase-3 inhibitor, Ac-DEVD-CHO, did not. Interruption of the mevalonate pathway was in part responsible for lovastatin's action, as the downstream metabolite mevalonate partially reversed the effect of lovastatin on actin fragmentation. These data indicate a previously unrecognized link between cytoskeletal actin and caspase-2.
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PMID:Cytoskeletal actin degradation induced by lovastatin in cardiomyocytes is mediated through caspase-2. 1556

Mevastatin which is an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol synthesis, suppress cell proliferation and induce apoptosis. However, the molecular mechanism of apoptosis induction is not well understood. So, in the present study, we attempted to clarify the mechanism by which mevastatin induces apoptosis in HL60 cells. It was found that mevastatin induced apoptosis. At that time, we observed an increase in caspase-3 activity and morphological fragmentation of the nuclei. The apoptosis induced by mevastatin was not inhibited by the addition of farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP), squalene, ubiquinone, and isopentenyladenine, but was inhibited by the addition of geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP). When we examined the survival signals at the time of apoptotic induction, we also observed that the administration of mevastatin had caused a remarkable decrease in the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2). However, other survival signals, such as nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB), protein kinase B (Akt), and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38), exhibited no change. In addition, no quantitative change was observed in Bcl-2, which was an anti-apoptosis protein. It was also observed that apoptosis was induced when U0126, an MEK inhibitor, was added to the cells to inhibit ERK. These results suggested that mevastatin induced apoptosis when it inhibited GGPP biosynthesis and consequently decreased the level of phosphorylated ERK, which was a survival signal; moreover, at that time, there was no influence on NF-kappaB, Akt, p38, and Bcl-2. The results of this study also suggested that mevastatin could be used as an anticancer agent.
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PMID:Mevastatin induces apoptosis in HL60 cells dependently on decrease in phosphorylated ERK. 1578 22

The cholesterol-lowering medications, statins, inhibit cellular proliferation and induce apoptosis in an array of cancer cell lines, including melanoma. We investigated the apoptotic mechanism of lovastatin on human melanoma cell lines in vitro. The cytotoxicity of statins on multiple cell lines was examined by Cell Titer 96 Aqueous One solution cell proliferation assay (MTS assay). Apoptosis was assayed by ethidium bromide and acridine orange morphologic assays, an Annexin V apoptosis detection kit and active caspase 3 assays. Farnesyl pyrophosphate and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate add-back experiments were performed to better define the molecular mechanisms mediating lovastatin cytotoxicity. Lovastatin caused cytotoxicity in human and murine melanoma cells, but did not induce toxicity in an epidermoid carcinoma cell line A431. For human melanoma cells, lovastatin precipitated cell rounding, increased the percentage of apoptotic cells detected by ethidium bromide and acridine orange staining and by the Annexin V apoptosis detection kit, and resulted in a 50-fold increase in active caspase 3, corroborating that lovastatin induced apoptosis. Adding back geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate, but not farnesyl pyrophosphate, reversed the effects of lovastatin in A375 cells. Of the five statins tested, pravastatin was least effective in killing melanoma cells. Lovastatin induced caspase-dependent apoptosis in multiple melanoma cell lines via a geranylation-specific mechanism. This study supports a possible role of lovastatin as a therapeutic, adjuvant or chemopreventive agent for melanoma.
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PMID:Lovastatin-induced apoptosis in human melanoma cell lines. 1584 40


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