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 Fas/Fas ligand (FasL) pathway is widely involved in apoptotic cell death in lymphoid and nonlymphoid cells. It has recently been postulated that many chemotherapeutic agents also induce cell death by activating the Fas/FasL pathway. In the present study we compared apoptotic pathways induced by anti-Fas or chemotherapeutic agents in the Jurkat human T-cell leukemia line. Immunoblotting showed that treatment of wild-type Jurkat cells with anti-Fas or the topoisomerase II-directed agent etoposide resulted in proteolytic cleavage of precursors for the cysteine-dependent aspartate-directed proteases caspase-3 and caspase-7 and degradation of the caspase substrates poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and lamin B1. Likewise, affinity labeling with N-(N(alpha)-benzyloxycarbonylglutamyl-N(epsilon)-biotinyllysyl+ ++)aspartic acid [(2,6-dimethyl-benzoyl)oxy]methyl ketone [Z-EK(bio)D-amok] labeled the same five active caspase species after each treatment, suggesting that the same downstream apoptotic pathways have been activated by anti-Fas and etoposide. Treatment with ZB4, an antibody that inhibits Fas-mediated cell death, failed to block etoposide-induced apoptosis, raising the possibility that etoposide does not initiate apoptosis through Fas/FasL interactions. To further explore the relationship between Fas- and chemotherapy-induced apoptosis, Fas-resistant Jurkat cells were treated with various chemotherapeutic agents. Multiple independently derived Fas-resistant Jurkat lines underwent apoptosis that was indistinguishable from that of the Fas-sensitive parental cells after treatment with etoposide, doxorubicin, topotecan, cisplatin, methotrexate, staurosporine, or gamma-irradiation. These results indicate that antineoplastic treatments induce apoptosis through a Fas-independent pathway even though Fas- and chemotherapy-induced pathways converge on common downstream apoptotic effector molecules.
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PMID:Comparison of apoptosis in wild-type and Fas-resistant cells: chemotherapy-induced apoptosis is not dependent on Fas/Fas ligand interactions. 924 21

Previous studies have shown that K562 chronic myelogenous leukemia cells are resistant to induction of apoptosis by a variety of agents, including the topoisomerase II (topo II) poison etoposide, when examined 4 to 24 hours after treatment with an initiating stimulus. In the present study, the responses of K562 cells and apoptosis-proficient HL-60 acute myelomonocytic leukemia cells to etoposide were compared, with particular emphasis on determining the long-term fate of the cells. When cells were treated with varying concentrations of etoposide for 1 hour and subsequently plated in soft agar, the two cell lines displayed similar sensitivities, with a 90% reduction in colony formation at 5 to 10 mu mol/L etoposide. After treatment with 17 mu mol/L etoposide for 1 hour, cleavage of the caspase substrate poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), DNA fragmentation, and apoptotic morphological changes were evident in HL-60 cells in less than 6 hours. After the same treatment, K562 cells arrested in G2 phase of the cell cycle but otherwise appeared normal for 3 to 4 days before developing similar apoptotic changes. When the etoposide dose was increased to 68 mu mol/L, apoptotic changes were evident in HL-60 cells after 2 to 3 hours, whereas the same changes were observed in K562 cells after 24 to 48 hours. This delay in the development of apoptotic changes in K562 cells was accompanied by delayed release of cytochrome c to the cytosol and delayed appearance of peptidase activity that cleaved the fluorogenic substrates Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-aminotrifluoromethylcoumarin (DEVD-AFC) and Val-Glu-Ile-Asp-aminomethylcoumarin (VEID-AMC) as well as an altered spectrum of active caspases that were affinity labeled with N-(Nalpha-benzyloxycarbonylglutamyl-Nepsilon-biotin yllysyl) aspartic acid [(2,6-dimethylbenzoyl)oxy]methyl ketone [z-EK(bio)D-aomk]. On the other hand, the activation of caspase-3 under cell-free conditions occurred with indistinguishable kinetics in cytosol prepared from the two cell lines. Collectively, these results suggest that a delay in the signaling cascade upstream of cytochrome c release and caspase activation leads to a long latent period before the active phase of apoptosis is initiated in etoposide-treated K562 cells. Once the active phase of apoptosis is initiated, the spectrum and subcellular distribution of active caspase species differ between HL-60 and K562 cells, but a similar proportion of cells are ultimately killed in both cell lines.
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PMID:Comparison of caspase activation and subcellular localization in HL-60 and K562 cells undergoing etoposide-induced apoptosis. 937 39

Studies of the biochemical mechanisms evoked by conventional treatments for neoplastic diseases point to apoptosis as a key process for elimination of unwanted cells. Although the pathways through which chemotherapeutics promote cell death remain largely unknown, caspase proteases play a central role in the induction of apoptosis in response to a variety of stimuli including tumor necrosis factor, fas ligand, and growth factor deprivation. In this article, we demonstrate the induction of caspase protease activity in MCF7 human breast carcinoma cells exposed to the topoisomerase inhibitor, etoposide. Caspase protease activity was assessed by incubating cell lysates with the known caspase substrates, acetyl-L-aspartic-L-glutamic-L-valyl-L-aspartic acid 4-methyl-7-aminocoumarin or acetyl-L-tyrosyl-L-valyl-L-aspartic acid 4-methyl-7-aminocoumarin. We observed maximal cleavage of acetyl-L-aspartic-L-glutamic-L-valyl-L-aspartic acid 4-methyl-7-aminocoumarin within 6 hr following etoposide addition, a time that precedes cell death. In contrast, acetyl-L-tyrosyl-L-valyl-L-aspartic acid 4-methyl-7-aminocoumarin was resistant to cleavage activity. This substrate cleavage specificity implies that a caspase-3-like protease is activated in response to DNA damage. Consistent with the lysate protease activity, an intracellular marker of caspase activation, poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP), was cleaved in a concentration- and time-dependent manner after etoposide-treatment. PARP cleavage followed caspase activation and reached maximum cleavage between 12 and 16 hr. Incubation of the cells with the peptidic caspase inhibitor z-valine-alanine-asparagine-CH2F prevented caspase activation, inhibited PARP cleavage, and inhibited cell death. Thus, etoposide killing of MCF7 cells requires a caspase-3-like protease.
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PMID:Caspase activation in MCF7 cells responding to etoposide treatment. 949 10

Apoptosis, often also termed "programmed cell death", occurs in normal development in the brain and spinal cord. Important to concepts of disease and potential intervention is the exciting finding that apoptosis is also found after neurotrauma and in a number of neurodegenerative diseases. Although the precise mechanism of neuronal cell loss remains unknown, much emphasis has been placed recently on the activation of cell death protease cascades within the cell. How these cascades may be activated, especially from extracellular influences, is currently poorly understood. Thrombin, the multifunctional coagulation protease, is an early phase modulator at sites of tissue injury and has been shown to induce cell death in neurons by an apoptotic mechanism by activating its receptor, PAR-1. Using a model motor neuronal cell line, NSC19, which we have shown undergoes apoptosis after treatment with classic apoptosis inducers such as the topoisomerase inhibitors camptothecin and etoposide, we unambiguously found that nanomolar thrombin induced characteristic signs of apoptosis. Strikingly, endonucleolysis was accompanied by an increase in caspase-3-like activity in cellular extracts, which correlated with both detection of caspase-induced signature cleavage of the cortical cytoskeleton component nonerythroid spectrin (alpha-fodrin) and identification of increased accessibility of a caspase cleavage domain, using an antibody (Ab127) made against a synthetic peptide KGDEVD. Demonstrating that thrombin activation of death proteases was linked to cell death, we were able to inhibit thrombin-induced apoptosis by using a caspase family inhibitor, benzyloxycarbonyl-Asp-(oMe)-fluoromethyl ketone (Boc-D-FMK). These novel results demonstrate that thrombin serves as an extracellular "death signal" to activate intracellular protease pathways. These pathways lead to apoptotic cell death and can be modulated by inhibiting caspase activity downstream to PAR-1.
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PMID:Thrombin is an extracellular signal that activates intracellular death protease pathways inducing apoptosis in model motor neurons. 965 39

Caspases are aspartate-specific cysteine proteases that play a pivotal role in drug-induced cell death. We designed RT-PCR assays to analyse the expression of CASP-3, CASP-4, CASP-6 and the long and short isoforms of CASP-2 genes in human cells. These genes heterogeneously coexpress in leukemic cell lines and bone marrow samples from patients with de novo acute myelogenous leukemia at diagnosis. Treatment of U937 and HL60 leukemic cells and HT29 colon carcinoma cells with the topoisomerase II inhibitor etoposide upregulates CASP-2 and CASP-3 genes in these cells before inducing their apoptosis. This effect of etoposide is not observed in K562 cells and bcl-2-transfected U937 cells which are less sensitive to drug-induced apoptosis. Nuclear run-on experiments demonstrate that etoposide increases CASP gene transcription in U937 cells, an effect that is prevented by Bcl-2 overexpression. Upregulation of CASP genes is associated with an enhanced synthesis of related procaspases that precedes the appearance of apoptosis markers including caspase-3 activation, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage and internucleosomal DNA fragmentation. These results suggest that the ability of tumor cells to upregulate CASP-2 and CASP-3 genes in response to cytotoxic drugs could be predictive of their sensitivity to drug-induced apoptosis.
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PMID:Upregulation of CASP genes in human tumor cells undergoing etoposide-induced apoptosis. 967 9

Villous trophoblast in the human placenta consists of a population of proliferating stem cells which differentiate and individually fuse into the syncytiotrophoblast. We studied the apoptotic cascade in this complex epithelial layer by immunohistochemical localization of Fas, FasL, Bcl-2, Mcl-1, pro-caspase-3 and caspase-3, T-cell-restricted intracellular antigen-related protein (TIAR), poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), lamin B, topoisomerase IIalpha, and transglutaminase II in cryostat and paraffin-fixed tissue sections from normal human first-trimester and term placental villi. The relationship between the apoptotic cascade and syncytial fusion was studied by coincubation of intact villi with FITC-coupled annexin-V, to detect the phosphatidylserine flip, and propidium iodide, to detect plasma membrane permeability. The final events of the apoptotic cascade were studied by the TUNEL reaction and ultrastructural appearance of the trophoblast. The phosphatidylserine flip was identified in some of the villous cytotrophoblastic cells, but the presence of both Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 proteins presumably prevented continuation of the apoptotic cascade. The syncytiotrophoblast demonstrated heterogeneous findings, suggesting variable progression along the apoptotic cascade. In some areas Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 predominated, with preservation of the nuclear proteins PARP, lamin B, and topoisomerase IIalpha; in other areas, especially in and around syncytial sprouts, Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 were absent, accompanied by loss of nuclear proteins, presence of phosphatidylserine flip, and TUNEL positivity. These data suggest that the apoptotic cascade is initiated in the villous cytotrophoblast, which in turn promotes syncytial fusion. Donation of anti-apoptotic proteins into the syncytium, such as Bcl-2 and Mcl-1, focally inhibits further progression along this cascade. Completion of the apoptotic cascade takes place in and around syncytial sprouts, providing further evidence that these are the sites of trophoblast shedding into the maternal circulation.
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PMID:Villous cytotrophoblast regulation of the syncytial apoptotic cascade in the human placenta. 982 29

beta-Hydroxyisovalerylshikonin (beta-HIVS), which was isolated from the plant, Lithospermium radix, inhibited the growth of various lines of cancer cells derived from human solid tumors at low concentrations between 10(-8) and 10(-6) M. When HL-60 cells were treated with 10(-6) M beta-HIVS for 3 h, characteristic features of apoptosis, such as DNA fragmentation, nuclear fragmentation, and activation of caspase-3-like activity, were observed. The most characteristic features of the effect of beta-HIVS were the remarkable morphological changes induced upon treatment of HL-60 cells with beta-HIVS, as visualized on the staining of actin filaments with phalloidin labeled with tetramethylrhodamine B isothiocyanate. Moreover, activation of MAP kinases, such as ERK2, JNK and p38, was detected after treatment with 10(-6) M beta-HIVS preceding the appearance of the characteristics of apoptosis, and the features of the activation of these MAP kinases were quite different from those of Fas and anticancer drug-induced apoptosis. The activation of JNK by beta-HIVS was not inhibited by inhibitors of caspases, suggesting that JNK is located either upstream or independent of the caspase signaling pathway. beta-HIVS did not inhibit the activity of topoisomerase II. These results indicate that beta-HIVS induces apoptosis in HL-60 cells through a mechanism unlike those reported for anti-Fas antibodies and etoposide.
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PMID:beta-hydroxyisovalerylshikonin inhibits the cell growth of various cancer cell lines and induces apoptosis in leukemia HL-60 cells through a mechanism different from those of Fas and etoposide. 988 Jul 90

Merbarone (5-[N-phenyl carboxamido]-2-thiobarbituric acid) is an anticancer drug that inhibits the catalytic activity of DNA topoisomerase II (topo II) without damaging DNA or stabilizing DNA-topo II cleavable complexes. Although the cytotoxicity of the complex-stabilizing DNA-topo II inhibitors such as VP-16 (etoposide) has been partially elucidated, the cytotoxicity of merbarone is poorly understood. Here, we report that merbarone induces programmed cell death or apoptosis in human leukemic CEM cells, characterized by internucleosomal DNA cleavage and nuclear condensation. Treatment of CEM cells with apoptosis-inducing concentrations of merbarone caused activation of c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase, c-jun gene induction, activation of caspase-3/CPP32-like protease but not caspase-1, and the proteolytic cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Treatment of CEM cells with a potent inhibitor of caspases, Z-Asp-2. 6-dichlorobenzoyloxymethyl-ketone, inhibited merbarone-induced caspase-3/CPP32-like activity and apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicate that the catalytic inhibition of topo II by merbarone leads to apoptotic cell death through a caspase-3-like protease-dependent mechanism. These results further suggest that c-Jun and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase signaling may be involved in the cytotoxicity of merbarone.
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PMID:Merbarone, a catalytic inhibitor of DNA topoisomerase II, induces apoptosis in CEM cells through activation of ICE/CED-3-like protease. 1005 40

Stable transfected human p53 (mt/mt) B lymphoma Namalwa variant lines showing differential expression of the Bax-alpha protein were derived under hygromycin selection. Overexpression of Bax-alpha in these variant cells accelerates cell death induced by short or continuous treatments with various concentrations of camptothecin, etoposide, vinblastine and shows no accelerating cell death activity in cis-platinum and paclitaxel-treated cells. Activation of apoptosis and oligonucleosome-sized DNA fragmentation was observed in the variant lines with more pronounced effect in cells containing high level of Bax-alpha protein. These results suggest that increased cell death mediated by anticancer drugs correlates with Bax-alpha level of expression and that Bax-alpha sensitizes Namalwa cells treated at low drug concentrations. The extent of DNA synthesis inhibition following DNA topoisomerase inhibitor treatments was similar in control and all transfected Namalwa cells suggesting that Bax-alpha acts downstream of DNA topoisomerase-mediated DNA strand breaks. To define further the relation between Bax-alpha expression and apoptosis activation, kinetics of caspase activation was measured in drug-treated cells. Caspase activities were measured using specific fluorogenic peptide derivatives DABCYL-YVADAPV-EDANS and Ac-DEVD-AMC, substrates of the caspase 1-like and caspase 3-like families, respectively. In control and Bax-alpha transfected Namalwa cells no increase in caspase 1-like activity was detected following camptothecin and etoposide treatments. In contrast, a significant difference in Ac-DEVD-AMC hydrolysis activity was observed in Bax-alpha transfected Namalwa cells compared to that of control Namalwa cells after camptothecin and etoposide treatment. Increased caspase 3-like activity correlated also with poly(ADPribosyl) polymerase cleavage. Taken together, these results suggest that Bax-alpha sensitize B lymphoma cells to series of anticancer drugs and accelerates the activation of apoptotic protease cascade.
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PMID:Bax-alpha promotes apoptosis induced by cancer chemotherapy and accelerates the activation of caspase 3-like cysteine proteases in p53 double mutant B lymphoma Namalwa cells. 1020 May 2

We have previously shown that the DNA topoisomerase II alpha (topo II alpha) gene is down-regulated in VP16/VM26-resistant cells at the transcriptional level. To determine the DNA elements responsible for down-regulation, the transcriptional activities of luciferase reporter constructs containing various lengths of the promoter sequences were investigated by transient transfection of two resistant cell lines, KB/VP2 and KB/VM4. The transcriptional activities of the full-length promoter (-295 to +85) and of three deletion constructs (-197, -154 and -74 to +85) were significantly down-regulated in resistant cells. In contrast, the transcriptional activity of the minimal promoter (-20 to +85) in resistant cells was similar to that in parental KB cells. Furthermore, introduction of a mutation in ICE1 abolished the down-regulation of the topo II alpha promoter activity in drug-resistant cells. In vivo footprinting analysis of topo II alpha gene promoter revealed several specific protein-binding sites, a GC box, ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3. In vivo footprinting analysis also identified a cluster of hypersensitive sites. However, there was no marked difference in protein-binding sites between parental and resistant cells. To confirm our previous results, we have established the VP16-resistant cell lines T12-VP1 and T12-VP2 from T12 cells derived from human bladder cancer T24 cells stably transfected with the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene driven by the topo II alpha gene promoter. The expression to topo II alpha was down-regulated in both cell lines. We also found that CAT gene expression was significantly decreased to one-fifth of that in T12 parental cells. These results suggest that the expression of the topo II alpha gene requires the binding of multiple factors to the core promoter and is down-regulated at the transcriptional level, probably through binding of a negative factor to ICE1 in drug-resistant cells.
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PMID:Structural and functional analysis of the control region of the human DNA topoisomerase II alpha gene in drug-resistant cells. 1040 35


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