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)

Endothelin (ET)-1, an endothelium-derived vasoconstrictor and mitogen, acts as an antiapoptotic factor against serum deprivation-induced apoptosis of endothelial cells and fibroblasts but enhances apoptosis of some cancer cells. In the present study, we examined whether nitric oxide (NO) and ET-1 modulate apoptosis of rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) via the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway. Both serum deprivation and NO donors (FK409 and SNAP) caused apoptosis of VSMCs, as demonstrated by TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling, appearance of fragmented DNA, and induction of caspase-3 activity. ET-1 dose-dependently antagonized apoptosis induced by serum deprivation and NO donors. A selective ET(A) receptor antagonist (BQ123) and a nonselective ET(A/B) receptor antagonist (TAK044), but not a selective ET(B) receptor antagonist (BQ788), inhibited the antiapoptotic effect of ET-1, indicating that the antiapoptotic effect of ET-1 is mediated via the ET(A) receptor. ET-1 activated MAP kinase, whose effect was inhibited by FK409. Transfection with an unphosphorylated wild-type MAP kinase kinase-1 (MAPKK-1) or its constitutively activated mutant protected VSMCs against apoptosis induced by serum deprivation and NO donors. Inhibition of MAP kinase activity with PD98059, a specific inhibitor of MAPKK-1, or by transfection of a dominant-negative MAPKK-1 mutant antagonized the antiapoptotic effect of ET-1, suggesting the involvement of MAP kinase in the antiapoptotic effect. The potent inhibitory effect of ET-1 on apoptosis of VSMCs induced by serum deprivation and NO suggests that the counterbalance between the 2 endothelium-derived factors contributes to the process of vascular remodeling by determining VSMC survival and death, respectively, via a common MAP kinase pathway.
 ...
PMID:Endothelin-1 inhibits apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells induced by nitric oxide and serum deprivation via MAP kinase pathway. 1076 63

Growing evidence suggests that a pressure-induced increase in the synthesis of endothelin (ET-1) is involved in arterial remodeling and, as a consequence, in the manifestation of chronic hypertension. To study potential stretch-induced changes in gene expression and their functional consequences, we have cultured rat aortic smooth muscle cells (raSMC) and porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAEC) on flexible elastomer membranes. The cells were periodically stretched (up to 20% elongation, 0.5 Hz, 6 h) and the expression of prepro-ET-1 and that of the endothelin A and B receptors (ET(A)-R and ET(B)-R) were analyzed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis and ELISA (ET-1). In contrast to PAEC where ET-1 synthesis was up-regulated up to eightfold on exposure to cyclic stretch, ET-1 synthesis in raSMC was decreased by more than 80% under these conditions. ET(A) R -mRNA expression in stretched raSMC declined to 50% whereas ET(B) R -mRNA levels were increased up to 10-fold. One functional consequence of this apparent shift in receptor abundance was an apoptosis-promoting action of exogenous ET-1 (10 nM), as judged by the appearance of subdiploid peaks during FACS analysis, caspase-3 activation and chromatin condensation. This ET-1-induced apoptosis appeared to be ET(B)-R mediated, as it was completely suppressed by the ET(B)-R antagonist BQ 788 but not by the ET(A)-R antagonist BQ 123. Moreover, raSMC derived from homozygous spotting lethal rats, which lack a functional ET(B)-R, showed no signs of apoptosis after exposure to cyclic strain and exogenous ET-1. These findings suggest a central role for the endothelin system in the onset of hypertension-induced remodeling in conduit arteries, which may proceed via an initial stretch-induced apoptosis of the smooth muscle cells.
 ...
PMID:Stretch-induced endothelin B receptor-mediated apoptosis in vascular smooth muscle cells. 1078 54

It has been reported that at the end stage, apoptosis is involved in the progression of heart failure. It is suggested that cardiac energy metabolism is impaired during the progression of heart failure. Although the mechanism of induction of apoptosis in the failing heart varies according to the model of heart failure, it is not known whether an impairment of energy metabolism in cardiomyocytes is a primary cause of apoptosis. In this study, we applied mitochondrial inhibitors, such as rotenone, cobalt chloride and antimycin A, which inhibit mitochondrial function at different sites of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, to cardiomyocytes. All these reagents markedly decreased 3-(4,5)-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide assay (MTT) reduction activity, an indicator of mitochondrial function, of cardiomyocytes and greatly increased glucose consumption, suggesting that cardiac energy metabolism is switched from beta-oxidation of fatty acid to glycolysis. It was shown that after 48-72 h of treatment with each reagent, apoptosis was shown to occur by DNA laddering and increase in caspase activity. Interestingly, each reagent with a different action site greatly activated caspase-3, but not caspase-8 activity, suggesting that mitochondria are involved in induction of apoptosis. On the other hand, within 24 h of the treatment, when apoptosis of cardiomyocytes was not observed, the treated cardiomyocytes showed a marked increase in preproendothelin-1 and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) gene expressions. In conclusion, the present study suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction with impaired energy metabolism elevates gene expression of cardiac ET-1, an aggravating factor in heart failure, and then finally induces apoptosis in cardiomyocytes. The finding of marked increases in expression of molecular markers (ET-1 mRNA and ANP mRNA) in the failing heart, followed by apoptosis in the treated cardiomyocytes suggests that the inhibition of mitochondrial function of cultured cardiomyocytes provides a possible new in vitro model of heart failure.
 ...
PMID:Mitochondrial dysfunction of cardiomyocytes causing impairment of cellular energy metabolism induces apoptosis, and concomitant increase in cardiac endothelin-1 expression. 1107 77

Renal mesangial cell apoptosis is a crucial repair mechanism in glomerular nephritis (GN). These cells express receptors to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), a cytokine with proapoptotic properties implicated in the resolution of GN. Progression to proliferative GN is accompanied by cyclooxygenase-mediated formation of prostaglandins and inefficient apoptosis of mesangial cells. The aims of this study were to quantify TNFalpha-mediated apoptosis in renal mesangial cells and to determine whether expression of the inducible form of cyclooxygenase, cylooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inhibits this apoptosis. By 24 h significant levels of apoptosis were induced by TNFalpha (100 ng/ml) or etoposide control (100 microm), as shown by phosphatidylserine externalization, caspase-3 activation, development of a sub-G(0)/G(1) region, and distinct chromatin condensation. Using adenoviral-mediated delivery of the COX-2 gene (AdCOX-2) apoptotic features were prevented from appearing in AdCOX-2 cells treated with TNFalpha, whereas etoposide-treated AdCOX-2 cells were not protected. Furthermore, COX-2 expression, induced by the vasoconstrictor peptide ET-1 or the cytokine interleukin-1beta also inhibited TNFalpha-mediated but not etoposide-mediated apoptosis, to an extent, similar to adenoviral COX-2 infection. Selective COX-2 inhibition by NS-398 restored TNFalpha-mediated apoptosis. Prostaglandin (PG) E(2) and PGI(2) were shown to be the major prostaglandin metabolites in AdCOX-2 cells. The addition of PGE(2) and PGI(2) protected against TNFalpha-mediated apoptosis. These results demonstrate COX-2 anti-apoptotic activity via a death receptor route and suggest that selective COX-2 inhibition may augment TNFalpha apoptosis in chronic inflammatory conditions.
 ...
PMID:Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibits tumor necrosis factor alpha-mediated apoptosis in renal glomerular mesangial cells. 1251 56

A cross-talk between cardiac myocytes and nonmyocytes via humoral factors plays an important role in the development of cardiac growth. However, it remains to be elucidated whether humoral factors produced from nonmyocytes have a protective effect on acute myocardial injury. The present in vitro study investigated the antiapoptotic effect of nonmyocytes on doxorubicin (DOX)-induced myocyte apoptosis and its molecular mechanism. Myocyte-nonmyocyte coculture and treatment with nonmyocyte-conditioned media significantly attenuated DOX-induced myocyte apoptosis. Treatment with nonmyocyte-conditioned media stimulated the phosphorylation of ERK, Akt, and cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) in myocytes. Nonmyocyte-conditioned media also increased protein levels of Bcl-2 but not Bcl-xL and decreased caspase-3 activation induced by DOX. MAPK kinase-specific inhibitor PD98059, phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase-Akt inhibitor LY294002, and CREB antisense oligonucleotide significantly blocked the antiapoptotic effect of nonmyocyte-conditioned media. A considerable amount of endothelin (ET)-1 production was detected in nonmyocytes but not in myocytes. Exogenous ET-1 mimicked nonmyocyte-conditioned media-mediated ERK and CREB phosphorylation and Bcl-2 protein increase but not Akt phosphorylation. In addition, ET-A receptor antagonists BQ123 and BQ485 partially blocked nonmyocyte-conditioned media-mediated antiapoptotic effect, ERK and CREB phosphorylation, and Bcl-2 protein increase. Nonmyocyte-conditioned media and exogenous ET-1 unchanged protein levels of manganese superoxide dismutase and oxidative stress-related product levels augmented by DOX. The present findings demonstrate that cardiac nonmyocytes inhibit DOX-induced myocyte apoptosis, at least in part, via ET-1 secretion-mediated CREB activation independent of the decrease in oxidative stress.
 ...
PMID:Ventricular nonmyocytes inhibit doxorubicin-induced myocyte apoptosis: involvement of endogenous endothelin-1 as a paracrine factor. 1473 33

We hypothesized that modulation of endothelin-converting enzyme-1 (ECE-1) activity would affect phosphorylation of p38-mitogen activated protein kinase (p38-MAPK) and potentiate apoptosis in adult rat ventricular myocytes (ARVMs) during sepsis. The activity of ECE-1 in ARVMs was altered by increasing the substrate availability for ECE-1 by exogenous administration of bigendothelin-1 (bigET-1, 100 nM) and by inhibiting ECE-1 using FR901533 (10 microM) for 24-h. FR901533 significantly decreased the concentration of ET-1 in both sham and sepsis groups. FR901533 decreased p38-MAPK phosphorylation in sepsis but not in sham group. BigET-1 upregulated p38-MAPK phosphorylation, produced hypertrophy, decreased cell viability and reversed FR901533-induced down-regulation of p38-MAPK phosphorylation in both groups. Although, FR901533 did not affect cell cross-sectional area, it significantly reduced the viability of ARVM in both groups. The peak shortening of sham ARVMs was elevated by bigET-1, FR901533 and pretreatment with FR901533 followed by bigET-1. However, the contractility of septic ARVMs was not altered by either bigET-1 or FR901533 treatments per se. Septic ARVM exhibited significantly increased caspase-3 activity at 12 and 24-h. Pretreatment with FR901533 significantly elevated caspase-3 activity in both sham and sepsis group. The data demonstrated that bigET-1-induced hypertrophy in septic ARVM correlates with an ECE-1 dependent-activation of p38-MAPK. The results suggest that non-responsiveness of ARVM to bigET-1 is due to ECE-1 dependent apoptosis. We concluded that ECE-1 may play a crucial role in ARVM dysfunction via increased caspase-3 activity and p38-MAPK phosphorylation during sepsis.
 ...
PMID:Endothelin-converting enzyme-1-mediated signaling in adult rat ventricular myocyte contractility and apoptosis during sepsis. 1573 12

Granulin-epithelin precursor (GEP/progranulin) is an autocrine growth factor for ovarian cancer. We examined the production and function of GEP and report that: (1) GEP production is regulated by endothelin (ET-1), lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), and cAMP; (2) cAMP signals GEP production through exchange protein activated by cAMP (EPAC); (3) ET-1 and cAMP/EPAC induce GEP through ERK1/2; and (4) neutralization of GEP results in apoptosis. Exposure of HEY-A8 and OVCAR3 ovarian cancer cells to LPA and ET-1 yielded GEP production and secretion in a dose- and time-dependent fashion; neither stimulated significant concentrations of cAMP directly. Stimulation of cAMP production with pertussis and cholera toxin, or forskolin induced GEP in a PKA-independent fashion. EPAC, an intracellular cAMP receptor, is activated specifically by the cAMP analog, 8-CPT-2'-O-Me-cAMP (8-CPT); 8-CPT treatment stimulated GEP production and secretion. The MEK inhibitor, U0126, abrogated GEP production in response to ET-1 and 8-CPT, confirming involvement of MAPK. A partial inhibition of basal and stimulated GEP production was observed when cells were treated with a internal calcium chelator, BAPTA. Neutralizing anti-GEP antibody reversed basal as well as LPA, ET-1 and 8-CPT-induced ovarian cancer cell growth and induced apoptosis as demonstrated by caspase-3 and PARP cleavage, DNA fragmentation, and nuclear condensation. These results indicate that GEP is a growth and survival factor for ovarian cancer, induced by LPA and ET-1 and cAMP/EPAC through ERK1/2.
 ...
PMID:Lysophosphatidic acid and endothelin-induced proliferation of ovarian cancer cell lines is mitigated by neutralization of granulin-epithelin precursor (GEP), a prosurvival factor for ovarian cancer. 1604 62

Human heart failure is preceded by a process called cardiac remodeling, in which heart chambers progressively enlarge and contractile function deteriorates. Programmed cell death (apoptosis) of cardiac muscle cells has been identified as an essential process in the progression to heart failure. The execution of the apoptotic program entails complex interactions between and execution of multiple molecular subprograms. Endothelin (ET)-1, a potent vasoconstrictor peptide, is synthesized and secreted by cardiomyocytes and induces hypertrophy of cardiomyocytes. The cardiovascular benefit of fish oil containing eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in humans and experimental animals was reported. Recently, we found that ET-1-induced cardiomyocytic remodeling could be prevented by pretreatment with EPA. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether there would be any alteration in the expression of important apoptosis-related molecules in ET-1-administered hypertrophied cardiomyocytes. We also sought to determine, if there are alterations in apoptotic molecules, what type of role for EPA would then exist. Ventricular cardiomyocytes were isolated from 2-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats and were cultured for 3 days. At Day 4 of culture, the cardiomyocytes were divided into three groups: control, the ET-1 (0.1 nM)-treated group, and the ET-1 group pretreated with EPA (10 microM). Twenty-four hours after the treatment, the gene expressions of three important molecules related to apoptosis (caspase-3, Bax, and Bcl-2) in three experimental groups were evaluated by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The present study could not demonstrate any significant or representative alteration in any of the above three apoptosis-related important markers in either ET-1-induced hypertrophied cardiomyocytes with or without EPA pretreatment. The present study would at least be able to exclude the involvement of some representative molecules related to apoptosis in ET-1-induced hypertrophied cardiomyocytes. In addition, the present study demonstrates that the antihypertrophic effect of EPA to ET-1-administered cardiomyocytes appears not to modulate the apoptosis signaling cascade.
 ...
PMID:Changes in important apoptosis-related molecules in the endothelin-1-induced hypertrophied cardiomyocytes: effect of the pretreatment with eicosapentaenoic Acid. 1674 Oct 26

Vascular wall remodeling in pulmonary hypertension is contributed to by an aberration in the normal balance between proliferation and apoptosis of smooth muscle. We observed that endothelin (ET)-1 is a critical mediator of vascular remodeling in neonatal rats chronically exposed to 60% O(2), but has no direct proliferative effects on cultured neonatal rat pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). These findings led us to hypothesize that ET-1 may modulate remodeling by inhibiting apoptosis of smooth muscle. ET-1 (0.1 microM) was found to significantly attenuate both Paclitaxel- and serum deprivation-induced PASMC apoptosis, likely through stimulation of the ET(A) receptor (ET(A)R). ET-1 also prevented Paclitaxel-induced up-regulation of pro-apoptotic Bax and cleaved (activated) caspase-3. In rat pups exposed from birth to 60% O(2) for 7 d, arterial wall expression of Bax was decreased and expression of both ET(A)R and anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL were increased. Furthermore, increased numbers of TUNEL-positive cells were evident in the walls of pulmonary arteries from 60% O(2)-exposed animals treated with a combined ET receptor antagonist, SB217242, relative to air-exposed and vehicle-treated groups. Together, these findings suggest that ET-1 mediates remodeling of neonatal rat pulmonary arteries by inhibiting smooth muscle apoptosis.
 ...
PMID:Endothelin-1 inhibits apoptosis of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle in the neonatal rat. 1685 64

Uterine leiomyomas, or fibroids, are the most common tumors of the myometrium. The ELT3 cell line, derived from Eker rat leiomyoma, has been successfully used as a model for the study of leiomyomas. We have demonstrated previously the potent mitogenic properties of the peptidic hormone endothelin (ET)-1 in this cell line. Here we investigated the antiapoptotic effect of ET-1 in ELT3 cells. We found that 1) serum starvation of ELT3 cells induced an apoptotic process characterized by cytochrome c release from mitochondria, caspase-3/7 activation, nuclei condensation and DNA fragmentation; 2) ET-1 prevented the apoptotic process; and 3) this effect of ET-1 was fully reproduced by ETB agonists. In contrast, no antiapoptotic effect of ET-1 was observed in normal myometrial cells. A pharmacological approach showed that the effect of ET-1 on caspase-3/7 activation in ELT3 cells was not dependent on phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, ERK1/2, or phospholipase D activities. However, inhibitors of sphingosine kinase-1 (SphK1), dimethylsphingosine and threo-dihydrosphingosine, reduced the effect of ET-1 by about 50%. Identical results were obtained when SphK1 expression was down-regulated in ELT3 cells transfected with SphK1 small interfering RNA. Furthermore, serum starvation induced a decrease in SphK1 activity that was prevented by ET-1 without affecting the level of SphK1 protein expression. Finally, sphingosine 1-phosphate, the product of SphK activity, was as efficient as ET-1 in inhibiting serum starvation-induced caspase-3/7 activation. Together, these results demonstrate that ET-1 possesses a potent antiapoptotic effect in ELT3 cells that involves sphingolipid metabolism through the activation of SphK1.
 ...
PMID:Endothelin-1 inhibits apoptosis through a sphingosine kinase 1-dependent mechanism in uterine leiomyoma ELT3 cells. 1695 47


1 2 3 Next >>