UNIPROT:P42574 - FACTA Search

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Query: UNIPROT:P42574 (caspase-3)
45,978 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Caspase activation and dependence on caspases has been observed in different paradigms of apoptotic cell death in vivo and in vitro. The present study examines the role of caspases in ionizing radiation-induced apoptosis in the developing cerebellum of rats subjected to a single dose (2-Gy gamma rays) of whole-body irradiation at postnatal day 3. Radiation-induced apoptosis in the external granule cell layer, as defined by the presence of cells by extremely condensed, often fragmented nucleus, which were stained with the method of in situ end-labeling of nuclear DNA fragmentation, first appeared at 3 h and peaked at 6 h following irradiation. Increased expression of the precursors of caspase 1 (ICE), 2 (Nedd2), 3 (CPP32), 6 (Mch2), and 8 (Mch5 and FLICE), and increased expression of active caspase 3, as revealed by immunohistochemistry, were observed in the external granule cell layer of the cerebellum. Radiation-induced apoptosis was accompanied by an increase in the expression of the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) fragment of about 89 kD, as revealed by Western blots of cerebellar homogenates. This was not associated with modifications of protein kinase Cdelta and Lamin B. Concomitant injection in the culmen of the cerebellum in irradiated rats of high doses of Y-VAD-cmk, DEV-fmk, or IETD-fmk resulted in decreased expression of the PARP fragment in cerebellar homogenates. This was accompanied by a decrease in the expression of active caspase 3, as shown by immunohistochemistry. These observations suggest caspase activation following ionizing radiation. However, no differences in the number and morphological and biochemical characteristics of apoptotic cells, including strong nuclear and cytoplasmic c-Jun/AP-1 (N) expression, were observed between irradiated and both irradiated and caspase inhibitor-treated rats. Taken together, these observations suggest that the caspases examined are not essential for radiation-induced apoptosis in the developing cerebellum.
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PMID:Role of caspases in ionizing radiation-induced apoptosis in the developing cerebellum. 1059 Jan 78

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) generates a potent cytotoxic effect, however many cancer cells are resistant to TNFalpha-mediated killing and the cause of the differential sensitivity remains to be elucidated. In this study, we demonstrated that TNFalpha induced cell death in four different human colon cancer cell lines. The degree of cytotoxic effect was different in each cell line, in that HCT-15 was relatively sensitive, while DLD-1, HT-29 and WiDr were relatively resistant. TNFalpha induced apoptotic changes such as morphological changes, DNA fragmentation and activation of caspase-3 in HCT-15, but to a lesser degree in the others. Transcriptional expression of TNFR1(p55), as well as that of FLICE, Fas, FADD, DR3, FAF, TRADD, and RIP was similar in these cell lines, indicating that the susceptibility to TNFalpha-induced apoptosis may not be determined by the constitutive expression level of these factors. Interestingly, the cytotoxic effect of TNFalpha was well correlated with the DNA binding activity of NF-kappaB in the colon cancer cell lines. Further, the overexpression of a non-phosphorylated mutant form of IkappaBalpha enhanced the cytotoxicity of TNFalpha in the resistant cell line, DLD-1, indicating that NF-kappaB activity may determine the sensitivity of colon cancer cells to TNFalpha-induced apoptosis. Thus, our results indicate that modulation of NF-kappaB activity may provide a useful tool to sensitize colon cancer cells to TNFalpha treatment.
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PMID:Activation of NF-kappaB determines the sensitivity of human colon cancer cells to TNFalpha-induced apoptosis. 1078 20

Bile salts have been shown to be involved in the etiology of colorectal cancer. Although there is a large body of evidence for bile salts as a cocarcinogen in azoxymethane-induced colorectal cancer, bile salt-induced apoptosis of colorectal cancer cells has not yet been studied in detail. Therefore, we investigated the effects of different bile salts on apoptosis and apoptotic signaling in colon cancer cell lines. Incubation of colorectal cancer cell lines with physiological concentrations of deoxycholic acid led to a dramatic induction of apoptosis. Caspase cleavage and caspase activation occurred as early as 30 min after the addition of deoxycholate. Caspase-2 (Ich-1, Nedd2), caspase-3 (CPP-32, YAMA, Apopain), caspase-7 (Mch-3, ICE-LAP-3), and caspase-8 (FLICE, Mach-1, Mch5) are activated in HT-29, whereas caspase-1 (ICE) remained intact. Caspase activation and cellular apoptosis induced by bile salts were reversed by broad spectrum and selective caspase inhibitors. As opposed to hepatocyte death mediated by bile acids, CD95 was not involved in deoxycholate-induced apoptosis. The cytoprotective effect of ursodeoxycholic acid in hepatocytes or other tumor cell lines, which is mediated by inhibiting the mitochondrial permeability transition, was not observed in colon cancer cell lines as well. This points to distinct intracellular functions of ursodeoxycholate in different cancer cell types. Here we describe the specificity of bile salt-induced apoptosis in colon cancer cell lines. Differences from hepatocytes are shown. Bile acid-specific caspase activation is part of the apoptotic pathway induced by bile salts in colon cancer cell lines. Furthermore, a lack of cytoprotective function of ursodeoxycholate in these cells is demonstrated. Our data raise questions as to the role of bile salts in colorectal carcinogenesis.
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PMID:Characterization of bile salt-induced apoptosis in colon cancer cell lines. 1094 41

We investigated the cytotoxic responsiveness of 40 cell lines derived from representatives of the Ewing's sarcoma family of tumours (ESFT), i.e., Ewing's sarcoma (ES), peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumour (pPNET) and Askin tumour (AT), to tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL). Incubation with TRAIL at 100 ng/ml induced cell death at 24 hr in 19 of 26 ES, 11 of 12 pPNET and 2 of 2 AT cell lines. Half-maximal cell death concentrations (IC(50) values) varied from 0.1 to 20 ng/ml. TRAIL displayed potent cytotoxic activity against freshly derived ESFT cell isolates. Cytotoxicity was associated with phosphatidylserine expression and internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, features characteristic of apoptosis. The apoptotic programme in the sensitive ESFT VH-64 cell line revealed TRAIL-induced activation of FLICE/MACH1 (caspase-8) and CPP32/Yama/apopain (caspase-3) and processing of the prototype caspase substrate poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. In addition, TRAIL provoked a collapse of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential (DeltaPsi(m)), parallelled by a reduction in ATP levels and release of cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol. Inhibition of caspase-8 and caspase-3 by zIETDfmk and zDEVDfmk, respectively, substantially prevented TRAIL-induced apoptosis. However, zIETDfmk, but not zDEVDfmk, reduced TRAIL-mediated DeltaPsi(m) dissipation, indicating that TRAIL causes mitochondrial dysfunction through caspase-8 acting upstream of mitochondria. While macromolecule synthesis inhibitors (actinomycin D, cycloheximide) augmented susceptibility to TRAIL in TRAIL-responsive cell lines, these agents did not render TRAIL-resistant cell lines susceptible to TRAIL. However, the proteasome inhibitor MG132 sensitised to TRAIL in resistant cell lines. Collectively, these results show that TRAIL initiates effective death in the vast majority (80%) of cell lines derived from ESFT. Since TRAIL provoked cell death in ESFT ex vivo, this cytokine may be a promising drug for the treatment of ESFT in vivo.
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PMID:Apoptotic responsiveness of the Ewing's sarcoma family of tumours to tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL). 1100 77

TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a potent inducer of apoptosis in adult malignant glioma and various other human solid tumor models but not in normal tissues. To characterize the TRAIL death pathway in childhood primitive neuroectodermal brain tumor (PNET), 8 human PNET cell lines were tested for TRAIL-induced apoptosis. TRAIL-sensitivity of the PNET cell lines was correlated with mRNA expression levels of TRAIL, its agonistic (TRAIL-R1, TRAIL-R2) and antagonistic (TRAIL-R3, TRAIL-R4) receptors, cellular FLICE-like inhibitory protein (cFLIP), caspase-3 and caspase-8. Three of 8 PNET cell lines tested were susceptible to TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Sensitivity to TRAIL-induced apoptosis did not correlate with mRNA expression of TRAIL receptors or cFLIP. However, all TRAIL-sensitive PNET cell lines expressed caspase-8 mRNA and protein, while none of the five TRAIL-resistant PNET cell lines expressed caspase-8 protein. Treatment with the methyltransferase inhibitor 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine restored mRNA expression of caspase-8 and TRAIL-sensitivity in formerly TRAIL-resistant PNET cells, suggesting that gene methylation inhibits caspase-8 transcription in these cells. We conclude, that loss of caspase-8 mRNA is an important mechanism of TRAIL-resistance in PNET cells. Treatment with recombinant soluble TRAIL, possibly in combination with methyltransferase inhibitors, represents a promising therapeutic approach for PNET that deserves further investigation.
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PMID:Resistance to TRAIL-induced apoptosis in primitive neuroectodermal brain tumor cells correlates with a loss of caspase-8 expression. 1103 Jan 49

During inflammatory reactions in the central nervous system (CNS), resident macrophages, the microglia, are exposed to Th1 cell-derived cytokines and pro-apoptotic Fas ligand (FasL). Despite the presence of TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma, both being capable of sensitizing microglia to FasL, apoptosis of microglia is not a hallmark of inflammatory diseases of the CNS. In the present study, TGF-beta is found to counteract the effect of TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma to sensitize microglia to FasL-mediated apoptosis. Resistance to Fas-mediated apoptosis by TGF-beta does not correlate with a down-regulation of Fas expression. As a key inhibitor of Fas-mediated apoptosis, we found expression of the cellular FLICE-inhibitory protein (c-FLIP) to be induced by TGF-beta in resting as well as in activated microglia. Induction of FLIP was found to depend on a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MKK)-dependent pathway as shown by the use of the specific MKK-inhibitor PD98059. The presence of FLIP strongly interfered with FasL-induced activation of caspase-8 and caspase-3 preventing subsequent cell death. The presented data provide the first evidence for a TGF-beta-mediated FLIP in macrophage-like cells and suggest a mode of action for the anti-apoptotic role of TGF-beta in the CNS.
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PMID:TGF-beta induces the expression of the FLICE-inhibitory protein and inhibits Fas-mediated apoptosis of microglia. 1116 11

Engagement of the plasma membrane receptor Fas can induce apoptosis of leukemic cells. Signaling through Fas requires the formation of a death-inducing signaling complex (DISC) that involves the cytoplasmic domain of Fas, the adaptor molecule FADD/MORT-1, and procaspase-8. The present study investigated whether another caspase, known as procaspase-2L, played a role in Fas-mediated cell death. A series of human leukemic variant cells was derived by stable transfection with a CASP2L antisense construct (CASP2L/AS). Specific down-regulation of procaspase-2L decreased the sensitivity of these cells to apoptosis induced by an agonistic anti-Fas antibody (Ab, clone CH11), as determined by studying DNA fragmentation, chromatin condensation, and externalization of phosphatidylserine on the plasma membrane. In leukemic cells transfected with an empty vector, anti-Fas Ab treatment activated caspase-8, decreased the expression of the BH3 domain-only protein Bid, triggered the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria to the cytosol, and activated caspase-3. All these events could not be observed when CASP2L/AS cells were similarly treated with anti-Fas Abs. CASP2L/AS transfection did not inhibit the formation of the DISC and no direct interaction between procaspase-2L and either Fas or FADD or procaspase-8 was identified. Down-regulation of procaspase-2L inhibited anti-Fas Ab-mediated cleavage of c-FLIP (FLICE-inhibitory protein), a protein that interferes with the formation of a functional DISC. These results suggest that the long isoform of caspase-2 plays a role in the Fas-mediated pathway to cell death by contributing to caspase-8 activation at the DISC level.
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PMID:Involvement of caspase-2 long isoform in Fas-mediated cell death of human leukemic cells. 1123 27

TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), a novel member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family, is thought to induce apoptosis preferentially in cancer cells; however, increasing evidence suggests that a number of cancers are resistant to TRAIL treatment. FLICE-like inhibitory protein (FLIP), which structurally resembles caspase-8, can act as an inhibitor of apoptosis when expressed at high levels in certain cancer cells. The purpose of our present study was to determine whether human colon cancer cells are sensitive to TRAIL treatment and, if not, to identify potential mechanisms of resistance. Colon cancer cells of different metastatic potential (KM12C, KML4A, and KM20) were found to be resistant to the effects of TRAIL when used as a single agent. FLIP expression levels were increased in all three KM cell lines. Treatment with either actinomycin D (Act D;10 :g/ml) or cycloheximide (CHX; 10 :g/ml) decreased FLIP expression levels in all three cell lines. The decrease in cellular levels of FLIP was associated with sensitization to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis, as demonstrated by enhanced cell death and caspase-3 activity compared with either Act D or CHX alone. Our findings suggest that reduction of FLIP levels by Act D or CHX renders TRAIL-resistant human colon cancer cells sensitive to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis. The combination of TRAIL along with agents such as Act D or CHX, which target proteins that prevent cell death, may provide a more effective and less toxic regimen for treatment of resistant colon cancers.
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PMID:Sensitization of human colon cancer cells to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis. 1130 49

Deregulation of the Fas/FasL pathway in activated T cells is suspected to contribute to the abnormal apoptosis that drives their progressive depletion during HIV-1 infection. However, the role of serum soluble Fas (sFas) is unclear. Here we investigated both sFas and anti-Fas IgG levels in a cohort of 227 HIV-1-infected patients with respect to their T cell apoptosis. By using optimized ELISAs, we found that serum titers of sFas and anti-Fas were linearly correlated in 17 severely lymphopenic subjects as compared with other patients grouped in relation to their single expression of anti-Fas and sFas, or with double-negative control patients. Cytofluorimetric measurement of the subdiploid DNA-containing cell population by both PI and TUNEL revealed an increased occurrence of cell death in vitro, in particular in patients with elevations of sFas. We also found that fresh CD4(+) cells from these patients showed high levels of both caspase 3 (CPP32) and its molecular targets, namely PARP and CK18. In addition, their in vitro proliferative rate was inhibited by sFas, in particular in patients with undetectable levels of the soluble receptor in vivo as well as in normal donors. In these subjects the Fas-related caspase 8 (FLICE) was significantly increased in cells treated with the recombinant Fas. These results support the contention that functionally exhausted T cells may undergo apoptosis in response to the persistent in vivo stimulation by sFas. This may elucidate the described occurrence of enhanced cell death in advanced HIV-1 infection in association with serum elevations of the soluble receptor.
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PMID:Anti-Fas (CD95/Apo-I) autoantibodies and soluble Fas levels concur in T cell depletion in HIV type 1 infection. 1137 56

Viral FLICE-inhibitory proteins (v-FLIPs) encoded by several herpesviruses and poxviruses share the ability to inhibit apoptosis after engagement of death receptors. In the current article, we provide insights into the mechanisms by which the v-FLIP of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) (also referred to as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated virus) protects cells from apoptosis after Fas-induced signaling. Using v-FLIP expression vectors, our results clearly show that HHV-8 v-FLIP reduces the cleavage of procaspase-8 into its active p18 and p10 protease subunits upon Fas-induced cell death. These results were confirmed by lower caspase-8 and caspase-3 protease activities in extracts of HeLa cells expressing HHV-8 v-FLIP. Coimmunoprecipitation studies further indicate that HHV-8 v-FLIP physically interacts with procaspase-8, but not with Fas-associated protein with death domain in the cellular cytoplasm. These results suggest that binding of HHV-8 v-FLIP to procaspase-8 affects the recruitment and the activation of the latter at the death-induced signaling complex, resulting in diminished apoptotic cascade initiation. Because cellular FLIP was recently reported to modulate promoter containing NF-kappaB motifs and that both HHV-8 and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HWV-1) can infect monocytes, we studied the effects of v-FLIP on HIV-1 gene expression. Cotransfection experiments indicated that v-FLIP expression is associated with activation of HIV long terminal repeats: events that were strictly dependent on the presence of NF-kappaB consensus elements. In conclusion, HHV-8 v-FLIP can possibly contribute to the pathogenesis of both HHV-8 and HIV-1 through impaired Fas-dependent killing of infected cells by cytotoxic T cells and through activation of HIV gene expression.
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PMID:Human herpesvirus 8 viral FLICE-inhibitory protein inhibits Fas-mediated apoptosis through binding and prevention of procaspase-8 maturation. 1143 16

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