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)

In the granule exocytosis pathway of cell-mediated cytotoxicity, rapid apoptotic nuclear damage in target cells has been unequivocally linked to granzyme B activity. Direct cleavage and activation of caspase-3 and related proteases by granzyme B have been identified as a central event in apoptosis induction by cytotoxic granules. The Bcl-2 oncoprotein has been recently shown to act at the level or upstream of caspase-3 family activation to inhibit apoptosis induced by various stimuli including Fas ligation, an alternative cell-mediated lytic pathway. In this study, we have investigated whether activation of this caspase family by granzyme B, during human NK and lymphokine-activated killer cell granule-mediated apoptosis, could be influenced by Bcl-2 expression. Bcl-2-overexpressing clones were generated from parental K562 and U937 cell lines (K6 and U4 clones, respectively). Bcl-2 expression abrogated early 125I-DNA release and DNA fragmentation, these defects being compensated for by extended incubation times. Cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, a specific caspase-3 family substrate, was detected in parental K562 cells exposed to lymphokine-activated killer effectors but not in K6 targets, indicating that caspase-3 and related proteases function was inhibited by Bcl-2. Functional inhibition of caspase-3 family with benzyloxycarbonyl-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp(OMe) fluoromethylketone led to similar consequences on apoptotic nuclear events as for Bcl-2 expression. Thus, Bcl-2 antagonizes granzyme B-mediated apoptosis by a mechanism that interferes with caspase-3 activity. Finally, Bcl-2 expression or the Asp-Glu-Val-Asp peptide was much less efficient in preventing phosphatidylserine externalization, suggesting that despite impaired nuclear apoptosis, immediate recognition and elimination of Bcl-2-expressing cells by tissue phagocytes should remain partly unaffected.
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PMID:Bcl-2 expression in target cells leads to functional inhibition of caspase-3 protease family in human NK and lymphokine-activated killer cell granule-mediated apoptosis. 920 Apr 47

According to current understanding, cytoplasmic events including activation of protease cascades and mitochondrial permeability transition (PT) participate in the control of nuclear apoptosis. However, the relationship between protease activation and PT has remained elusive. When apoptosis is induced by cross-linking of the Fas/APO-1/CD95 receptor, activation of interleukin-1beta converting enzyme (ICE; caspase 1) or ICE-like enzymes precedes the disruption of the mitochondrial inner transmembrane potential (DeltaPsim). In contrast, cytosolic CPP32/ Yama/Apopain/caspase 3 activation, plasma membrane phosphatidyl serine exposure, and nuclear apoptosis only occur in cells in which the DeltaPsim is fully disrupted. Transfection with the cowpox protease inhibitor crmA or culture in the presence of the synthetic ICE-specific inhibitor Ac-YVAD.cmk both prevent the DeltaPsim collapse and subsequent apoptosis. Cytosols from anti-Fas-treated human lymphoma cells accumulate an activity that induces PT in isolated mitochondria in vitro and that is neutralized by crmA or Ac-YVAD.cmk. Recombinant purified ICE suffices to cause isolated mitochondria to undergo PT-like large amplitude swelling and to disrupt their DeltaPsim. In addition, ICE-treated mitochondria release an apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) that induces apoptotic changes (chromatin condensation and oligonucleosomal DNA fragmentation) in isolated nuclei in vitro. AIF is a protease (or protease activator) that can be inhibited by the broad spectrum apoptosis inhibitor Z-VAD.fmk and that causes the proteolytical activation of CPP32. Although Bcl-2 is a highly efficient inhibitor of mitochondrial alterations (large amplitude swelling + DeltaPsim collapse + release of AIF) induced by prooxidants or cytosols from ceramide-treated cells, it has no effect on the ICE-induced mitochondrial PT and AIF release. These data connect a protease activation pathway with the mitochondrial phase of apoptosis regulation. In addition, they provide a plausible explanation of why Bcl-2 fails to interfere with Fas-triggered apoptosis in most cell types, yet prevents ceramide- and prooxidant-induced apoptosis.
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PMID:The central executioner of apoptosis: multiple connections between protease activation and mitochondria in Fas/APO-1/CD95- and ceramide-induced apoptosis. 920 94

Erythropoietin (EP) is required by late-stage erythroid progenitor cells to prevent apoptosis. Several lines of evidence suggest that it is this action of EP that regulates erythrocyte production in vivo. To study the control of apoptosis in mouse and human erythroblasts, the expression of members of the Bcl-2 family of proteins and the expression and activation of the apoptosis-linked cysteine protease Yama/CPP32/apopain were examined. These proteins have been implicated as regulators of apoptosis in several cell models. The Bcl-2 family members analyzed were Bcl-2, Bcl-X, Bax, Bad, Bak, A1, and Mcl-1. Bcl-X expression in proerythroblasts was highly EP-dependent. Bcl-X was strongly increased during the terminal differentiation stages of human and mouse erythroblasts, reaching maximum transcript and protein levels at the time of maximum hemoglobin synthesis. This increase in Bcl-X expression led to an apparent level of approximately 50 times the level in proerythroblasts. In contrast, neither mouse nor human erythroblasts expressed Bcl-2 transcript or protein. Bax and Bad proteins remained relatively constant throughout differentiation, but diminished near the time of enucleation. Bak protein was present in early erythroblasts, but diminished progressively during differentiation. EP deprivation in both mouse and human erythroblasts led to activation of the cysteine protease, apopain, as was indicated by cleavage of the proenzyme into its proteolytically active fragments. Apopain activation was detectable within 2 hours of EP deprivation in mouse erythroblasts. These findings suggest an important role for Bcl-X in late erythroid differentiation and for apopain in apoptosis of erythroblasts caused by deprivation of EP.
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PMID:The roles of Bcl-X(L) and apopain in the control of erythropoiesis by erythropoietin. 922 63

High-dose Ara-C (HIDAC) induces the cleavage and activity of caspase-3 (CPP32beta/Yama/apopain), resulting in the morphological and biochemical features of apoptosis. High levels of the antiapoptotic Bcl-x(L) or Bcl-2, relative to the proapoptotic Bax, have been shown to inhibit HIDAC-induced cleavage and activity of caspase-3 and apoptosis of the human acute myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells. In a previous report, we demonstrated this inhibition, using the control HL-60 (HL-60/neo) cells and their counterparts, HL-60/Bcl-x(L), which have enforced overexpression of Bcl-x(L) and a significantly lower ratio of free to bound Bax. Results of the present studies demonstrate that, in the initiation phase of apoptosis of HL-60/neo cells due to HIDAC (10 or 100 microM for 4 h), cytochrome c is released from the mitochondria to the cytosol, followed by the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (deltapsi m) and an increase in the reactive oxygen species; these events precede and trigger the cleavage and activity of caspase-3. These HIDAC-induced early mitochondrial and cytosolic perturbations, which represent the initiation phase of HIDAC-induced apoptosis, were inhibited in HL-60/Bcl-x(L) cells. HIDAC treatment for 4 h also modestly increased the intracellular levels of free Bax relative to Bax bound to Bcl-2 and Bcl-x(L) in HL-60/neo but not in HL-60/Bcl-x(L) cells. In HL-60/neo cells, HIDAC-induced progressive accumulation of cytochrome c in the cytosol, the decrease in deltapsi m, and the increase in reactive oxygen species were not inhibited by coculture with the tetrapeptide inhibitors of caspases that have been previously shown to inhibit Ara-C-induced cleavage and activity of caspase-3 and apoptosis. These findings indicate that Bcl-x(L) inhibits HIDAC-induced preapoptotic mitochondrial perturbations, which prevent the accumulation of cytochrome c in the cytosol, thereby preserving caspase-3 in the inactive zymogen state and checking the molecular cascade of apoptosis.
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PMID:Overexpression of Bcl-X(L) inhibits Ara-C-induced mitochondrial loss of cytochrome c and other perturbations that activate the molecular cascade of apoptosis. 924 35

HL-60 cells differentiating into neutrophil-like cells die an apoptotic death in vitro. Susceptibility to apoptosis is associated with decreased Bcl-2 protein and mRNA expression; however, the effect of differentiation on the expression of pro-apoptotic caspases is unknown. Spontaneous apoptosis occurred 6 days after retinoic acid treatment. Western blotting showed loss of Bcl-2 by day 7, and new expression of ICE (caspase 1) and CPP32 (caspase 3) protein by day 2. Northern analysis demonstrated loss of Bcl-2 mRNA and increases in ICE mRNA by day 2; CPP32 mRNA was unchanged. Differential Bcl-2 and ICE mRNA expression was also found when granulocytic differentiation was stimulated by DMSO. Differentiated HL-60 cell lysates exhibited functional ICE proteolytic activity. De novo caspase expression was responsible for the development of spontaneous apoptosis, since specific inhibitors of ICE (YVAD-CMK) and CPP32 (DEVD-CHO), inhibited retinoic acid induced spontaneous apoptosis. Functional maturation and susceptibility to apoptosis are both inducible and linked in this granulocyte precursor cell line.
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PMID:Granulocytic differentiation of HL-60 cells results in spontaneous apoptosis mediated by increased caspase expression. 927 75

Programmed cell death, or apoptosis, is inhibited by the antiapoptotic oncogene, Bcl-2, and is mediated by a cascade of aspartate-specific cysteine proteases, or caspases, related to interleukin 1-beta converting enzyme. Depending on cell type, apoptosis can be induced by treatment with thapsigargin (TG); a selective inhibitor of the endoplasmic reticulum-associated calcium-ATPase. The role of caspases in mediating TG-induced apoptosis was investigated in the Bcl-2-negative human breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-468. Apoptosis developed in MDA-MB-468 cells over a period of 24-72 h following treatment with 100 nM TG, and was prevented by Bcl-2 overexpression. TG-induced apoptosis was associated with activation of caspase-3 and was inhibited by stable expression of the baculovirus p35 protein, an inhibitor of caspase activity. Also, TG-induced apoptosis was inhibited by treating cells with Z-VAD-fmk, a cell-permeable fluoromethylketone inhibitor of caspases. These findings indicate that TG-induced apoptosis of MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells is subject to inhibition by Bcl-2 and is mediated by caspase activity. This model system should be useful for further investigation directed toward understanding the role of calcium in signaling apoptosis, and its relationship to Bcl-2 and the caspase proteolytic cascade.
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PMID:Baculovirus p35 and Z-VAD-fmk inhibit thapsigargin-induced apoptosis of breast cancer cells. 929 14

In a cell-free system based on Xenopus egg extracts, Bcl-2 blocks apoptotic activity by preventing cytochrome c release from mitochondria. We now describe in detail the crucial role of cytochrome c in this system. The mitochondrial fraction, when incubated with cytosol, releases cytochrome c. Cytochrome c in turn induces the activation of protease(s) resembling caspase-3 (CPP32), leading to downstream apoptotic events, including the cleavage of fodrin and lamin B1. CPP32-like protease activity plays an essential role in this system, as the caspase inhibitor, Ac-DEVD-CHO, strongly inhibited fodrin and lamin B1 cleavage, as well as nuclear morphology changes. Cytochrome c preparations from various vertebrate species, but not from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, were able to initiate all signs of apoptosis. Cytochrome c by itself was unable to process the precursor form of CPP32; the presence of cytosol was required. The electron transport activity of cytochrome c is not required for its pro-apoptotic function, as Cu- and Zn-substituted cytochrome c had strong pro-apoptotic activity, despite being redox-inactive. However, certain structural features of the molecule were required for this activity. Thus, in the Xenopus cell-free system, cytosol-dependent mitochondrial release of cytochrome c induces apoptosis by activating CPP32-like caspases, via unknown cytosolic factors.
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PMID:Cytochrome c activation of CPP32-like proteolysis plays a critical role in a Xenopus cell-free apoptosis system. 930 8

The Caenorhabditis elegans cell death gene, Ced-3, encodes a protein homologous to mammalian interleukin-1beta-converting enzyme (ICE), a cysteine protease implicated in programmed cell death (PCD). CPP32, also known as Yama, apopain, and Caspase-3, is a member of this family, has substrate specificities similar to Ced-3, and has been shown to have an active role in PCD. Evidence suggests that these proteases act downstream of inhibitors of PCD such as Bcl-2 and Bcl-x(L), which are frequently expressed in Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells of Hodgkin's disease (HD). To date there have been no studies examining the role of the ICE/Ced-3 family of proteins, in particular CPP32, in HD. We examined 24 cases of HD with a classical immunophenotype and 6 cases of nodular lymphocyte predominant HD (NLPHD) for the expression of CPP32 in the RS cells and lymphohistiocytic (L&H) cells as detected by immunohistochemistry. Twenty two of 24 cases (92%) of HD expressed the protein in the RS cells, whereas the L&H cells in all 6 cases of NLPHD lacked expression of CPP32. These results provide further evidence that NLPHD is a phenotypically different disease distinct from classical forms of HD. The differential expression of the cell death protein CPP32 may be an important factor contributing to the apparently different clinical behaviour of NLPHD in contrast to classical HD. The lack of expression of CPP32 in NLPHD shares similarities with low-grade B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and may explain their common clinical course. Further studies are required to elucidate the significance of CPP32 in HD.
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PMID:Immunohistochemical analysis of interleukin-1beta-converting enzyme/Ced-3 family protease, CPP32/Yama/Caspase-3, in Hodgkin's disease. 931 Apr 97

The development of resistance to host defense mechanisms such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- and Fas-mediated apoptosis of transformed or virus-infected cells may be a critical component in the development of disease. To find genes that protect cells from apoptosis, we used an expression cloning strategy and identified BHRF1, an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) early-lytic-cycle protein with distant homology to Bcl-2, as an anti-apoptosis protein. Expression of BHRF1 in MCF-Fas cells conferred nearly complete resistance against both anti-Fas antibody and TNF-mediated apoptosis. In addition, BHRF1 protected these cells from monocyte-mediated killing but failed to protect them from killing mediated by lymphokine-activated killer cells. The ability of BHRF1 to protect MCF-Fas cells from apoptosis induced by various stimuli was identical to that of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL. Moreover, the mechanism of action of BHRF1 resembled that of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL as it inhibited TNF- and anti-Fas-induced activation of two enzymes participating in the apoptosis pathway, cytosolic phospholipase A2 and caspase-3/CPP32, but did not interfere with the activation of NF-kappaB-like transcription factors. A putative function of BHRF1 in EBV-infected epithelial cells may be to protect virus-infected cells from TNF- and/or anti-Fas-induced cell death in order to maximize virus production. Surprisingly, expression of neither BHRF1 nor Bcl-2 in a B-cell line, BJAB, protected the cells from anti-Fas-mediated apoptosis even though they increased the survival of serum-starved cells. Thus, the protective role of BHRF1 against apoptosis resembles that of Bcl-2 in being cell type specific and dependent on the apoptotic stimulus.
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PMID:The ability of BHRF1 to inhibit apoptosis is dependent on stimulus and cell type. 931 30

Dissociated cerebellar granule cells maintained in medium containing 25 mM potassium undergo an apoptotic death when switched to medium with 5 mM potassium. Granule cells from mice in which Bax, a proapoptotic Bcl-2 family member, had been deleted, did not undergo apoptosis in 5 mM potassium, yet did undergo an excitotoxic cell death in response to stimulation with 30 or 100 microM NMDA. Within 2 h after switching to 5 mM K+, both wild-type and Bax-deficient granule cells decreased glucose uptake to <20% of control. Protein synthesis also decreased rapidly in both wild-type and Bax-deficient granule cells to 50% of control within 12 h after switching to 5 mM potassium. Both wild-type and Bax -/- neurons increased mRNA levels of c-jun, and caspase 3 (CPP32) and increased phosphorylation of the transactivation domain of c-Jun after K+ deprivation. Wild-type granule cells in 5 mM K+ increased cleavage of DEVD-aminomethylcoumarin (DEVD-AMC), a fluorogenic substrate for caspases 2, 3, and 7; in contrast, Bax-deficient granule cells did not cleave DEVD-AMC. These results place BAX downstream of metabolic changes, changes in mRNA levels, and increased phosphorylation of c-Jun, yet upstream of the activation of caspases and indicate that BAX is required for apoptotic, but not excitotoxic, cell death. In wild-type cells, Boc-Asp-FMK and ZVAD-FMK, general inhibitors of caspases, blocked cleavage of DEVD-AMC and blocked the increase in TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) positivity. However, these inhibitors had only a marginal effect on preventing cell death, suggesting a caspase-independent death pathway downstream of BAX in cerebellar granule cells.
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PMID:Bax deletion further orders the cell death pathway in cerebellar granule cells and suggests a caspase-independent pathway to cell death. 931 40


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