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 current studies, we characterized the molecular and cellular mechanism of cell death in Purkinje cell degeneration (pcd) mice using real-time quantitative PCR, immunohistochemistry, and Western blotting. It appears that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is involved in this degeneration of Purkinje cells because ER stress-related substrates, such as CHOP and caspase 12, were strongly activated in Purkinje cells of pcd mice during the third postnatal (P) week. A significant increase in the expression of the ER-specific chaperone BiP suggested that unfolded protein responses were induced. We also found that Purkinje cells underwent apoptosis via the activation of caspase 3 and subsequent fragmentation of DNA. In addition to the activation of apoptosis in Purkinje cells, many activated microglial cells are found to be present in the molecular layer of the cerebellar cortex. In the later phase of degeneration, there was conspicuous expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and some Purkinje cells were strongly labeled with an antibody to nitrotyrosine, suggesting that Purkinje cells in pcd mice are damaged by nitric oxide released from microglial cells. Administration of minocycline, which may inhibit iNOS expression, delayed the death of Purkinje cells in pcd mice and mildly improved their motor abilities. These findings suggest that ER stress participates in the degeneration of Purkinje cells and that activation of microglia accelerates Purkinje cell death in pcd mice.
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PMID:Emergence of endoplasmic reticulum stress and activated microglia in Purkinje cell degeneration mice. 1635 46

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress mechanisms have been found to play critical roles in a number of diseases states, such as diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer disease, but whether they are involved in acute pancreatitis is unknown. Here we show for the first time that all major ER stress sensing and signaling mechanisms are present in exocrine acini and are activated early in the arginine model of experimental acute pancreatitis. Pancreatitis was induced in rats by intraperitoneal injection of 4.0 g/kg body wt arginine. Pancreatitis severity was assessed by analysis of serum amylase, pancreatic trypsin activity, water content, and histology. ER stress-related molecules PERK, eIF2alpha, ATF6, XBP-1, BiP, CHOP, and caspase-12 were analyzed. Arginine treatment induced rapid and severe pancreatitis, as indicated by increased serum amylase, pancreatic tissue edema, and acinar cell damage within 4 h. Arginine treatment also caused an early activation of ER stress, as indicated by phosphorylation of PERK and its downstream target eIF2alpha, ATF6 translocation into the nucleus (within 1 h), and upregulation of BiP (within 4 h). XBP-1 splicing and CHOP expression were observed within 8 h. After 24 h, increased activation of the ER stress-related proapoptotic molecule caspase-12 was observed along with an increase in caspase-3 activity and TdT (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase)-mediated dUDP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining in exocrine acini. These results indicate that ER stress is an important early acinar cell event that likely contributes to the development of acute pancreatitis in the arginine model.
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PMID:Early activation of endoplasmic reticulum stress is associated with arginine-induced acute pancreatitis. 1657 87

Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) induces a high rate of liver disease in infants, yet the pathogenesis remains elusive. We used neonatal piglets as an animal model to assess early events leading to TPN-mediated liver injury. Newborn piglets (n = 7) were nourished for 7 d on TPN or enteral nutrition (EN) and the liver tissue and isolated hepatocytes were subjected to morphologic and molecular analysis. Histological analysis revealed prominent steatosis (grade > 2) in 6 of 7 TPN pigs, whereas minimal steatosis (grade < or = 1) was observed in only 2 EN pigs. Abundant cytosolic cytochrome C and DNA fragmentation were observed in hepatocytes from TPN compared with EN piglets. Markers of mitochondrial and Fas-mediated apoptosis were altered in TPN liver tissue, as indicated by a lower ATP concentration (P < 0.05), accumulation of ubiquitin, 9.9-fold activation of caspase-3 activity (P < 0.01), and increased cleavage of poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase, caspase-8, -9, and -7 when compared with EN livers. Bcl-2 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen expression was downregulated, whereas Fas and Bax were upregulated in TPN livers. However, levels of caspase-12 and Bip/GRP78, both markers of endoplasmic reticulum-mediated apoptosis, did not differ between the groups. Short-term TPN induces steatosis and oxidative stress, which results in apoptosis mediated by the mitochondrial and Fas pathways. Thus, TPN-induced steatosis in newborn piglets may serve as a novel animal model to assess the pathogenesis of fatty liver and apoptosis-mediated liver injury in infants.
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PMID:Total parenteral nutrition induces liver steatosis and apoptosis in neonatal piglets. 1698 24

Bortezomib (Velcade) exploits proteasome inhibition as a unique mechanism of anticancer activity. The effectiveness of bortezomib is, however, limited, therefore, the search for therapeutic regimens combining bortezomib with other agents. In the present work we demonstrate enhanced anticancer activity of bortezomib by its combination with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in the experimental model of C-26 colon carcinoma in mice. This interaction likely relies on the induction of a dysregulated response to ER stress, leading to apoptosis of cancer cells, evidenced by caspase-3 cleavage, p53 accumulation as well as increased SAPK/JNK phosphorylation. ER stress induced by the combination of TNF and bortezomib is corroborated by upregulation of BiP, PDI and calnexin as well as cleavage of caspase-12; however, in contrast to the classic pathway, it is also associated with decreased phosphorylation of eIF2 alpha and prevention of XBP-1 splicing. TNF prevented the upregulation of Hsp27 induced by bortezomib, which may contribute to enhanced ER stress. Moreover, TNF interfered with bortezomib-induced upregulation of distinct subunits of the 26S proteasome. Bortezomib concentration used in this study was not sufficient to prevent TNF from inducing nuclear translocation of p65/RelA; however, the combination of both agents reduced total p65/RelA levels. Combined treatment of tumor-bearing mice with bortezomib and TNF not only inhibited tumor growth but also significantly prolonged animal survival. Therefore, combination of bortezomib with TNF is an attractive option for further clinical studies.
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PMID:TNF potentiates anticancer activity of bortezomib (Velcade) through reduced expression of proteasome subunits and dysregulation of unfolded protein response. 1737 61

Homoharringtonine has been shown to lead to apoptosis of leukemic cells in several studies. Here we showed that the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) may be the initial site of apoptotic signal induced by homoharringtonine in MUTZ-1 cells. After incubation with homoharringtonine, the percentage of apoptotic MUTZ-1 cells increased in a time-dependent manner, Ca(2+) translocated from ER pool to cytosol, the mitochondrial membrane potential decreased, and Bid protein translocated from ER to mitochondria. The activation of ER stress-associated proapoptotic factor CHOP and ER chaperones BiP and XBP1 genes followed by cleavage of caspase-3 but not caspase-4 protein were also observed.
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PMID:Homoharringtonine-induced apoptosis of MDS cell line MUTZ-1 cells is mediated by the endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway. 2709 92

Trichosanthin (TCS), a traditional Chinese medicine, exerts antitumor activities by inducing apoptosis in many different tumor cell lines. However, the mechanisms remain obscure. The present study focused on various caspase pathways that may be involved in TCS-induced apoptosis in leukemia HL-60 cells. Key caspases in both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways including caspase-8, -9 and -3 were activated upon TCS treatment. Additionally, TCS treatment induced upregulation of BiP and CHOP and also activated caspase-4, which for the first time strongly supported the involvement of endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway in TCS-induced apoptosis. Interestingly, although caspase-8 was activated, Fas/Fas ligand pathway was not involved as evidenced by a lack of induction of Fas or Fas ligand and a lack of inhibitory effect of anti-Fas blocking antibody on TCS-induced apoptosis. Instead, caspase-8 was activated in a caspase-9 and -4 dependent manner. The involvement of mitochondria was demonstrated by the reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential and release of cytochrome c and Smac besides the activation of caspase-9. Further investigation confirmed that caspase-3 was the major executioner caspase downstream to caspase-9, -4 and -8. Taken together, our results suggested that TCS-induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells was mainly mediated by mitochondrial and ER stress signaling pathways via caspase-3.
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PMID:Trichosanthin induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells via mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum stress signaling pathways. 1757 May 95

Neurodegenerative diseases are often associated with the occurrence of misfolded proteins preceding neuronal cell death. Accumulation of misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum induces ER stress, which in consequence enhances chaperone expression to restore protein homeostasis. Here we used organotypic hippocampal slice cultures to analyze the time course of chaperone expression and neuronal death after induction of ER stress by tunicamycin treatment. Shortly after explantation many cells stain positive for Fluoro Jade B demonstrating neuronal cell death. While in control cultures the number of Fluoro Jade B labeled cells remarkably decrease over the total period of cultivation, neuronal death remains elevated in ER-stressed slice cultures. Caspase-3 staining revealed that neuronal death is primarily due to apoptosis in tunicamycin-treated slice cultures. The chaperone GRP78/BiP is expressed at low levels in control sections. Its expression is largely restricted to hippocampal neurons. Tunicamycin treatment resulted in upregulation of GRP78/BiP in the neuronal cells. Double-immunolabeling for GFAP shows a concomitant de novo expression of GRP78/BiP in astrocytes. The astrocytic GRP78/BiP upregulation might reflect an early, neuroprotective response. The increase of GRP78/BiP in neurons and astrocytes show successful induction of the ER stress response. The hippocampal slice cultures are, thus, a useful tool to examine the process of neurodegeneration and to investigate neuroprotective devices in an ER stress paradigm.
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PMID:Induction of cellular stress and chaperone activation in organotypic slice cultures of hippocampus. 1768 78

Mutations in the protein kinase C gamma (PKCgamma) gene cause spinocerebellar ataxia type 14 (SCA14), a heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder. Synthetic peptides (C1B1) serve as gap junction inhibitors through activation of PKCgamma control of gap junctions. We investigated the neuroprotective potential of these peptides against SCA14 mutation-induced cell death using neuronal HT22 cells. The C1B1 synthetic peptides completely restored PKCgamma enzyme activity and subsequent control of gap junctions. PKCgamma SCA14 mutant proteins were shown to cause aggregation which initially resulted in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and cell apoptosis as demonstrated by phosphorylation of PERK on Thr981, activation of caspase-12, increases in BiP/GRP78 protein levels, and consequent activation of caspase-3. Pre-incubation with C1B1 peptides completely abolished these SCA14 effects on ER stress and caspase-3 activation, suggesting that C1B1 peptides protect cells from apoptosis through inhibition of gap junctions by restoration of PKCgamma control of gap junctions, which may result in neuroprotection in SCA14.
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PMID:Protection from ataxia-linked apoptosis by gap junction inhibitors. 1782 69

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) plays a critical role in the maintenance of intracellular homeostasis and its dysfunction is thought to lead to neuronal death, which results in neurodegenerative disorders. Since phospholipase C (PLC) isozymes are involved in maintenance of the intracellular Ca2+ concentration by regulating Ca2+ release from the ER, their expression might be affected by ER stress. Of these isozymes, PLC-beta 1 and -gamma 1, in particular, are known to protect cells from oxidative stress and thus alteration of their expression profile under ER stress-loaded conditions is interesting. Using primary cultured rat cortical neurons, we here examined whether expression of PLC-beta 1 and -gamma 1 was altered in ER stress-loaded neurons induced by tunicamycin (Tm). In ER stress-loaded neurons treated with Tm in the range of 0.03-3 microg/ml for 20 h, the viability of the neurons was decreased dose-dependently, the decrease being significant with 0.3 or more microg/ml, and expression of the representative ER stress markers, GRP78/BiP, and cleaved caspase-3 and -12, was increased after 24 h postincubation, confirming the induction of ER stress in the neurons. In the ER stress-loaded neurons obtained on Tm treatment, the expression level of PLC-beta 1 decreased dose-dependently. On the other hand, there was no difference in the PLC-gamma 1 protein expression level between control and ER stress-loaded neurons. Overall, we demonstrated that ER stress decreases the expression of PLC-beta 1, but not -gamma 1, in neurons.
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PMID:Decreased expression of phospholipase C-beta 1 protein in endoplasmic reticulum stress-loaded neurons. 1837 69

NRPs (N-rich proteins) were identified as targets of a novel adaptive pathway that integrates endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and osmotic stress signals based on coordinate regulation and synergistic up-regulation by tunicamycin and polyethylene glycol treatments. This integrated pathway diverges from the molecular chaperone-inducing branch of the unfolded protein response (UPR) in several ways. While UPR-specific targets were inversely regulated by ER and osmotic stresses, NRPs required both signals for full activation. Furthermore, BiP (binding protein) overexpression in soybean prevented activation of the UPR by ER stress inducers, but did not affect activation of NRPs. We also found that this integrated pathway transduces a PCD signal generated by ER and osmotic stresses that result in the appearance of markers associated with leaf senescence. Overexpression of NRPs in soybean protoplasts induced caspase-3-like activity and promoted extensive DNA fragmentation. Furthermore, transient expression of NRPs in planta caused leaf yellowing, chlorophyll loss, malondialdehyde production, ethylene evolution, and induction of the senescence marker gene CP1. This phenotype was alleviated by the cytokinin zeatin, a potent senescence inhibitor. Collectively, these results indicate that ER stress induces leaf senescence through activation of plant-specific NRPs via a novel branch of the ER stress response.
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PMID:A new branch of endoplasmic reticulum stress signaling and the osmotic signal converge on plant-specific asparagine-rich proteins to promote cell death. 1849 Apr 46


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