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)

In normal cells, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) activates caspase 8 in both mitochondrion-dependent and mitochondrion-independent apoptotic pathways. It is believed that these two pathways converge, with resultant activation of effector caspases, such as caspase 6 and caspase 7. However, the precise mechanism of the activation of caspases 6 and 7 remains unknown. In this study, in order to focus on the mitochondrion-dependent pathway, we employed MCF7 human breast carcinoma cells, which do not have a functional mitochondrion-independent (caspase 3-dependent) pathway. We specifically targeted the transcript of Bid, a proapoptotic facilitator that is a substrate of caspase 8 in the mitochondrial pathway. In the TNF-alpha-treated MCF7 cells that expressed Bid-targeted ribozymes, the release of cytochrome c and the activation of caspase 9, but not of caspase 8, was delayed. Furthermore, the proteolysis of procaspase 7 was also delayed in Bid ribozyme-expressing cells. Because MCF7 cells are caspase 3 deficient, the direct cross-talk between caspase 8 and caspase 3 does not take place. Therefore, it became clear for the first time that caspase 9 by itself can activate caspase 7 in the absence of the caspase 3-dependent pathway in TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis by the use of specific ribozymes.
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PMID:Analysis of a mitochondrial apoptotic pathway using Bid-targeted ribozymes in human MCF7 cells in the absence of a caspase-3-dependent pathway. 1280 35

Serum starvation has recently been shown to cause cell death of cardiac fibroblasts and increased synthesis of extracellular matrix proteins in the surviving cells. In the present study, events occurring in the dying cells were investigated. Cultured adult rat cardiac fibroblasts were exposed to serum-free medium. Cell number was measured using a Coulter Counter Channelyzer. The activity of the extracellular signal-regulated or mitogen-activated protein kinases (ERK1/2, p42/p44(MAPK)), the p38 kinase (p38(MAPK)), the c-Jun N-terminal kinases (p46/p54(JNK)), and Akt kinase was assessed by Western blotting and phospho-specific antibodies. Caspase 7-cleavage was investigated by Western blotting and specific antibodies. Caspase 3 activity was measured by detection of its cleaved substrate. The appearance of necrosis was studied by inclusion of trypan blue. Apoptosis was assessed by DNA ladder formation. The mRNA expression of Bax and Bcl-2 was investigated by quantitative real-time PCR. Serum withdrawal led to the death of 26% of cultured isolated cardiac fibroblasts during the first 5 h. The activity of the p42/ p44(MAPK) as well as of Akt kinase was partially reduced. For p46/p54(JNK) and p38(MAPK), elevated phosphorylation was measured. Inhibition of p46/p54(JNK) and p38(MAPK) activity by SB202190 did not affect the decrease in cell number. Cleavage of caspase 7 was detected after 90 min. However, no activation of caspase 3 was measured. DNA fragmentation was not found after serum depletion. Trypan blue staining, however, was observed in 16% of the cells after 5 h. The mRNA levels of both Bax and Bcl-2 were increased after 30 min. These results indicate the appearance of necrosis during serum starvation in cardiac fibroblasts. However, some processes typical of apoptosis were also detected.
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PMID:Mechanism of cell death of rat cardiac fibroblasts induced by serum depletion. 1457 13

The promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) plays an essential role in multiple pathways of apoptosis. Our previous study showed that PML enhances tumor necrosis factor-induced apoptosis by inhibiting the NFkappaB survival pathway. To continue exploring the mechanism of PML-induced apoptosis, we performed a DNA microarray screening of PML target genes using a PML-inducible stable cell line. We found that Survivin was one of the downstream target genes of PML. Cotransfection experiments demonstrated that PML4 repressed transactivation of the Survivin promoter in an isoform-specific manner. Western blot analysis demonstrated that induced PML expression down-regulated Survivin. Inversely, PML knockdown by siRNA up-regulated Survivin expression. A substantial increase in Survivin expression was found in PML-deficient cells. Re-expression of PML in PML-/- mouse embryo fibroblasts down-regulated the expression of Survivin. Furthermore, cells arrested at the G2/M cell cycle phase expressed a high level of Survivin and a significantly lower level of PML. Overexpression of PML in A549 cells reduced Survivin expression leading to massive apoptotic cell death associated with activation of procaspase 9, caspase 3, and caspase 7. Together, our results demonstrate a novel mechanism of PML-induced apoptosis by down-regulation of Survivin.
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PMID:Promyelocytic leukemia protein 4 induces apoptosis by inhibition of survivin expression. 1459 22

Islet cell apoptosis plays a role in both normal development of the endocrine pancreas and in the pathogenesis of Type I and Type II diabetes. The molecular mechanisms regulating islet cell death and survival in both normal and pathological situations are still not completely elucidated. The inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) Survivin has an anti-apoptotic function mediated by several mechanisms; these include inhibiting caspase 3 and caspase 7. Survivin expression has been reported in human fetal islets and it may play a role in pancreatic remodeling and islet homeostasis. However, there are no data concerning either its expression in neonate or adult islets or its expression in any specific subtype of islet cells. We identified Survivin expression by immunohistochemistry in alpha cells and beta islet cells of 5/5 fetal pancreases. In contrast, fetal delta cells failed to demonstrate any detectable level of Survivin expression. Survivin expression was subsequently lost in the beta cells but not the alpha cells of 5/5 newborns and 5/5 adult subjects. Neonatal and adult delta cells maintained the lack of Survivin expression seen in fetal islets. These data show that different subtypes of islet cells differ in their pattern of Survivin expression. Furthermore, expression of Survivin in the beta cells is developmentally regulated.
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PMID:Developmentally regulated expression of Survivin in human pancreatic islets. 1470 32

Oligonucleosomal fragmentation of nuclear DNA is the late-stage apoptosis hallmark. In apoptotic mammalian cells the fragmentation is catalyzed by DFF40/CAD DNase primarily activated by caspase 3 through the site-specific proteolytic cleavage of DFF45/ICAD. A deletion in the casp3 gene of human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 results in lack of procaspase 3 in these cells. The absence of caspase 3 in MCF-7 leads to disability to activate oligonucleosomal DNA fragmentation in TNF-alpha induced cell death. In this study, sodium palmitate was used as an apoptotic stimulus for MCF-7. It has been shown that palmitate but not TNF-alpha induces both apoptotic changes in nuclei and oligonucleosomal DNA fragmentation in casp3-mutated MCF-7. Activation and accumulation of 40-50 kD DFF40-like DNases in nuclei of palmitate-treated apoptotic MCF-7 were detected by SDS-DNA-PAGE assay. Microsomal fraction of apoptotic MCF-7 does not contain any detectable DNases, but activates 40-50 kD nucleases when incubated with human placental chromatin. Furthermore, microsomes of apoptotic MCF-7 induce oligonucleosomal fragmentation of chromatin in a cell-free system. Both the activation of DNases and chromatin fragmentation are suppressed in the presence of the caspase 3/7 inhibitor Ac-DEVD-CHO. Microsome-associated caspase 7 is suggested to play an essential role in the induction of oligonucleosomal DNA fragmentation in casp3-deficient MCF-7 cells.
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PMID:Oligonucleosomal DNA fragmentation in MCF-7 cells undergoing palmitate-induced apoptosis. 1475 30

A Chlorella powder was screened using 52 in vitro assay systems for enzyme activity, receptor binding, cellular cytokine release, and B and T cell proliferation. The screening revealed a very potent inhibition of human protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) activity of CD45 and PTP1C with 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) values of 0.678 and 1.56 microg/mL, respectively. It also showed a moderate inhibition of other PTPs, including PTP1B (IC(50) = 65.3 microg/mL) and T-cell-PTP (114 microg/mL). Other inhibitory activities and their IC(50) values included inhibition of the human matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) MMP-1 (127 microg/mL), MMP-3 (185 microg/mL), MMP-7 (18.1 microg/mL), and MMP-9 (237 microg/mL) and the human peptidase caspases caspase 1 (300 microg/mL), caspase 3 (203 microg/mL), caspase 6 (301 microg/mL), caspase 7 (291 microg/mL), and caspase 8 (261 microg/mL), as well as release of the cytokines interleukin (IL)-1 (44.9 microg/mL), IL-2 (14.8 microg/mL), IL-4 (49.2 microg/mL), IL-6 (34.7 microg/mL), interferon-gamma (31.6 microg/mL), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (11 microg/mL) from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Chlorella also inhibited B cell proliferation (16.6 microg/mL) in mouse splenocytes and T cell proliferation (54.2 microg/mL) in mouse thymocytes. The binding of a phorbol ester, phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate, to its receptors was also inhibited by Chlorella with an IC(50) of 152 microg/mL. These results reveal potential pharmacological activities that, if confirmed by in vivo studies, might be exploited for the prevention or treatment of several serious pathologies, including inflammatory disease and cancer.
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PMID:Effects of chlorella on activities of protein tyrosine phosphatases, matrix metalloproteinases, caspases, cytokine release, B and T cell proliferations, and phorbol ester receptor binding. 1529 60

Oligonucleosomal fragmentation of nuclear DNA is the late stage hallmark of the apoptotic process. In mammalian apoptotic cells fragmentation is catalyzed by DFF40/ CAD DNase. DFF40/CAD primary activated through site-specific proteolytic cleavage by caspase 3. The absence of caspase 3 in MCF-7 leads to lack of oligonucleosomal DNA fragmentation under numerous apoptotic stimuli. In this study it was shown that palmitate induces apoptotic changes of nuclei and oligonucleosomal DNA fragmentation in casp3 deficient MCF-7. Activation and accumulation of 40-50 kDa DFF40 like DNases in nuclei and cytoplasm of palmitate-treated MCF-7 were detected by SDS-DNA-PAGE assay. Microsomes of apoptotic MCF-7 activate 40-50 kDa nucleases when incubated with human placental chromatin and induce oligonucleosomal fragmentation of chromatin in cell free system. Both DNases activation and chromatin fragmentation are suppressed in presence of caspase 3/7 inhibitor Ac-DEVD-CHO. Microsome associated caspase 7 is suggested to play the principal role in induction of oligonucleosomal DNA fragmentation of casp3 defitient MCF-7.
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PMID:Oligonucleosome DNA fragmentation of caspase 3 deficient MCF-7 cells in palmitate-induced apoptosis. 1556 68

Fas-mediated apoptosis has been proposed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Normal thyroid cells are resistant to Fas-mediated apoptosis in vitro but can be sensitized by the unique combination of interferon-gamma and IL-1beta cytokines. We sought to examine the mechanism of this sensitization and apoptosis signaling in primary human thyroid cells. Without the addition of cytokines, agonist anti-Fas antibody treatment of the thyroid cells resulted in the cleavage of proximal caspases, but this did not lead to the activation of caspase 7 and caspase 3. Apoptosis associated with the cleavage of caspases 7, 3, and Bid, and the activation of mitochondria in response to anti-Fas antibody occurred only after cytokine pretreatment. Cell surface expression of Fas, the cytoplasmic concentrations of procaspases 7, 8, and 10, and the proapoptotic molecule Bid were markedly enhanced by the presence of the cytokines. In contrast, P44/p42 MAPK (Erk) appeared to provide protection from Fas-mediated apoptosis because an MAPK kinase inhibitor (U0126) sensitized thyroid cells to anti-Fas antibody. In conclusion, Fas signaling is blocked in normal thyroid cells at a point after the activation of proximal caspases. Interferon-gamma/IL-1beta pretreatment sensitizes human thyroid cells to Fas-mediated apoptosis in a complex manner that overcomes this blockade through increased expression of cell surface Fas receptor, increases in proapoptotic molecules that result in mitochondrial activation, and late caspase cleavage. This process involves Bcl-2 family proteins and appears to be compatible with type II apoptosis regulation.
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PMID:Induction and regulation of Fas-mediated apoptosis in human thyroid epithelial cells. 1556 45

Caspases, a cysteine proteinase family, are required for the initiation and execution phases of apoptosis. It has been suggested that caspase 7, an apoptosis executioner implicated in cell death proteolysis, is redundant to the main executioner caspase 3 and it is generally believed that it is not present in the brain or present in only minute amounts with highly restricted activity. Here we report evidence that caspase 7 is up-regulated and activated after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in rats. TBI disrupts homeostasis resulting in pathological apoptotic activation. After controlled cortical impact TBI of adult male rats we observed, by semiquantitative real-time PCR, increased mRNA levels within the traumatized cortex and hippocampus peaking in the former about 5 days post-injury and in the latter within 6-24 h of trauma. The activation of caspase 7 protein after TBI, demonstrated by immunoblot by the increase of the active form of caspase 7 peaking 5 days post-injury in the cortex and hippocampus, was found to be up-regulated in both neurons and astrocytes by immunohistochemistry. These findings, the first to document the up-regulation of caspase 7 in the brain after acute brain injury in rats, suggest that caspase 7 activation could contribute to neuronal cell death on a scale not previously recognized.
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PMID:Caspase 7: increased expression and activation after traumatic brain injury in rats. 1595 53

In the present study, we demonstrated that the antiapoptotic function of Bcl-2 in mast cells is significantly dependent on its association with the heat shock protein 90beta (Hsp90beta). Dissociation of these 2 proteins inhibits the antiapoptotic activity of Bcl-2 by initiating the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria into cytosol and increasing the activity of caspase 3 and caspase 7, resulting in mast-cell apoptosis. The antiapoptotic activity of Bcl-2 was greatly affected by knocking-out specifically Hsp90beta using the RNA interference approach. Thus, for the first time, it has been shown that Hsp90beta might modulate the antiapoptotic activity of Bcl-2 at least in mast cells. These findings could have implications for a novel strategy of regulating apoptosis in patients with mastocytosis and other mast cell-associated diseases.
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PMID:Antiapoptotic function of Bcl-2 in mast cells is dependent on its association with heat shock protein 90beta. 1616 81

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