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)

We recently reported that p38 MAPK regulates TNF-induced endothelial apoptosis via phosphorylation and downregulation of Bcl-xL. Here, we describe that such apoptosis includes p38 MAPK-mediated, protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A)-dependent, downregulation of the MEK-ERK pathway. Inhibition of PP2A with fostriecin or calyculin A significantly increased MEK phosphorylation, as did exposure to the p38 MAPK inhibitor SB203580. Inhibition of MEK potentiated TNF-induced caspase-3 activity and cell death, and both those events were suppressed by treatment with fostriecin or calyculin A. Immunoprecipitation experiments revealed an association between p38 MAPK, PP2A and MEK, and the results of a phosphatase assay suggested that PP2A is a downstream target of p38 MAPK. Importantly, phosphorylation of Bad at Ser-112 was found to be regulated by p38 MAPK and PP2A. In summary, the present findings indicate a novel p38 MAPK-mediated apoptosis pathway, involving activation of Bad via PP2A-dependent inhibition of the MEK-ERK pathway.
...
PMID:p38 MAPK regulates phosphorylation of Bad via PP2A-dependent suppression of the MEK1/2-ERK1/2 survival pathway in TNF-alpha induced endothelial apoptosis. 1597 58

The mechanisms by which long-chain dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) protect against cardiovascular disease are largely unknown. The present study determines the effects of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) on the response of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes to simulated ischaemia (SI) and reperfusion (R). Myocytes isolated from 1-2 day old Wistar rat hearts were cultured with or without EPA or ARA and exposed to 1 h SI followed by 30 minutes reperfusion. Apoptosis was evaluated by caspase-3 activation, poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage and nuclear condensation. EPA (20microM) and ARA (20microM) significantly inhibited caspase-3 activation and PARP-cleavage and reduced the apoptotic index during reperfusion. Both fatty acids significantly increased ERK phosphorylation and decreased p38 phosphorylation during reperfusion. The mechanism of action of ARA on the MAPKs was further investigated with okadaic acid (to inhibit serine-threonine phosphatases) and orthovanadate (to inhibit tyrosine phosphatases). Vanadate, but not okadaic acid, significantly reduced ARA-induced inhibition of p38 phosphorylation, suggesting the involvement a tyrosine phosphatase during SI/R. Mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1), a dual-specificity phosphatase, was targeted and a significant induction of MKP-1 by ARA and EPA was observed. It was demonstrated for the first time that EPA and ARA protect neonatal cardiac myocytes from ischaemia/reperfusion-induced apoptosis through activation of ERK as well as induction of a dual-specific phosphatase, causing dephosphorylation of the pro-apoptotic kinase, p38. The cardioprotective effects of EPA and ARA could also be demonstrated on the functional recovery of isolated perfused hearts subjected to global ischemia.
...
PMID:Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids protect the heart against ischemia/reperfusion-induced injury via a MAPK dependent pathway. 1621 66

The phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway is often constitutively activated in malignant glioma cells, in many cases as a result of mutation of phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN), an endogenous inhibitor of Akt, which renders tumor cells resistant to cytotoxic insults, including those related to anticancer drugs. Pharmacological inhibition of this pathway may potentially restore or augment the effectiveness of conventional chemotherapy or other signaling-targeted agents. Because the heat shock protein (HSP) is involved in the conformational maturation of a number of signaling proteins critical to the proliferation of malignant glioma cells, we hypothesized that the combination of the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 and the HSP90 inhibitor 17-allyl-aminogeldanamycin (17-AAG) would promote glioma cytotoxicity by decreasing both the activation status and levels of Akt, as well as downregulating the levels of other relevant signaling effectors. We, therefore, examined the effects of LY294002 and 17-AAG, alone and in combination, on signal transduction and apoptosis in a series of malignant glioma cell lines. Simultaneous exposure to these inhibitors significantly induced cell death, and irreversibly inhibited proliferative activity and colony forming ability of the glioma cell lines. Quantitative analysis revealed that enhancement by LY294002 of 17-AAG-induced cytotoxicity was synergistic, leading to a pronounced increase in active caspase-3 and poly (adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage together with the release of cytochrome c and apoptosis inducing factor (AIF). No significant growth inhibition or caspase activation was seen in control cells. The enhanced cytotoxicity of this combination was associated with diminished Akt activation and a significant downregulation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Raf-1, and mitogen activated protein kinase. Combination of 17-AAG and LY294002 did not modify phospho-JNK/SPK and phospho-p38. Cells exposed to 17-AAG and LY294002 displayed a significant reduction in cell-cycle regulatory proteins, such as retinoblastoma (Rb), cyclin dependent kinase (CDK)4, CDK6, cyclin D1, and cyclin D3. Taken together, these findings suggest that the PI3K/Akt pathway plays a critical role in regulating the apoptotic response to 17-AAG and that targeting this pathway could provide a potent strategy to treat patients with malignant gliomas.
...
PMID:Synergistic interaction between 17-AAG and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibition in human malignant glioma cells. 1626 32

Calcineurin (CaN), a Ca2+-calmodulin (CaM)-dependent protein phosphatase, is important for Ca2+-mediated signal transduction. The main objective of this study was to examine the potential role of CaN in epileptic brain and its involvement in neuronal apoptosis. We investigated CaN expression and its interaction with various signaling molecules in normal, carrier and epileptic brain tissues of chicken. Our results revealed higher Ca2+-CaM-dependent phosphatase activity of CaN and a correspondingly strong immunoreactive band of CaN A in epileptic and carrier brain samples compared with normal brain. Furthermore, immunohistochemical analysis showed a higher level of expression of CaN in epileptic brain tissue. However, the intensity of immunoreactivity was less in carrier than epileptic brain. We observed that the interaction of CaN with m-calpain and micro-calpain was strong in carrier and epileptic chickens compared with that in normal birds. In addition, the interaction of CaN with Bcl-2, caspase-3 and p53 was greater in carrier and epileptic fowl than in normal chickens. The greater interaction of CaN with various apoptotic factors in epileptic chickens adds to our understanding of the mechanism of CaN signaling in neuronal apoptosis.
...
PMID:Expression of calcineurin and its interacting proteins in epileptic fowl. 1633 33

The highly frequent mutation of phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) in various cancers has attracted much attention to study its role in tumorigenesis. As an important tumor suppressor, the pro-apoptotic function of PTEN has been linked to its capacity antagonizing the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. However, less data are available concerning its role in neurodegeneration in which apoptotic processes are also involved. In the present study, we attempted to study the role and the underlying mechanism of PTEN in neuronal apoptosis. Using primary rat hippocampal cultures, staurosporine (STS, 100 nM) induced a time-dependent apoptosis, accompanied by a marked production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), release of cytochrome c and activation of caspase 9 and 3. However, the expression of PTEN, and the levels of phospho-PTEN and phospho-Akt were not changed at all time points tested (0.5-24 h) after STS stimulation, suggesting that the protein level as well as the phosphorylation status of PTEN were not related to the procession of apoptosis. Interestingly, immunostaining revealed a punctate intracellular distribution of PTEN from 2 to 8 h after adding STS. Double labeling and Western blotting of mitochondrial fraction demonstrated a mitochondrial location and accumulation of PTEN, respectively, after challenging with STS. Furthermore, we provide evidence for the first time that PTEN was associated with Bax in the absence and the presence of STS. Of note, the STS-induced marked increase in the cellular ROS level, release of cytochrome c and activation of caspase 3 were inhibited in cultured hippocampal cells when PTEN was knocked down by a specific antisense. Moreover, knockdown of PTEN significantly protected hippocampal cells from apoptotic damage. These findings demonstrated that PTEN is a crucial mediator of mitochondria-dependent apoptosis, and thus could become a molecular target for interfering with neurodegenerative diseases.
...
PMID:PTEN: a crucial mediator of mitochondria-dependent apoptosis. 1650 58

Familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the extracellular deposition of transthyretin (TTR), especially in the PNS. Given the invasiveness of nerve biopsy, salivary glands (SG) from FAP patients were used previously in microarray analysis; mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase phosphatase 1 (MKP-1) was down-regulated in FAP. Results were validated by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry both in SG and in nerve biopsies of different stages of disease progression. MKP-3 was also down-regulated in FAP SG biopsies. Given the relationship between MKPs and MAPKs, the latter were investigated. Only extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) displayed increased activation in FAP SG and nerves. ERK1/2 kinase (MEK1/2) activation was also up-regulated in FAP nerves. In addition, an FAP transgenic mouse model revealed increased ERK1/2 activation in peripheral nerve affected with TTR deposition when compared to control animals. Cultured rat Schwannoma cell line treatment with TTR aggregates stimulated ERK1/2 activation, which was partially mediated by the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE). Moreover, caspase-3 activation triggered by TTR aggregates was abrogated by U0126, a MEK1/2 inhibitor, indicating that ERK1/2 activation is essential for TTR aggregates-induced cytotoxicity. Taken together, these data suggest that abnormally sustained activation of ERK in FAP may represent an early signaling cascade leading to neurodegeneration.
...
PMID:Activation of ERK1/2 MAP kinases in familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy. 1651 52

There has been intense investigation regarding the interaction between the phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) and p53 tumor suppressors. p53 has been shown to up-regulate PTEN expression as a transcriptional activator. However, clinical observations by immunohistochemistry studies indicate that significant increases in p53 protein levels coexist with reduced or absent expression of PTEN protein in a variety of neoplasias. In this study, we propose a mechanism that begins to explain how p53 can both up-regulate and down-regulate PTEN. We have found that PTEN protein is down-regulated under proteasome dysfunction induced by proteasome inhibitor MG132 in both human lymphoblast cells and MCF7 cells. The reduction of PTEN is coincident with elevated p53 protein levels and the association between PTEN and p53 but independent of its phosphatase activities. Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR indicates that proteasome inhibition does not reduce PTEN message levels but affects PTEN protein stability. The p53 inhibitor, pifithrin-alpha, is able to attenuate the effect of proteasome inhibition. Using ectopic expression studies in p53-null mouse embryonic fibroblasts and p53/PTEN-null PC3 cells, we show that PTEN is more stable in p53-null cells compared with p53-expressing cells. Inhibition of caspases, the downstream targets of p53, particularly caspase-3, can partially restore the stability of PTEN. This study provides the first evidence that p53 is able to down-regulate PTEN protein stability in stressed cells. Our study sheds some light on the mechanisms that regulate PTEN protein stability, which is important to fully elucidate to comprehend the broad neoplastic manifestations of Cowden syndrome/Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba and sporadic cancers.
...
PMID:p53 down-regulates phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 protein stability partially through caspase-mediated degradation in cells with proteasome dysfunction. 1677 87

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) agonists cause cell death in several types of cancer cells. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of two PPARgamma agonists, ciglitazone and 15-deoxy-delta(12,14)-prostaglandin J2 (15dPGJ2), on the survival of thyroid carcinoma CGTH W-2 cells. Both ciglitazone and 15dPGJ2 decreased cell viability in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Cell death was mainly due to apoptosis, with a minor contribution from necrosis. Increased levels of active caspase 3, cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), and cytosolic cytochrome-c were noted. In addition, ciglitazone and 15dPGJ2 induced detachment of CGTH W-2 cells from the culture substratum. Both the protein levels and immunostaining signals of focal adhesion (FA) proteins, including vinculin, integrin beta1, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), and paxillin were decreased after PPARgamma agonist treatment. Meanwhile, reduced phosphorylation of FAK and paxillin was noted. Furthermore, PPARgamma agonists induced expression of protein tyrosine phosphatase-PEST (PTP-PEST), and of phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN). The upregulation of these phosphatases might contribute to the dephosphorylation of FAK and paxillin, since pre-treatment with orthovanadate prevented PPARgamma agonist-induced dephosphorylation of FAK and paxillin. Perturbation of CGTH W-2 cells with anti-integrin beta1 antibodies induced FA disruption and apoptosis in the same cells, thus the downregulation of integrin beta1 by PPARgamma agonists resulted in FA disassembly and might induce apoptosis via anoikis. Our results suggested the presence of crosstalk between apoptosis and integrin-FA signaling. Moreover, upregulation and activation of PTEN was correlated with reduced phosphorylation of Akt, and this consequence disfavored cell survival. In conclusion, PPARgamma agonists induced apoptosis of thyroid carcinoma cells via the cytochrome-c caspase 3 and PTEN-Akt pathways, and induced necrosis via the PARP pathway.
...
PMID:Effects of PPARgamma agonists on cell survival and focal adhesions in a Chinese thyroid carcinoma cell line. 1679 79

Serine/threonine phosphatase regulation of phosphorylation-mediated intracellular signaling controls a number of important processes in mammalian cells. In this study, we show that constitutively active protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), which is a serine/threonine phosphatase, is essential for T leukemia cell survival. Jurkat and CCRF-CEM T leukemia cells treated with the PP2A-selective inhibitor okadaic acid (OA) showed a dose- and time-dependent induction of apoptosis, as indicated by loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential (delta psi(m)), cleavage-induced activation of caspase-3, -8, and -9, and DNA fragmentation. In addition, caspase-8 or caspase-9 inhibition with z-IETD-fmk or z-LEHD-fmk, respectively, largely prevented OA-induced apoptosis. Although OA treatment did not affect constitutive Bcl-2 expression, overexpression of Bcl-2 prevented both OA-induced DNA fragmentation and dissipation of delta psi(m). Furthermore, inhibition of caspase-3, -8, or -9 partially protected against OA-induced loss of delta psi(m). In addition, caspase-9 and caspase-3 inhibition largely prevented procaspase-3 and procaspase-8 cleavage, respectively, while caspase-8 inhibition partially interfered with procaspase-9 cleavage in OA-treated T leukemia cells. Thus, PP2A inhibition triggered the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis, which was enhanced by a mitochondrial feedback amplification loop. PP2A has also been implicated in the regulation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). Co-immunoprecipitation analysis revealed a physical association between the catalytic subunit of PP2A and p38 MAPK in T leukemia cells. Moreover, OA treatment caused p38 MAPK to be phosphorylated in a dose- and time-dependent fashion, indicating that PP2A prevented p38 MAPK activation. Although p38 MAPK activation usually promotes apoptosis, pharmacologic inhibition of p38 MAPK exacerbated OA-induced DNA fragmentation and loss of delta psi(m) in T leukemia cells, suggesting that, in this instance, the p38 MAPK signaling pathway promoted cell survival. Collectively, these findings indicate that PP2A and p38 MAPK have coordinate effects on signaling pathways that regulate the survival of T leukemia cells.
...
PMID:Apoptosis induced by protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) inhibition in T leukemia cells is negatively regulated by PP2A-associated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase. 1684 42

The tumor suppressor PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted from chromosome 10) is a novel phosphatase displaying both protein and lipid phosphatase activities. In the central nervous system, PTEN plays an important role in the regulation of cell growth, differentiation and death. The tumor suppressor function of PTEN is attributed to its phospholipid phosphatase activity that dephosphorylates the plasma membrane phosphatidylinositol-(3,4,5)-triphosphate (PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3)). Since PTEN is normally localized in the cytosol, it needs to be targeted to the plasma membrane to dephosphorylate PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3). We previously demonstrated that lactacystin-induced apoptosis of culture cortical neuron is associated with: (i) cleavage of PTEN (55 kDa) to a 50 kDa truncated form and (ii) accumulation of PTEN and all the truncated PTEN in a detergent-insoluble membrane fraction of the neuronal cells. Herein we demonstrate that a caspase-3 inhibitor suppresses cleavage of PTEN to the 50kDa truncated form in culture cortical neurons in response to lactacystin treatment. Using immunogold transmission electron microscopy, we examined the distribution of PTEN in plasma membrane sheets stripped from cultured cortical neurons with and without treatment of lactacystin. Our results demonstrate that lactacystin treatment induces accumulation of PTEN to the inner surface of the plasma membrane sheets of the neuronal cells. Taken together, our data suggest that caspase-3-like proteases are involved in the conversion of PTEN to a 50-kDa truncated form and that PTEN and its truncated form accumulate at specific microdomains of the plasma membrane in neuronal cells undergoing apoptosis.
...
PMID:PTEN is recruited to specific microdomains of the plasma membrane during lactacystin-induced neuronal apoptosis. 1685 13


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>