Showing papers on "Apoptosis published in 1998"
TL;DR: A variety of key events in apoptosis focus on mitochondria, including the release of caspase activators (such as cytochrome c), changes in electron transport, loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, altered cellular oxidation-reduction, and participation of pro- and antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins.
Abstract: A variety of key events in apoptosis focus on mitochondria, including the release of caspase activators (such as cytochrome c), changes in electron transport, loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, altered cellular oxidation-reduction, and participation of pro- and antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins. The different signals that converge on mitochondria to trigger or inhibit these events and their downstream effects delineate several major pathways in physiological cell death.
8,757 citations
TL;DR: This work has shown that understanding caspase regulation is intimately linked to the ability to rationally manipulate apoptosis for therapeutic gain.
Abstract: Apoptosis, an evolutionarily conserved form of cell suicide, requires specialized machinery. The central component of this machinery is a proteolytic system involving a family of proteases called caspases. These enzymes participate in a cascade that is triggered in response to proapoptotic signals and culminates in cleavage of a set of proteins, resulting in disassembly of the cell. Understanding caspase regulation is intimately linked to the ability to rationally manipulate apoptosis for therapeutic gain.
6,924 citations
TL;DR: Bcl-2 and related cytoplasmic proteins are key regulators of apoptosis, the cell suicide program critical for development, tissue homeostasis, and protection against pathogens.
Abstract: Bcl-2 and related cytoplasmic proteins are key regulators of apoptosis, the cell suicide program critical for development, tissue homeostasis, and protection against pathogens. Those most similar to Bcl-2 promote cell survival by inhibiting adapters needed for activation of the proteases (caspases) that dismantle the cell. More distant relatives instead promote apoptosis, apparently through mechanisms that include displacing the adapters from the pro-survival proteins. Thus, for many but not all apoptotic signals, the balance between these competing activities determines cell fate. Bcl-2 family members are essential for maintenance of major organ systems, and mutations affecting them are implicated in cancer.
5,380 citations
TL;DR: The purification of a cytosolic protein that induces cytochrome c release from mitochondria in response to caspase-8, the apical caspases activated by cell surface death receptors such as Fas and TNF is reported.
3,711 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the kinase Akt and p21-Ras, an Akt activator, induced phosphorylation of pro-caspase-9 (pro-Casp9) in cells.
Abstract: Caspases are intracellular proteases that function as initiators and effectors of apoptosis. The kinase Akt and p21-Ras, an Akt activator, induced phosphorylation of pro-caspase-9 (pro-Casp9) in cells. Cytochrome c-induced proteolytic processing of pro-Casp9 was defective in cytosolic extracts from cells expressing either active Ras or Akt. Akt phosphorylated recombinant Casp9 in vitro on serine-196 and inhibited its protease activity. Mutant pro-Casp9(Ser196Ala) was resistant to Akt-mediated phosphorylation and inhibition in vitro and in cells, resulting in Akt-resistant induction of apoptosis. Thus, caspases can be directly regulated by protein phosphorylation.
3,280 citations
TL;DR: A caspase-activated deoxyribonuclease (CAD) and its inhibitor (ICAD) have now been identified in the cytoplasmic fraction of mouse lymphoma cells and seems to function as a chaperone for CAD during its synthesis, remaining complexed with CAD to inhibit its DNase activity.
Abstract: The homeostasis of animals is regulated not only by the growth and differentiation of cells, but also by cell death through a process known as apoptosis. Apoptosis is mediated by members of the caspase family of proteases, and eventually causes the degradation of chromosomal DNA. A caspase-activated deoxyribonuclease (CAD) and its inhibitor (ICAD) have now been identified in the cytoplasmic fraction of mouse lymphoma cells. CAD is a protein of 343 amino acids which carries a nuclear-localization signal; ICAD exists in a long and a short form. Recombinant ICAD specifically inhibits CAD-induced degradation of nuclear DNA and its DNase activity. When CAD is expressed with ICAD in COS cells or in a cell-free system, CAD is produced as a complex with ICAD: treatment with caspase 3 releases the DNase activity which causes DNA fragmentation in nuclei. ICAD therefore seems to function as a chaperone for CAD during its synthesis, remaining complexed with CAD to inhibit its DNase activity; caspases activated by apoptotic stimuli then cleave ICAD, allowing CAD to enter the nucleus and degrade chromosomal DNA.
3,248 citations
TL;DR: In the presence of caspase‐3 the amount of active casp enzyme‐8 generated at the DISC determines whether a mitochondria‐independent apoptosis pathway is used (type I cells) or not (type II cells).
Abstract: We have identified two cell types, each using almost exclusively one of two different CD95 (APO‐1/Fas) signaling pathways. In type I cells, caspase‐8 was activated within seconds and caspase‐3 within 30 min of receptor engagement, whereas in type II cells cleavage of both caspases was delayed for ∼60 min. However, both type I and type II cells showed similar kinetics of CD95‐mediated apoptosis and loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential (ΔΨ m ). Upon CD95 triggering, all mitochondrial apoptogenic activities were blocked by Bcl‐2 or Bcl‐x L overexpression in both cell types. However, in type II but not type I cells, overexpression of Bcl‐2 or Bcl‐x L blocked caspase‐8 and caspase‐3 activation as well as apoptosis. In type I cells, induction of apoptosis was accompanied by activation of large amounts of caspase‐8 by the death‐inducing signaling complex (DISC), whereas in type II cells DISC formation was strongly reduced and activation of caspase‐8 and caspase‐3 occurred following the loss of ΔΨ m . Overexpression of caspase‐3 in the caspase‐3‐negative cell line MCF7‐Fas, normally resistant to CD95‐mediated apoptosis by overexpression of Bcl‐x L , converted these cells into true type I cells in which apoptosis was no longer inhibited by Bcl‐x L . In summary, in the presence of caspase‐3 the amount of active caspase‐8 generated at the DISC determines whether a mitochondria‐independent apoptosis pathway is used (type I cells) or not (type II cells).
3,147 citations
TL;DR: Results indicate that although caspase-3 is not essential for TNF- or staurosporine-induced apoptosis, it is required for DNA fragmentation and some of the typical morphological changes of cells undergoing apoptosis.
1,957 citations
TL;DR: Compared with the wild type, mouse embryonic fibroblasts derived from chop -/- animals exhibited significantly less programmed cell death when challenged with agents that perturb ER function, and the proximal tubule epithelium of chop -/+ animals exhibited fourfold lower levels of TUNEL-positive cells, and significantly less evidence for subsequent regeneration.
Abstract: Cellular stress, particularly in response to toxic and metabolic insults that perturb function of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER stress), is a powerful inducer of the transcription factor CHOP. The role of CHOP in the response of cells to injury associated with ER stress was examined in a murine deficiency model obtained by homologous recombination at the chop gene. Compared with the wild type, mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) derived from chop -/- animals exhibited significantly less programmed cell death when challenged with agents that perturb ER function. A similar deficit in programmed cells death in response to ER stress was also observed in MEFs that lack CHOP's major dimerization partner, C/EBPbeta, implicating the CHOP-C/EBP pathway in programmed cell death. An animal model for studying the effects of chop on the response to ER stress was developed. It entailed exposing mice with defined chop genotypes to a single sublethal intraperitoneal injection of tunicamycin and resulted in a severe illness characterized by transient renal insufficiency. In chop +/+ and chop +/- mice this was associated with the early expression of CHOP in the proximal tubules followed by the development of a histological picture similar to the human condition known as acute tubular necrosis, a process that resolved by cellular regeneration. In the chop -/- animals, in spite of the severe impairment in renal function, evidence of cellular death in the kidney was reduced compared with the wild type. The proximal tubule epithelium of chop -/- animals exhibited fourfold lower levels of TUNEL-positive cells (a marker for programmed cell death), and significantly less evidence for subsequent regeneration. CHOP therefore has a role in the induction of cell death under conditions associated with malfunction of the ER and may also have a role in cellular regeneration under such circumstances.
1,935 citations
TL;DR: The basic mechanisms underlying the loss of membrane asymmetry during apoptosis are described and the novel annexin V-binding assay is discussed, an extension to the current available methods.
Abstract: Apoptosis is a programmed, physiological mode of cell death that plays an important role in tissue homeostasis. Understanding of the basic mechanisms that underlie apoptosis will point to potentially new targets of therapeutic treatment of diseases that show an imbalance between cell proliferation and cell loss. In order to conduct such research, techniques and tools to reliably identify and enumerate death by apoptosis are essential. This review focuses on a novel technique to detect apoptosis by targeting for the loss of phospholipid asymmetry of the plasma membrane. It was recently shown that loss of plasma membrane asymmetry is an early event in apoptosis, independent of the cell type, resulting in the exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS) residues at the outer plasma membrane leaflet. Annexin V was shown to interact strongly and specifically with PS and can be used to detect apoptosis by targeting for the loss of plasma membrane asymmetry. Labeled annexin V can be applied both in flow cytometry and in light microscopy in both vital and fixed material by using appropriate protocols. The annexin V method is an extension to the current available methods. This review describes the basic mechanisms underlying the loss of membrane asymmetry during apoptosis and discusses the novel annexin V-binding assay. Cytometry 31:1–9, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
1,848 citations
TL;DR: Results indicate that Casp9 is a critical upstream activator of the caspase cascade in vivo, as indicated by the absence of Casp3-like cleavage and the restoration of cytochrome c-mediated cleavage after addition of in vitro-translated Casp 9.
TL;DR: The results indicate that activation of CAD downstream of the caspase cascade is responsible for internucleosomal DNA degradation during apoptosis, and that ICAD works as an inhibitor of this process.
Abstract: Various molecules such as cytokines and anticancer drugs, as well as factor deprivation, rapidly induce apoptosis (programmed cell death), which is morphologically characterized by cell shrinkage and the blebbing of plasma membranes and by nuclear condensation. Caspases, particularly caspase 3, are proteases that are activated during apoptosis and which cleave substrates such as poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, actin, fodrin, and lamin. Apoptosis is also accompanied by the internucleosomal degradation of chromosomal DNA. In the accompanying Article, we have identified and molecularly cloned a caspase-activated deoxyribonuclease (CAD) and its inhibitor (ICAD). Here we show that caspase 3 cleaves ICAD and inactivates its CAD-inhibitory effect. We identified two caspase-3 cleavage sites in ICAD by site-directed mutagenesis. When human Jurkat cells were transformed with ICAD-expressing plasmid, occupation of the receptor Fas, which normally triggers apoptosis, did not result in DNA degradation. The ICAD transformants were also resistant to staurosporine-induced DNA degradation, although staurosporine still killed the cells by activating caspase. Our results indicate that activation of CAD downstream of the caspase cascade is responsible for internucleosomal DNA degradation during apoptosis, and that ICAD works as an inhibitor of this process.
TL;DR: It is shown that addition of submicromolar amounts of recombinant Bax protein to isolated mitochondria can induce cytochrome c (Cyt c) release, whereas a peptide representing the Bax BH3 domain was inactive, implying that Bax uses an alternative mechanism for triggering release of Cyt c from mitochondria.
Abstract: Bax is a pro-apoptotic member of the Bcl-2 protein family that resides in the outer mitochondrial membrane. It is controversial whether Bax promotes cell death directly through its putative function as a channel protein versus indirectly by inhibiting cellular regulators of the cell death proteases (caspases). We show here that addition of submicromolar amounts of recombinant Bax protein to isolated mitochondria can induce cytochrome c (Cyt c) release, whereas a peptide representing the Bax BH3 domain was inactive. When placed into purified cytosol, neither mitochondria nor Bax individually induced proteolytic processing and activation of caspases. In contrast, the combination of Bax and mitochondria triggered release of Cyt c from mitochondria and induced caspase activation in cytosols. Supernatants from Bax-treated mitochondria also induced caspase processing and activation. Recombinant Bcl-XL protein abrogated Bax-induced release of Cyt c from isolated mitochondria and prevented caspase activation. In contrast, the broad-specificity caspase inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-valinyl-alaninyl-aspartyl-(0-methyl)-fluoromethylketone (zVAD-fmk) and the caspase-inhibiting protein X-IAP had no effect on Bax-induced release of Cyt c from mitochondria in vitro but prevented the subsequent activation of caspases in cytosolic extracts. Unlike Ca2+, a classical inducer of mitochondrial permeability transition, Bax did not induce swelling of mitochondria in vitro. Because the organellar swelling caused by permeability transition causes outer membrane rupture, the findings, therefore, dissociate these two events, implying that Bax uses an alternative mechanism for triggering release of Cyt c from mitochondria.
TL;DR: The possibility that the mechanism originally involved in the maintenance of the symbiosis between the bacterial ancestor of the mitochondria and the host cell precursor of eukaryotes provided the basis for the actual mechanism controlling cell survival is discussed.
Abstract: Programmed cell death serves as a major mechanism for the precise regulation of cell numbers and as a defense mechanism to remove unwanted and potentially dangerous cells. Despite the striking heterogeneity of cell death induction pathways, the execution of the death program is often associated with characteristic morphological and biochemical changes, and this form of programmed cell death has been termed apoptosis. Genetic studies in Caenorhabditis elegans had led to the identification of cell death genes (ced). The genes ced-3 and ced-4 are essential for cell death; ced-9 antagonizes the activities of ced-3 and ced-4, and thereby protects cells that should survive from any accidental activation of the death program. Caspases (cysteine aspartases) are the mammalian homologues of CED-3. CED-9 protein is homologous to a family of many members termed the Bcl-2 family (Bcl-2s) in reference to the first discovered mammalian cell death regulator. In both worm and mammalian cells, the antiapoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family act upstream of the execution caspases somehow preventing their proteolytic processing into active killers. Two main mechanisms of action have been proposed to connect Bcl-2s to caspases. In the first one, antiapoptotic Bcl-2s would maintain cell survival by dragging caspases to intracellular membranes (probably the mitochondrial membrane) and by preventing their activation. The recently described mammalian protein Apaf-1 (apoptosis protease-activating factor 1) could be the mammalian equivalent of CED-4 and could be the physical link between Bcl-2s and caspases. In the second one, Bcl-2 would act by regulating the release from mitochondria of some caspases activators: cytochrome c and/or AIF (apoptosis-inducing factor). This crucial position of mitochondria in programmed cell death control is reinforced by the observation that mitochondria contribute to apoptosis signaling via the production of reactive oxygen species. Although for a long time the absence of mitochondrial changes was considered as a hallmark of apoptosis, mitochondria appear today as the central executioner of programmed cell death. In this review, we examine the data concerning the mitochondrial features of apoptosis. Furthermore, we discuss the possibility that the mechanism originally involved in the maintenance of the symbiosis between the bacterial ancestor of the mitochondria and the host cell precursor of eukaryotes, provided the basis for the actual mechanism controlling cell survival.
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that IAPs can suppress different apoptotic pathways by inhibiting distinct caspases and identify pro‐caspase‐9 as a new target for IAP‐mediated inhibition of apoptosis.
Abstract: Inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) gene products play an evolutionarily conserved role in regulating programmed cell death in diverse species ranging from insects to humans. Human XIAP, cIAP1 and cIAP2 are direct inhibitors of at least two members of the caspase family of cell death proteases: caspase-3 and caspase-7. Here we compared the mechanism by which IAPs interfere with activation of caspase-3 and other effector caspases in cytosolic extracts where caspase activation was initiated by caspase-8, a proximal protease activated by ligation of TNF-family receptors, or by cytochrome c, which is released from mitochondria into the cytosol during apoptosis. These studies demonstrate that XIAP, cIAP1 and cIAP2 can prevent the proteolytic processing of pro-caspases -3, -6 and -7 by blocking the cytochrome c-induced activation of pro-caspase-9. In contrast, these IAP family proteins did not prevent caspase-8-induced proteolytic activation of pro-caspase-3; however, they subsequently inhibited active caspase-3 directly, thus blocking downstream apoptotic events such as further activation of caspases. These findings demonstrate that IAPs can suppress different apoptotic pathways by inhibiting distinct caspases and identify pro-caspase-9 as a new target for IAP-mediated inhibition of apoptosis.
TL;DR: In vitro findings suggest that the MPT is the pathophysiological mechanism underlying Reye's syndrome in vivo, and a model is proposed in which onset of theMPT to increasing numbers of mitochondria within a cell leads progressively to autophagy, apoptosis and necrotic cell death.
TL;DR: Comparison of the requirement for Casp9 and Casp3 in different apoptotic settings indicates the existence of at least four different apoptosis pathways in mammalian cells.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Investigation of the antiapoptotic mechanism of Survivin as well as its expression in 60 human tumor cell lines used for the National Cancer Institute's anticancer drug screening program indicate that Survivin can bind the effector cell death proteases caspase-3 and -7 in vitro and inhibits caspases activity and cell death in cells exposed to diverse apoptotic stimuli.
Abstract: Survivin is a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family. We investigated the antiapoptotic mechanism of Survivin, as well as its expression in 60 human tumor cell lines used for the National Cancer Institute's anticancer drug screening program. In cotransfection experiments, cell death induced by Bax or Fas (CD 95) was partially inhibited (mean +/- SD, 65% +/- 8%) by Survivin, whereas XIAP, another IAP family member, almost completely blocked cell death (93% +/- 4%) under the same conditions. Survivin and XIAP also protected 293 cells from apoptosis induced by overexpression of procaspase-3 and -7 and inhibited the processing of these zymogens into active caspases. In vitro binding experiments indicated that, like other IAP-family proteins, Survivin binds specifically to the terminal effector cell death proteases, caspase-3 and -7, but not to the proximal initiator protease caspase-8. Using a cell-free system in which cytosolic extracts were derived from control- or Survivin-transfected cells and where caspases were activated either by addition of cytochrome c and dATP or by adding recombinant active caspase-8, Survivin was able to substantially reduce caspase activity, as measured by cleavage of a tetrapeptide substrate, AspGluValAsp-aminofluorocoumarin. Similar results were obtained in intact cells when Survivin was overexpressed by gene transfection and caspase activation was induced by the anticancer drug etoposide. Survivin was expressed in all 60 cancer cell lines analyzed, with highest levels in breast and lung cancers and lowest levels in renal cancers. These findings indicate that Survivin, which is commonly expressed in human tumor cell lines, can bind the effector cell death proteases caspase-3 and -7 in vitro and inhibits caspase activity and cell death in cells exposed to diverse apoptotic stimuli. Although quantitative differences may exist, these observations suggest commonality in the mechanisms used by IAP-family proteins to suppress apoptosis.
TL;DR: It is reported that cytochrome c release from mitochondria is an early event in the apoptotic process induced by UVB irradiation or staurosporine treatment in CEM or HeLa cells, preceding or at the time of DEVD‐specific caspase activation and substrate cleavage.
Abstract: Mitochondrial cytochrome c, which functions as an electron carrier in the respiratory chain, translocates to the cytosol in cells undergoing apoptosis, where it participates in the activation of DEVD-specific caspases. The apoptosis inhibitors Bcl-2 or Bcl-xL prevent the efflux of cytochrome c from mitochondria. The mechanism responsible for the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria during apoptosis is unknown. Here, we report that cytochrome c release from mitochondria is an early event in the apoptotic process induced by UVB irradiation or staurosporine treatment in CEM or HeLa cells, preceding or at the time of DEVD-specific caspase activation and substrate cleavage. A reduction in mitochondrial transmembrane potential (Deltapsim) occurred considerably later than cytochrome c translocation and caspase activation, and was not necessary for DNA fragmentation. Although zVAD-fmk substantially blocked caspase activity, a reduction in Deltapsim and cell death, it failed to prevent the passage of cytochrome c from mitochondria to the cytosol. Thus the translocation of cytochrome c from mitochondria to cytosol does not require a mitochondrial transmembrane depolarization.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: It is reported that PGE2 treatment of human colon cancer cells leads to increased clonogenicity of HCA-7, but not HCT-116 cells, which may help to explain a component of the mechanism by which COX inhibitors prevent colorectal cancer in humans.
Abstract: Previously, we have shown that forced expression of prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase-2 [also called cyclooxygenase (COX) 2] leads to inhibition of programmed cell death in intestinal epithelial cells. More recently, we have demonstrated that growth of human colonic cancer xenografts is inhibited by treatment with a highly selective COX-2 inhibitor in tumors that express COX-2 (HCA-7) but not in those that lack COX-2 expression (HCT-116). To explore the biochemical mechanisms involved in these effects, we have evaluated the role of COX-2-derived eicosanoid products on programmed cell death in human colon cancer cells. Here we report that PGE2 treatment of human colon cancer cells leads to increased clonogenicity of HCA-7, but not HCT-116 cells. Treatment with a highly selective COX-2 inhibitor (SC-58125) decreases colony formation in monolayer culture and this growth inhibition was reversed by treatment with PGE2. Additionally, PGE2 inhibits programmed cell death caused by SC-58125 and induces Bcl-2 expression, but did not affect Bcl-x or Bax expression in human colon cancer (HCA-7) cells. Therefore, decreased cell death caused by PGE2 would enhance the tumorigenic potential of intestinal epithelial cells. Thus, these results may help to explain a component of the mechanism by which COX inhibitors prevent colorectal cancer in humans.
TL;DR: Data indicate that Apaf1 plays a central role in the common events of mitochondria-dependent apoptosis in most death pathways and that this role is critical for normal development.
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that a physiologic death stimulus, the withdrawal of interleukin‐3 (IL‐3), resulted in the translocation of monomeric BAX from the cytosol to the mitochondria where it could be cross‐linked as a BAX homodimer and enforced dimerization of BAX overrode the protection by BCL‐XL and IL‐3 to kill cells.
Abstract: Expression of the pro-apoptotic molecule BAX has been shown to induce cell death. While BAX forms both homo- and heterodimers, questions remain concerning its native conformation in vivo and which moiety is functionally active. Here we demonstrate that a physiologic death stimulus, the withdrawal of interleukin-3 (IL-3), resulted in the translocation of monomeric BAX from the cytosol to the mitochondria where it could be cross-linked as a BAX homodimer. In contrast, cells protected by BCL-2 demonstrated a block in this process in that BAX did not redistribute or homodimerize in response to a death signal. To test the functional consequence of BAX dimerization, we expressed a chimeric FKBP-BAX molecule. Enforced dimerization of FKBP-BAX by the bivalent ligand FK1012 resulted in its translocation to mitochondria and induced apoptosis. Caspases were activated yet caspase inhibitors did not block death; cytochrome c was not released detectably despite the induction of mitochondrial dysfunction. Moreover, enforced dimerization of BAX overrode the protection by BCL-XL and IL-3 to kill cells. These data support a model in which a death signal results in the activation of BAX. This conformational change in BAX manifests in its translocation, mitochondrial membrane insertion and homodimerization, and a program of mitochondrial dysfunction that results in cell death.
TL;DR: In Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats, β cell apoptosis is induced by increased FFA via de novo ceramide formation and increased NO production, which is involved in FFA-induced apoptosis.
Abstract: Like obese humans, Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats exhibit early β cell compensation for insulin resistance (4-fold β cell hyperplasia) followed by decompensation (>50% loss of β cells). In prediabetic and diabetic ZDF islets, apoptosis measured by DNA laddering is increased 3- and >7-fold, respectively, compared with lean ZDF controls. Ceramide, a fatty acid-containing messenger in cytokine-induced apoptosis, was significantly increased (P 1 mM) in prediabetic and diabetic ZDF rats; therefore, we cultured prediabetic islets in 1 mM FFA. DNA laddering rose to 19.6% vs. 4.6% in lean control islets, preceded by an 82% increase in ceramide. C2-Ceramide without FFA induced DNA laddering, but fumonisin B1, a ceramide synthetase inhibitor, completely blocked FFA-induced DNA laddering in cultured ZDF islets. [3H]Palmitate incorporation in [3H]ceramide in ZDF islets was twice that of controls, but [3H]palmitate oxidation was 77% less. Triacsin C, an inhibitor of fatty acyl-CoA synthetase, and troglitazone, an enhancer of FFA oxidation in ZDF islets, both blocked DNA laddering. These agents also reduced inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase mRNA and NO production, which are involved in FFA-induced apoptosis. In ZDF obesity, β cell apoptosis is induced by increased FFA via de novo ceramide formation and increased NO production.
TL;DR: Bcl-2 family proteins serve as critical regulators of pathways involved in apoptosis, acting to either inhibit or promote cell death, and new findings are shaping impressions of these multi-functional proteins and revealing the details of how these proteins participate in the regulation of cell life and death.
Abstract: Bcl-2 family proteins serve as critical regulators of pathways involved in apoptosis, acting to either inhibit or promote cell death. Altered expression of these proteins occurs commonly in human cancers, contributing to neoplastic cell expansion by suppressing programmed cell death and extending tumor cell life span. Moreover, because chemotherapeutic drugs typically exert their cytotoxic actions by inducing apoptosis, the ultimate efficacy of most anticancer drugs can be heavily influenced by the relative levels and state of activation of members of the Bcl-2 family. The question of how Bcl-2 family proteins function remains debatable, but new findings are shaping our impressions of these multi-functional proteins and revealing the details of how these proteins participate in the regulation of cell life and death.
TL;DR: Sensitivity to TNFalpha-mediated cell death in rip-/- cells is accompanied by a failure to activate the transcription factor NF-kappaB, and the physiologic role(s) that RIP plays in regulating apoptosis in vivo is defined.
TL;DR: Apoptosis, a morphologically defined form of physiological cell death, is implemented by a death machinery whose executionary arm is a family of cysteine proteases called caspases that are part of a proteolytic caspase cascade that is activated by diverse apoptotic stimuli from outside and inside of the cell.
Abstract: Apoptosis, a morphologically defined form of physiological cell death, is implemented by a death machinery whose executionary arm is a family of cysteine proteases called caspases. These death proteases are part of a proteolytic caspase cascade that is activated by diverse apoptotic stimuli from outside and inside of the cell. The cell death machinery is evolutionarily conserved and composed of caspases and their regulatory components that include activators and repressors. These key components of the death machinery are linked to signaling pathways that are activated by either ligation of death receptors expressed at the cell surface or intracellular death signals. Caspases are normally present in the cell as proenzymes that require limited proteolysis for activation of enzymatic activity. Recent studies suggest that the basic mechanism of caspase activation is conserved in evolution. Binding of initiator caspase precursors to activator molecules appears to promote procaspase oligomerization and autoactivation. Enzymatic activation of initiator caspases leads to proteolytic activation of downstream (effector) caspases and cleavage of a number of vital proteins, resulting in the orderly demise and removal of the cell.
TL;DR: The results obtained with peptide-based inhibitors are in accord with those predicted from the substrate specificity studies described earlier, and the cowpox serpin CrmA is a potent and selective inhibitor of Group I and most Group III caspases, suggesting that this virus facilitates infection through inhibition of both apoptosis and the host inflammatory response.
TL;DR: It is shown that the PPARα and PPARγ forms are expressed in differentiated human monocyte-derived macrophages, which participate in inflammation control and atherosclerotic plaque formation and demonstrate a novel function of PPAR in human macrophage with likely consequences in inflammation and Atherosclerosis.
TL;DR: It is suggested that Apaf1 is essential for Casp3 activation in embryonic brain and is a key regulator of developmental programmed cell death in mammals.
TL;DR: Results indicate an involvement of caspases in protection against TNF-induced formation of oxygen radicals and necrosis, and zVAD-fmk–dependent sensitization of TNF cytotoxicity could be completely inhibited by the oxygen radical scavenger butylated hydroxyanisole.
Abstract: Murine L929 fibrosarcoma cells treated with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) rapidly die in a necrotic way, due to excessive formation of reactive oxygen intermediates. We investigated the role of caspases in the necrotic cell death pathway. When the cytokine response modifier A (CrmA), a serpin-like caspase inhibitor of viral origin, was stably overexpressed in L929 cells, the latter became 1,000-fold more sensitive to TNF-mediated cell death. In addition, TNF sensitization was also observed when the cells were pretreated with Ac-YVAD-cmk or zDEVD-fmk, which inhibits caspase-1– and caspase-3–like proteases, respectively. zVAD-fmk and zD-fmk, two broad-spectrum inhibitors of caspases, also rendered the cells more sensitive, since the half-maximal dose for TNF-mediated necrosis decreased by a factor of 1,000. The presence of zVAD-fmk also resulted in a more rapid increase of TNF-mediated production of oxygen radicals. zVAD-fmk–dependent sensitization of TNF cytotoxicity could be completely inhibited by the oxygen radical scavenger butylated hydroxyanisole. These results indicate an involvement of caspases in protection against TNF-induced formation of oxygen radicals and necrosis.