Showing papers on "Apoptosis published in 2016"
TL;DR: ROS play a central role in cell signalling as well as in regulation of the main pathways of apoptosis mediated by mitochondria, death receptors and the endoplasmic reticulum, and current understanding of the role of ROS in each of these three main pathways is focused on.
2,101 citations
27 Mar 2016
TL;DR: The role of the fundamental regulators of apoptosis are highlighted and how their deregulation, including activation of anti-apoptotic factors or inactivation of pro-ap optotic factors ends up in cancer cell resistance to therapies.
Abstract: Apoptosis is a form of programmed cell death that results in the orderly and efficient removal of damaged cells, such as those resulting from DNA damage or during development Apoptosis can be triggered by signals from within the cell, such as genotoxic stress, or by extrinsic signals, such as the binding of ligands to cell surface death receptors Deregulation in apoptotic cell death machinery is an hallmark of cancer Apoptosis alteration is responsible not only for tumor development and progression but also for tumor resistance to therapies Most anticancer drugs currently used in clinical oncology exploit the intact apoptotic signaling pathways to trigger cancer cell death Thus, defects in the death pathways may result in drug resistance so limiting the efficacy of therapies Therefore, a better understanding of the apoptotic cell death signaling pathways may improve the efficacy of cancer therapy and bypass resistance This review will highlight the role of the fundamental regulators of apoptosis and how their deregulation, including activation of anti-apoptotic factors (ie, Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, etc) or inactivation of pro-apoptotic factors (ie, p53 pathway) ends up in cancer cell resistance to therapies In addition, therapeutic strategies aimed at modulating apoptotic activity are briefly discussed
918 citations
TL;DR: The hypothesis‐driven, bioinformatics‐based approach used to discover that dasatinib (D) and quercetin (Q) are senolytic can be extended to increase the repertoire ofsenolytic drugs, including additional cell type‐specific senolytics agents.
Abstract: Clearing senescent cells extends healthspan in mice. Using a hypothesis-driven bioinformatics-based approach, we recently identified pro-survival pathways in human senescent cells that contribute to their resistance to apoptosis. This led to identification of dasatinib (D) and quercetin (Q) as senolytics, agents that target some of these pathways and induce apoptosis preferentially in senescent cells. Among other pro-survival regulators identified was Bcl-xl. Here, we tested whether the Bcl-2 family inhibitors, navitoclax (N) and TW-37 (T), are senolytic. Like D and Q, N is senolytic in some, but not all types of senescent cells: N reduced viability of senescent human umbilical vein epithelial cells (HUVECs), IMR90 human lung fibroblasts, and murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), but not human primary preadipocytes, consistent with our previous finding that Bcl-xl siRNA is senolytic in HUVECs, but not preadipocytes. In contrast, T had little senolytic activity. N targets Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, and Bcl-w, while T targets Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, and Mcl-1. The combination of Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, and Bcl-w siRNAs was senolytic in HUVECs and IMR90 cells, while combination of Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, and Mcl-1 siRNAs was not. Susceptibility to N correlated with patterns of Bcl-2 family member proteins in different types of human senescent cells, as has been found in predicting response of cancers to N. Thus, N is senolytic and acts in a potentially predictable cell type-restricted manner. The hypothesis-driven, bioinformatics-based approach we used to discover that dasatinib (D) and quercetin (Q) are senolytic can be extended to increase the repertoire of senolytic drugs, including additional cell type-specific senolytic agents.
655 citations
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that patient-specific human induced pluripotent stem cell–derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) can recapitulate the predilection to doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity of individual patients at the cellular level.
Abstract: Doxorubicin is an anthracycline chemotherapy agent effective in treating a wide range of malignancies, but it causes a dose-related cardiotoxicity that can lead to heart failure in a subset of patients. At present, it is not possible to predict which patients will be affected by doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity (DIC). Here we demonstrate that patient-specific human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) can recapitulate the predilection to DIC of individual patients at the cellular level. hiPSC-CMs derived from individuals with breast cancer who experienced DIC were consistently more sensitive to doxorubicin toxicity than hiPSC-CMs from patients who did not experience DIC, with decreased cell viability, impaired mitochondrial and metabolic function, impaired calcium handling, decreased antioxidant pathway activity, and increased reactive oxygen species production. Taken together, our data indicate that hiPSC-CMs are a suitable platform to identify and characterize the genetic basis and molecular mechanisms of DIC.
530 citations
TL;DR: The expanding and interconnected roles of caspases that highlight new aspects of this family of cysteine proteases in innate immunity are discussed.
Abstract: Inflammatory and apoptotic caspases are central players in inflammation and apoptosis, respectively. However, recent studies have revealed that these caspases have functions beyond their established roles. In addition to mediating cleavage of the inflammasome-associated cytokines interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-18, inflammatory caspases modulate distinct forms of programmed cell death and coordinate cell-autonomous immunity and other fundamental cellular processes. Certain apoptotic caspases assemble structurally diverse and dynamic complexes that direct inflammasome and interferon responses to fine-tune inflammation. In this Review, we discuss the expanding and interconnected roles of caspases that highlight new aspects of this family of cysteine proteases in innate immunity.
516 citations
TL;DR: This review has focused on the gene families playing critical roles, activation/inactivation mechanisms, upstream/downstream effectors, and signaling pathways in apoptosis on the basis of cancer studies and novel apoptotic players such as miRNAs and sphingolipid family members in various kind of cancer are discussed.
Abstract: As much as the cellular viability is important for the living organisms, the elimination of unnecessary or damaged cells has the opposite necessity for the maintenance of homeostasis in tissues, organs and the whole organism. Apoptosis, a type of cell death mechanism, is controlled by the interactions between several molecules and responsible for the elimination of unwanted cells from the body. Apoptosis can be triggered by intrinsically or extrinsically through death signals from the outside of the cell. Any abnormality in apoptosis process can cause various types of diseases from cancer to auto-immune diseases. Different gene families such as caspases, inhibitor of apoptosis proteins, B cell lymphoma (Bcl)-2 family of genes, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor gene superfamily, or p53 gene are involved and/or collaborate in the process of apoptosis. In this review, we discuss the basic features of apoptosis and have focused on the gene families playing critical roles, activation/inactivation mechanisms, upstream/downstream effectors, and signaling pathways in apoptosis on the basis of cancer studies. In addition, novel apoptotic players such as miRNAs and sphingolipid family members in various kind of cancer are discussed.
398 citations
TL;DR: The results suggested that the unusual capacity of MERS-CoV to infect T cells and induce apoptosis might partly contribute to the high pathogenicity of the virus.
Abstract: Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is associated with a mortality rate of >35%. We previously showed that MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV) could infect human macrophages and dendritic cells and induce cytokine dysregulation. Here, we further investigated the interplay between human primary T cells and MERS-CoV in disease pathogenesis. Importantly, our results suggested that MERS-CoV efficiently infected T cells from the peripheral blood and from human lymphoid organs, including the spleen and the tonsil. We further demonstrated that MERS-CoV infection induced apoptosis in T cells, which involved the activation of both the extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis pathways. Remarkably, immunostaining of spleen sections from MERS-CoV-infected common marmosets demonstrated the presence of viral nucleoprotein in their CD3(+) T cells. Overall, our results suggested that the unusual capacity of MERS-CoV to infect T cells and induce apoptosis might partly contribute to the high pathogenicity of the virus.
358 citations
TL;DR: It is found that quercetin interacts with DNA directly, and could be one of the mechanisms for inducing apoptosis in both, cancer cell lines and tumor tissues by activating the intrinsic pathway.
Abstract: Naturally occurring compounds are considered as attractive candidates for cancer treatment and prevention. Quercetin and ellagic acid are naturally occurring flavonoids abundantly seen in several fruits and vegetables. In the present study, we evaluate and compare antitumor efficacies of quercetin and ellagic acid in animal models and cancer cell lines in a comprehensive manner. We found that quercetin induced cytotoxicity in leukemic cells in a dose-dependent manner, while ellagic acid showed only limited toxicity. Besides leukemic cells, quercetin also induced cytotoxicity in breast cancer cells, however, its effect on normal cells was limited or none. Further, quercetin caused S phase arrest during cell cycle progression in tested cancer cells. Quercetin induced tumor regression in mice at a concentration 3-fold lower than ellagic acid. Importantly, administration of quercetin lead to ~5 fold increase in the life span in tumor bearing mice compared to that of untreated controls. Further, we found that quercetin interacts with DNA directly, and could be one of the mechanisms for inducing apoptosis in both, cancer cell lines and tumor tissues by activating the intrinsic pathway. Thus, our data suggests that quercetin can be further explored for its potential to be used in cancer therapeutics and combination therapy.
355 citations
TL;DR: A novel induction of ferroptosis through altered iron regulation is indicated by treating breast cancer cells with a lysosome disruptor and a tyrosine kinase inhibitor and the expression of transferrin is increased and ferroportin-1 is decreased.
Abstract: Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent, oxidative cell death, and is distinct from apoptosis, necrosis and autophagy. In this study, we demonstrated that lysosome disrupting agent, siramesine and a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, lapatinib synergistically induced cell death and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in MDA MB 231, MCF-7, ZR-75 and SKBr3 breast cancer cells over a 24 h time course. Furthermore, the iron chelator deferoxamine (DFO) significantly reduced cytosolic ROS and cell death following treatment with siramesine and lapatinib. Furthermore, we determined that FeCl3 levels were elevated in cells treated with siramesine and lapatinib indicating an iron-dependent cell death, ferroptosis. To confirm this, we treated cells with a potent inhibitor of ferroptosis, ferrastatin-1 that effectively inhibited cell death following siramesine and lapatinib treatment. The increase levels of iron could be due to changes in iron transport. We found that the expression of transferrin, which is responsible for the transport of iron into cells, is increased following treatment with lapatinib alone or in combination with siramesine. Knocking down of transferrin resulted in decreased cell death and ROS after treatment. In addition, ferroportin-1 (FPN) is an iron transport protein, responsible for removal of iron from cells. We found its expression is decreased after treatment with siramesine alone or in combination with lapatinib. Overexpression FPN resulted in decreased ROS and cell death whereas knockdown of FPN increased cell death after siramesine and lapatinib treatment. This indicates a novel induction of ferroptosis through altered iron regulation by treating breast cancer cells with a lysosome disruptor and a tyrosine kinase inhibitor.
337 citations
TL;DR: An unbiased genome-wide siRNA screen determined that loss of CARS, the cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase, suppresses ferroptosis induced by erastin, which inhibits the cystine–glutamate antiporter known as system xc−.
Abstract: Ferroptosis is a form of regulated non-apoptotic cell death that has been implicated in several disease contexts. A better understanding of the ferroptotic death mechanism could lead to the development of new therapeutics for degenerative diseases, and a better understanding of how to induce ferroptosis in specific tumor contexts. We performed an unbiased genome-wide siRNA screen to find genetic suppressors of ferroptosis. We determined that loss of CARS, the cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase, suppresses ferroptosis induced by erastin, which inhibits the cystine–glutamate antiporter known as system xc−. Knockdown of CARS inhibited erastin-induced death by preventing the induction of lipid reactive oxygen species, without altering iron homeostasis. Knockdown of CARS led to the accumulation of cystathionine, a metabolite on the transsulfuration pathway, and upregulated genes associated with serine biosynthesis and transsulfuration. In addition, inhibition of the transsulfuration pathway resensitized cells to erastin, even after CARS knockdown. These studies demonstrate a new mechanism of resistance to ferroptosis and may lead to strategies for inducing and suppressing ferroptosis in diverse contexts.
300 citations
TL;DR: It is reported that DNASE1L3-deficient mice rapidly develop autoantibodies to DNA and chromatin, followed by an SLE-like disease, and its restoration may represent a therapeutic opportunity in the disease.
TL;DR: It is revealed that CPC-derived exosomal miR-21 had an inhibiting role in the apoptosis pathway through downregulating PDCD4, which could protect myocardial cells against oxidative stress-related apoptosis.
Abstract: Cardiac progenitor cells derived from adult heart have emerged as one of the most promising stem cell types for cardiac protection and repair. Exosomes are known to mediate cell-cell communication by transporting cell-derived proteins and nucleic acids, including various microRNAs (miRNAs). Here we investigated the cardiac progenitor cell (CPC)-derived exosomal miRNAs on protecting myocardium under oxidative stress. Sca1(+)CPCs-derived exosomes were purified from conditional medium, and identified by nanoparticle trafficking analysis (NTA), transmission electron microscopy and western blotting using CD63, CD9 and Alix as markers. Exosomes production was measured by NTA, the result showed that oxidative stress-induced CPCs secrete more exosomes compared with normal condition. Although six apoptosis-related miRNAs could be detected in two different treatment-derived exosomes, only miR-21 was significantly upregulated in oxidative stress-induced exosomes compared with normal exosomes. The same oxidative stress could cause low miR-21 and high cleaved caspase-3 expression in H9C2 cardiac cells. But the cleaved caspase-3 was significantly decreased when miR-21 was overexpressed by transfecting miR-21 mimic. Furthermore, miR-21 mimic or inhibitor transfection and luciferase activity assay confirmed that programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4) was a target gene of miR-21, and miR-21/PDCD4 axis has an important role in anti-apoptotic effect of H9C2 cell. Western blotting and Annexin V/PI results demonstrated that exosomes pre-treated H9C2 exhibited increased miR-21 whereas decreased PDCD4, and had more resistant potential to the apoptosis induced by the oxidative stress, compared with non-treated cells. These findings revealed that CPC-derived exosomal miR-21 had an inhibiting role in the apoptosis pathway through downregulating PDCD4. Restored miR-21/PDCD4 pathway using CPC-derived exosomes could protect myocardial cells against oxidative stress-related apoptosis. Therefore, exosomes could be used as a new therapeutic vehicle for ischemic cardiac disease.
TL;DR: Recent advances in the BCL-2 family interactions, their control by upstream factors, and how the mitochondria itself alters these interactions are discussed.
TL;DR: The molecular and cellular mechanisms though which mammalian caspases connect cell-death signaling to the maintenance of organismal homeostasis are reviewed.
TL;DR: This study found that both surviving and dying cells reach similar levels of p53, indicating that cell death is not determined by a fixed p53 threshold, and underlines the importance of measuring the dynamics of key players in response to chemotherapy to determine mechanisms of resistance and optimize the timing of combination therapy.
TL;DR: This study for the first time revealed that simvastatin inhibited bladder cancer cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest at G1/G0 phase via PPARγ signalling pathway.
Abstract: Simvastatin is currently one of the most common drugs for old patients with hyperlipidemia, hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerotic diseases by reducing cholesterol level and anti-lipid properties. Importantly, simvastatin has also been reported to have anti-tumor effect, but the underlying mechanism is largely unknown. We collected several human bladder samples and performed microarray. Data analysis suggested bladder cancer (BCa) was significantly associated with fatty acid/lipid metabolism via PPAR signalling pathway. We observed simvastatin did not trigger BCa cell apoptosis, but reduced cell proliferation in a dose- and time-dependent manner, accompanied by PPARγ-activation. Moreover, flow cytometry analysis indicated that simvastatin induced cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase, suggested by downregulation of CDK4/6 and Cyclin D1. Furthermore, simvastatin suppressed BCa cell metastasis by inhibiting EMT and affecting AKT/GSK3β. More importantly, we found that the cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase and the alterations of CDK4/6 and Cyclin D1 triggered by simvastatin could be recovered by PPARγ-antagonist (GW9662), whereas the treatment of PPARα-antagonist (GW6471) shown no significant effects on the BCa cells. Taken together, our study for the first time revealed that simvastatin inhibited bladder cancer cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest at G1/G0 phase via PPARγ signalling pathway.
TL;DR: Data show that the autophagy machinery can control the mechanism of programmed cell death by serving as a scaffold rather than by degrading cargo.
TL;DR: It is discovered that macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) binds AIF and is required for parthanatos, and EndoG does not have an essential role in PARP-dependent chromatinolysis and cell death in mammals.
Abstract: Cells that experience stresses and accumulate excessive damage to DNA undergo cell death mediated by a nuclear enzyme known as PARP-1. During this process, apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) translocates to the nucleus and activates one or more nucleases to cleave DNA. Wang et al. found that macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an AIF-associated endonuclease that contributes to PARP-1-induced DNA fragmentation (see the Perspective by Jonas). In mouse neurons in culture, loss of MIF protected neurons from cell death caused by excessive stimulation. Targeting MIF could thus provide a therapeutic strategy against diseases in which PARP-1 activation is excessive.
Science , this issue p. [82][1]; see also p. [36][2]
[1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/354/6308/aad6872.full
[2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aai8756
TL;DR: It is shown that the IRE-1/XBP-1 pathway functions downstream of STING and that STING agonists selectively trigger mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in normal and malignant B cells, implying that prolonged activation of STing can lead to apoptosis.
Abstract: Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress responses through the IRE-1/XBP-1 pathway are required for the function of STING (TMEM173), an ER-resident transmembrane protein critical for cytoplasmic DNA sensing, IFN production, and cancer control. Here we show that the IRE-1/XBP-1 pathway functions downstream of STING and that STING agonists selectively trigger mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in normal and malignant B cells. Upon stimulation, STING was degraded less efficiently in B cells, implying that prolonged activation of STING can lead to apoptosis. Transient activation of the IRE-1/XBP-1 pathway partially protected agonist-stimulated malignant B cells from undergoing apoptosis. In Eμ-TCL1 mice with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, injection of the STING agonist 3'3'-cGAMP induced apoptosis and tumor regression. Similarly efficacious effects were elicited by 3'3'-cGAMP injection in syngeneic or immunodeficient mice grafted with multiple myeloma. Thus, in addition to their established ability to boost antitumoral immune responses, STING agonists can also directly eradicate malignant B cells. Cancer Res; 76(8); 2137-52. ©2016 AACR.
TL;DR: This review highlights the main signaling pathways, molecular players and mechanisms guiding the DNA damage-induced cell death response and culminate in the induction of programmed cell death via activation of apoptosis or necroptosis.
Abstract: Upon massive DNA damage cells fail to undergo productive DNA repair and trigger the cell death response. Resistance to cell death is linked to cellular transformation and carcinogenesis as well as radio- and chemoresistance, making the underlying signaling pathways a promising target for therapeutic intervention. Diverse DNA damage-induced cell death pathways are operative in mammalian cells and finally culminate in the induction of programmed cell death via activation of apoptosis or necroptosis. These signaling routes affect nuclear, mitochondria- and plasma membrane-associated key molecules to activate the apoptotic or necroptotic response. In this review, we highlight the main signaling pathways, molecular players and mechanisms guiding the DNA damage-induced cell death response.
TL;DR: Recent advances have significantly expanded the understanding of the roles of caspases in regulating development, adult homeostasis, and host defense response.
TL;DR: E-cigarette vapor, both with and without nicotine, is cytotoxic to epithelial cell lines and is a DNA strand break-inducing agent.
TL;DR: The data imply that nano-ZnO induce an excessive production of ROS which then activate the apoptosis pathway mediated by mitochondria and caspases, which could be a physiological mechanism compensating for body hypoxia.
TL;DR: This study suggests that DHA specifically causes head and neck cancer cell death through contribution from both ferroptosis and apoptosis and may represent an effective strategy in head andneck cancer treatment.
TL;DR: This protocol describes staining and visualization of cells stained with Hoechst 33342, but it can be adapted for staining with DAPI or other dyes.
Abstract: The nuclei of healthy cells are generally spherical, and the DNA is evenly distributed. During apoptosis the DNA becomes condensed, but this process does not occur during necrosis. Nuclear condensation can therefore be used to distinguish apoptotic cells from healthy cells or necrotic cells. Dyes that bind to DNA, such as Hoechst 33342 or 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), can be used to observe nuclear condensation. These dyes fluoresce at 461 nm when excited by ultraviolet light and can therefore be visualized using conventional fluorescent microscopes equipped with light sources that emit light at ∼350 nm and filter sets that permit the transmission of light at ∼460 nm. This protocol describes staining and visualization of cells stained with Hoechst 33342, but it can be adapted for staining with DAPI or other dyes.
TL;DR: It can be concluded that Dox activated apoptosis by inducing proteolytic processing of Bcl-2 family, caspases and simultaneously decreased oxidative stress by influencing ROS damage in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines.
Abstract: Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality among women worldwide due to aggressive behavior, early metastasis, resistance to existing chemotherapeutic agent and high mortality rate. Doxorubicin (Dox) is a powerful antitumoral drug. It is one of the most active agents for treatment of breast cancer. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of Dox in apoptosis and oxidative stress in the breast cancer cell lines MCF-10F, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231. These studies showed that Dox decreased anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein expression and affected oxidative stress by increasing hydrogen peroxide production and simultaneously decreasing NF-κB gene and protein expression in MCF-7, a tumorigenic triple-positive cell line. Results also indicated that Dox induced apoptosis by upregulating Bax, caspase-8 and caspase-3 and downregulation of Bcl-2 protein expression. On the contrary, ROS damage decreased by increasing SOD2 gene and protein expression and hydrogen peroxide production with parallel NF-κB protein expression decrease in MDA-MB-231, a tumorigenic triple-negative breast cancer cell line. It can be concluded that Dox activated apoptosis by inducing proteolytic processing of Bcl-2 family, caspases and simultaneously decreased oxidative stress by influencing ROS damage in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines.
TL;DR: Evidence is provided for beneficial tumor-inhibitory, anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects driven by this probiotic LAB strain against experimental colon cancer.
Abstract: Probiotic microorganisms such as lactic acid bacteria (LAB) exert a number of strain-specific health-promoting activities attributed to their immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties. Despite recent attention, our understanding of the biological processes involved in the beneficial effects of LAB strains is still limited. To this end, the present study investigated the growth-inhibitory effects of Lactobacillus casei ATCC 393 against experimental colon cancer. Administration of live Lactobacillus casei (as well as bacterial components thereof) on murine (CT26) and human (HT29) colon carcinoma cell lines raised a significant concentration- and time-dependent anti-proliferative effect, determined by cell viability assays. Specifically, a dramatic decrease in viability of colon cancer cells co-incubated with 109 CFU/mL L. casei for 24 hours was detected (78% for HT29 and 52% for CT26 cells). In addition, live L. casei induced apoptotic cell death in both cell lines as revealed by annexin V and propidium iodide staining. The significance of the in vitro anti-proliferative effects was further confirmed in an experimental tumor model. Oral daily administration of 109 CFU live L. casei for 13 days significantly inhibited in vivo growth of colon carcinoma cells, resulting in approximately 80% reduction in tumor volume of treated mice. Tumor growth inhibition was accompanied by L. casei-driven up-regulation of the TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand TRAIL and down-regulation of Survivin. Taken together, these findings provide evidence for beneficial tumor-inhibitory, anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects driven by this probiotic LAB strain.
TL;DR: The data implicate lipid desaturation as an essential process for cancer cell survival and suggest that targeting SCD could efficiently limit tumour expansion, especially under the metabolically compromised conditions of the tumour microenvironment.
Abstract: Enhanced macromolecule biosynthesis is integral to growth and proliferation of cancer cells. Lipid biosynthesis has been predicted to be an essential process in cancer cells. However, it is unclear which enzymes within this pathway offer the best selectivity for cancer cells and could be suitable therapeutic targets. Using functional genomics, we identified stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD), an enzyme that controls synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, as essential in breast and prostate cancer cells. SCD inhibition altered cellular lipid composition and impeded cell viability in the absence of exogenous lipids. SCD inhibition also altered cardiolipin composition, leading to the release of cytochrome C and induction of apoptosis. Furthermore, SCD was required for the generation of poly-unsaturated lipids in cancer cells grown in spheroid cultures, which resemble those found in tumour tissue. We also found that SCD mRNA and protein expression is elevated in human breast cancers and predicts poor survival in high-grade tumours. Finally, silencing of SCD in prostate orthografts efficiently blocked tumour growth and significantly increased animal survival. Our data implicate lipid desaturation as an essential process for cancer cell survival and suggest that targeting SCD could efficiently limit tumour expansion, especially under the metabolically compromised conditions of the tumour microenvironment.
TL;DR: SAR is the first therapeutic monoclonal antibody mediating direct cytotoxicity against MM cells via multiple mechanisms of action, and data show that Pom augments both direct and effector cell-mediated MM cytot toxicity of SAR, providing the framework for combination clinical trials.
Abstract: The anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody SAR650984 (SAR) is showing promising clinical activity in treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma (MM). Besides effector-mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and complement-mediated cytotoxicity, we here define molecular mechanisms of SAR-directed MM cell death and enhanced anti-MM activity triggered by SAR with Pomalidomide (Pom). Without Fc-cross-linking agents or effector cells, SAR specifically induces homotypic aggregation (HA)-associated cell death in MM cells dependent on the level of cell surface CD38 expression, actin cytoskeleton and membrane lipid raft. SAR and its F(ab)'2 fragments trigger caspase 3/7-dependent apoptosis in MM cells highly expressing CD38, even with p53 mutation. Importantly, SAR specifically induces lysosome-dependent cell death (LCD) by enlarging lysosomes and increasing lysosomal membrane permeabilization associated with leakage of cathepsin B and LAMP-1, regardless of the presence of interleukin-6 or bone marrow stromal cells. Conversely, the lysosomal vacuolar H+-ATPase inhibitor blocks SAR-induced LCD. SAR further upregulates reactive oxygen species. Pom enhances SAR-induced direct and indirect killing even in MM cells resistant to Pom/Len. Taken together, SAR is the first therapeutic monoclonal antibody mediating direct cytotoxicity against MM cells via multiple mechanisms of action. Our data show that Pom augments both direct and effector cell-mediated MM cytotoxicity of SAR, providing the framework for combination clinical trials.
TL;DR: P53 is a direct BAX activator inhibited by BCL‐xL, defining a prototype non‐canonical modulator of B CL‐2 proteins‐mediated MOMP, impeding the understanding of MomP and apoptosis.
Abstract: B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) family proteins mediate mitochondrial apoptosis by regulating mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP), which leads to the activation of the downstream caspase cascade to execute apoptosis. The pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic BCL-2 proteins function through protein-protein interactions in soluble and membrane-associated states. How soluble BCL-2 proteins interact is well understood. Anti-apoptotic proteins, such as BCL-2 and BCL-xL, and the pro-apoptotic effectors of MOMP, including BAK and BAX, interact with pro-apoptotic BCL-2 homology 3 (BH3)-only proteins similarly. Whereas anti-apoptotic BCL-2 proteins tightly bind all the BH3-only proteins to block apoptosis initiation, the effector BCL-2 proteins are potently triggered by specific BH3-only proteins to undergo conformational changes, membrane association and insertion, oligomerization, and pore formation. The anti-apoptotic BCL-2 proteins also inhibit the activated effectors. p53 is a direct BAX activator inhibited by BCL-xL, defining a prototype non-canonical modulator of BCL-2 proteins-mediated MOMP. How BCL-2 proteins cooperate in the presence of membranes remains poorly understood, impeding our understanding of MOMP and apoptosis. Here, we highlight the latest structural views of MOMP by BCL-2 proteins.