scholarly journals Activation of caspase-3-like proteases in apoptosis induced by sphingosine and other long-chain bases in Hep3B hepatoma cells

1999 ◽  
Vol 338 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-Chun HUNG ◽  
Hui-Chiu CHANG ◽  
Lea-Yea CHUANG

Sphingosine and other long-chain bases (including sphinganine, dimethylsphingosine and stearylamine), but not octylamine (a short-chain analogue of sphinganine), induced apoptosis in Hep3B hepatoma cells. Because both d- and l-erythrosphingosine and stearylamine exert potent apoptotic effects on Hep3B cells, it is possible that these long-chain bases may activate apoptosis by inhibiting protein kinase C (PKC) activity. However, pretreatment with the PKC activator PMA could not rescue cells from apoptosis triggered by long-chain bases. Therefore the involvement of PKC in this apoptotic process requires further characterization. We also investigated whether these long-chain bases might be metabolized into ceramide in order to elicit their apoptotic action. We found that long-chain bases acted independently of ceramide in the induction of apoptosis, since addition of fumonisin B1, a fungal agent which effectively inhibits ceramide synthesis from sphingosine, did not protect against apoptosis. Additionally, we found that sphingosine-induced apoptosis was accompanied by activation of caspases. The functional role of caspases in this apoptotic process was examined by using specific caspase inhibitors. The general caspase inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp fluoromethyl ketone, which exhibits a broad specificity for caspase-family proteases, effectively blocked sphingosine-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, our results indicate that caspase-3-like proteases, but not caspase-1, are activated during apoptosis triggered by sphingosine. Enhancement of caspase-3-like activity and cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, an in vivo substrate for caspase-3, was clearly demonstrated in sphingosine-treated Hep3B cells. Considered together, these results suggest that caspase-3-like proteases participate in apoptotic cell death induced by sphingosine.

2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (03) ◽  
pp. 377-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyung-Jin Kim ◽  
Seon Il Jang ◽  
Young-Jun Kim ◽  
Hyun-Ock Pae ◽  
Hae-Young Won ◽  
...  

We studied the effect of 4-acetyl-12,13-epoxyl-9-trichothecene-3,15-diol (AETD) isolated from Isaria japonica, one of the most popular Chinese fungal medicines, on the induction of apoptosis in rat bladder carcinoma NBT-II cells. AETD was cytotoxic to NBT-II cells, and this cytotoxic effect appears to be attributed to its induction of apoptotic cell death, as AETD induced nuclear morphological changes and internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, and increased the proportion of hypodiploid cells and activity of caspase-3. AETD treatment also decreased the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and increased the expression of the pro-apoptotic protein Bax. These results provide important information in understanding the mechanism(s) of AETD-induced apoptosis.


2000 ◽  
Vol 192 (7) ◽  
pp. 1035-1046 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronika Jesenberger ◽  
Katarzyna J. Procyk ◽  
Junying Yuan ◽  
Siegfried Reipert ◽  
Manuela Baccarini

The enterobacterial pathogen Salmonella induces phagocyte apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. These bacteria use a specialized type III secretion system to export a virulence factor, SipB, which directly activates the host's apoptotic machinery by targeting caspase-1. Caspase-1 is not involved in most apoptotic processes but plays a major role in cytokine maturation. We show that caspase-1–deficient macrophages undergo apoptosis within 4–6 h of infection with invasive bacteria. This process requires SipB, implying that this protein can initiate the apoptotic machinery by regulating components distinct from caspase-1. Invasive Salmonella typhimurium targets caspase-2 simultaneously with, but independently of, caspase-1. Besides caspase-2, the caspase-1–independent pathway involves the activation of caspase-3, -6, and -8 and the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria, none of which occurs during caspase-1–dependent apoptosis. By using caspase-2 knockout macrophages and chemical inhibition, we establish a role for caspase-2 in both caspase-1–dependent and –independent apoptosis. Particularly, activation of caspase-1 during fast Salmonella-induced apoptosis partially relies on caspase-2. The ability of Salmonella to induce caspase-1–independent macrophage apoptosis may play a role in situations in which activation of this protease is either prevented or uncoupled from the induction of apoptosis.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Yue Wang ◽  
Jun Hyeok Kwak ◽  
Kyung-Tae Lee ◽  
Tsegaye Deyou ◽  
Young Pyo Jang ◽  
...  

The seeds of Millettia ferruginea are used in fishing, pesticides, and folk medicine in Ethiopia. Here, the anti-cancer effects of isoflavones isolated from M. ferruginea were evaluated in human ovarian cancer cells. We found that isoflavone ferrugone and 6,7-dimethoxy-3’,4’-methylenedioxy-8-(3,3-dimethylallyl)isoflavone (DMI) had potent cytotoxic effects on human ovarian cancer cell A2780 and SKOV3. Ferrugone and DMI treatment increased the sub-G1 cell population in a dose-dependent manner in A2780 cells. The cytotoxic activity of ferrugone and DMI was associated with the induction of apoptosis, as shown by an increase in annexin V-positive cells. Z-VAD-fmk, a broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor, and z-DEVD-fmk, a caspase-3 inhibitor, significantly reversed both the ferrugone and DMI-induced apoptosis, suggesting that cell death stimulated by the isoflavones is mediated by caspase-3-dependent apoptosis. Additionally, ferrugone-induced apoptosis was found to be caspase-8-dependent, while DMI-induced apoptosis was caspase-9-dependent. Notably, DMI, but not ferrugone, increased the intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) attenuated the pro-apoptotic activity of DMI. These data suggest that DMI induced apoptotic cell death through the intrinsic pathway via ROS production, while ferrugone stimulated the extrinsic pathway in human ovarian cancer cells.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (06) ◽  
pp. 1381-1404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Wang ◽  
Li Shao ◽  
Tai Rao ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Wei-Hua Huang

Oplopanax elatus (Nakai) Nakai is an oriental herb, the polyyne-enriched fraction of which (PEFO) showed anticolorectal cancer (anti-CRC) effects. Other concomitant components, which are inevitably bio-transformed by gut microbiota after oral administration, might be interfere with the pharmacodynamics of polyynes. However, the influence of human gut microbiota on molecules from O. elatus possessing anticancer activity are yet unknown. In this study, the compounds in PEFO and PEFO incubated with human gut microbiota were analyzed and tentatively identified by HPLC-DAD-QTOF-MS. Two main polyynes ((3[Formula: see text]8[Formula: see text]-falcarindiol and oplopandiol) were not significantly decomposed, but some new unknown molecules were discovered during incubation. However, the antiproliferative effects of PEFO incubated with human gut microbiota for 72 h (PEFO I) were much lower than that of PEFO on HCT-116, SW-480, and HT-29 cells. Furthermore, PEFO possessed better anti-CRC activity in vivo, and significantly induced apoptosis of the CRC cells, which was associated with activation of caspase-3 according to the Western-blot results ([Formula: see text]). These results suggest anticolorectal cancer activity of polyynes might be antagonized by some bio-converted metabolites after incubation with human gut microbiota. Therefore, it might be better for CRC prevention if the polyynes could be orally administrated as purified compounds.


2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (1) ◽  
pp. G28-G38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanna Cao ◽  
Lu Chen ◽  
Weili Zhang ◽  
Yan Liu ◽  
Harry T. Papaconstantinou ◽  
...  

Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β-dependent apoptosis is important in the elimination of damaged or abnormal cells from normal tissues in vivo. Previously, we have shown that TGF-β inhibits the growth of rat intestinal epithelial (RIE)-1 cells. However, RIE-1 cells are relatively resistant to TGF-β-induced apoptosis due to a low endogenous Smad3-to-Akt ratio. Overexpression of Smad3 sensitizes RIE-1 cells (RIE-1/Smad3) to TGF-β-induced apoptosis by altering the Smad3-to-Akt ratio in favor of apoptosis. In this study, we utilized a genomic approach to identify potential downstream target genes that are regulated by TGF-β/Smad3. Total RNA samples were analyzed using Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarrays. We found that TGF-β regulated 518 probe sets corresponding to its target genes. Interestingly, among the known apoptotic genes included in the microarray analyses, only caspase-3 was induced, which was confirmed by real-time RT-PCR. Furthermore, TGF-β activated caspase-3 through protein cleavage. Upstream of caspase-3, TGF-β induced mitochondrial depolarization, cytochrome c release, and cleavage of caspase-9, which suggests that the intrinsic apoptotic pathway mediates TGF-β-induced apoptosis in RIE-1/Smad3 cells.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prachya Janhom ◽  
Permphan Dharmasaroja

In vitrostudies have shown that extracts from mangosteen (Garcinia mangostanaLinn.) act as antioxidants and cytoprotective agents against oxidative damage. The protective effect of alpha-mangostin, the major xanthone found in the pericarp of the mangosteen, in cellular models of Parkinson’s disease (PD), has not been investigated. This study aims to investigate whether alpha-mangostin could protect SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells from MPP+-induced apoptosis. The effects of alpha-mangostin on MPP+-induced cell death were evaluated with a cell viability assay, staining for nuclear DNA morphology, flow cytometry for apoptotic cells and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, quantitative real-time PCR for the expression of p53, Bax, and Bcl-2, and western blot analysis for cleaved caspase-3. Concomitant treatment with alpha-mangostin attenuated the effect of MPP+on cell viability and apoptotic cell death. Alpha-mangostin reduced ROS formation induced by MPP+. Bax/Bcl-2 expression ratio and expression of p53 were significantly lower in cells cocultured with alpha-mangostin and MPP+. The cotreated cells showed a significant decrease in activated caspase-3 compared with MPP+treatment alone. Our data suggest that cytoprotection of alpha-mangostin against MPP+-induced apoptosis may be associated with the reduction of ROS production, modulating the balance of pro- and antiapoptotic genes, and suppression of caspase-3 activation.


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3154
Author(s):  
Su Jin Lee ◽  
Oh-Shin Kwon

The combination of chemotherapy with chemosensitizing agents is a common approach to enhance anticancer activity while reducing the dose-dependent adverse side effects of cancer treatment. Herein, we investigated doxorubicin (DOX) and O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) inhibitor OSMI-1 combination treatment, which significantly enhanced apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) as a result of synergistic drug action in disparate stress signaling pathways. Treatment with a low dose of DOX or a suboptimal dose of OSMI-1 alone did not induce apoptotic cell death in HepG2 cells. However, the combination of DOX with OSMI-1 in HepG2 cells synergistically increased apoptotic cell death through the activation of both the p53 and mitochondrial Bcl2 pathways compared to DOX alone. We also demonstrated that the combination of DOX and OSMI-1 stimulated cell death, dramatically reducing cell proliferation and tumor growth in vivo using a HepG2 xenograft mouse model. These findings indicate that OSMI-1 acts as a potential chemosensitizer by enhancing DOX-induced cell death. This study provides insight into a possible mechanism of chemotherapy resistance, identifies potential novel drug targets, and suggests that OGT inhibition could be utilized in clinical applications to treat hepatocellular carcinoma as well as other cancer types.


2000 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Mese ◽  
Akira Sasaki ◽  
Shuko Nakayama ◽  
Rafael E. Alcalde ◽  
Tomohiro Matsumura

2000 ◽  
Vol 351 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-Hsiung CHAN ◽  
Jau-Song YU ◽  
Shiaw-Der YANG

Photodynamic treatment (PDT) elicits diverse cellular responses and can also cause apoptosis. In the present study the cascade of signalling events involved in PDT-induced apoptosis was investigated using Rose Bengal (RB) as the photosensitizer, and human epidermal carcinoma A431 cells as the cell model. We show that a 36-kDa kinase detected by an in-gel kinase assay is markedly activated during PDT-triggered apoptosis. Immunoblot analysis revealed that this 36-kDa kinase represents the C-terminal catalytic fragment of p21-activated kinase (PAK)2. Generation of this active fragment of PAK2 is mediated by the caspase family of proteases, which are activated by PDT. The specific caspase inhibitors (acetyl-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-aldehyde and acetyl-Tyr-Val-Ala-Asp-chloromethylketone) block the PDT-induced caspase-3 activation and subsequent PAK2 cleavage/activation, indicating a major role for the caspase family proteases in PDT-induced apoptosis. Both PDT-induced caspase-3 activation and PAK2 cleavage/activation can be inhibited by the singlet oxygen scavengers, L-histidine and α-tocopherol, but not the hydroxyl radical scavenger, mannitol, demonstrating that singlet oxygen is an immediate early-apoptotic signal generated by PDT. In addition, PDT can induce a two-stage activation of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase/stress-activated protein kinase (JNK/SAPK) in A431 cells; the early-stage JNK activation is singlet oxygen-dependent, whereas the late-stage JNK activation is mediated by the singlet oxygen-triggered caspase activation. Experiments using anti-sense oligonucleotides against JNK1 and PAK2 further show that during PDT-induced apoptosis the early-stage JNK activation is required for caspase activation, and that the late-stage JNK activation is regulated by the caspase-mediated cleavage/activation of PAK2. Collectively, a model for the PDT-triggered apoptotic signalling cascade with RB is proposed, which involves singlet oxygen, JNK, caspase-3 and PAK2, sequentially.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyeon Ju Yim ◽  
Jung Hwa Lim ◽  
Min Hee Kim ◽  
Uk Namgung ◽  
Sang Ryong Lee ◽  
...  

Background.Sibjeondaebo-tang(SJDBT) has been used to treat diverse disorders including neuropsychiatric disabilities in traditional Korean medicine.Objective. The present study aims to investigate the potential effects of SJDBT on neuroprotection against Aβ peptide-induced damage usingin vitroculture andin vivorat brain systems.Materials and Methods. PC12 cell viability was analyzed by MTT assay, and neurite arborizations and caspase 3 protein signals in cultured PC12 cells andin vivocortical neurons were analyzed by immunofluorescence staining. Phospho-Erk1/2 protein was analyzed by immunofluorescence staining and western blot analysis.Results. In PC12 cells, atrophied cell body and reduced neurite extension by Aβtreatment were recovered by SJDBT treatment. Caspase 3 protein signals were increased in Aβ-treated PC12 cells, but SJDBT treatment decreased apoptotic cell death. Caspase 3 activation in cortical neurons, which was induced similarly by Aβtreatment, was reduced by SJDBT treatment. Furthermore, phospho-Erk1/2 protein levels, which had been decreased by Aβtreatment, were elevated in the cortical neurons by SJDBT treatment.Conclusion. These data show that SJDBT may play a role in protecting from damages induced by Aβin neuronal tissue and further suggest that SJDBT can be explored as the potential therapeutic target for AD treatments in human.


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