S-nitrosylation of the death receptor fas promotes fas ligand-mediated apoptosis in cancer cells.

International audience; BACKGROUND & AIMS: Fas belongs to the family of tumor necrosis factor receptors which induce apoptosis. Many cancer cells express Fas but do not undergo Fas-mediated apoptosis. Nitric oxide reverses this resistance by increasing levels of Fas at the plasma membrane. We studied the mechanisms by which NO affects Fas function. METHODS: Colon and mammary cancer cell lines were incubated with the NO donor glyceryl trinitrate or lipid A; S-nitrosylation of Fas was monitored using the biotin switch assay. Fas constructs that contained mutations at cysteine residues that prevent S-nitrosylation were used to investigate the involvement of S-nitrosylation in Fas-mediated cell…