Search results for " APOPTOSIS"
showing 10 items of 372 documents
Apoptosis in liver disease.
2006
The description of the morphological hallmarks of programmed cell death, apoptosis, in 1972 by Kerr, Wyllie and Currie started a field of research that revolutionized our understanding of cellular proliferation, tissue homeostasis and pathophysiology of many diseases. In the following years, a series of proteins involved in signaling and intracellular death pathways were identified and 30 years later the Noble Prize for physiology and medicine was awarded to S. Brenner, H. R. Horvitz and J. E. Sulston for their discoveries related to describing the mechanisms of cell death (apoptosis). The delineation of the signaling pathways that mediate apoptosis changed the paradigms of understanding in…
Characterization of cells with different mitochondrial membrane potential during apoptosis.
2005
Background Until now, the simultaneous analysis of several parameters during apoptosis, including DNA content and mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ), has not been possible because of the spectral characteristics of the commonly used dyes. Using polychromatic flow cytometry based upon multiple laser and UV lamp excitation, we have characterized cells with different ΔΨ during apoptosis. Methods U937 cells were treated with the flavonoid quercetin (Qu) and stained with JC-1 to detect ΔΨ, propidium iodide (PI) for cell viability, Hoechst 33342 for DNA content, Annexin V conjugated with Alexa Fluor-647 for detection of phosphatidilserine (PS) exposure, marker of early apoptosis, or Mitotracke…
Caspase-dependent apoptosis during infection with Cryptosporidium parvum
1999
The protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum causes persistent diarrhea and malnutrition in children and the diarrhea-wasting syndrome in AIDS. No therapy exists for eliminating the parasite in the absence of a healthy immune response. Although it had been reported that infection of intestinal cell lines with C. parvum leads to host cell death, the mechanisms of cytolysis have not been characterized. We show here that infection with C. parvum leads to typical apoptotic nuclear condensation and DNA fragmentation in host cells. Both nuclear condensation and DNA fragmentation are inhibited by a caspase inhibitor, showing that caspases are involved in this type of apoptosis. Finally, blocking …
Neuronal expression and regulation of rat inhibitor of apoptosis protein-2 by kainic acid in the rat brain
2002
Inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) define a protein family with the ability to counteract cell death by the inhibition of different caspases activated during apoptosis. These proteins are present in different cells, however, the function and roles of IAPs in brain tissue are not fully understood. We report here that RIAP-2, the rat homologue of human cIAP-1/HIAP-2, is expressed in different areas of rat brain as shown by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. Brain regions with relatively high expression of RIAP-2 mRNA included cortex, cerebellum and different subregions of rat hippocampus. Double labelling using a specific anti-RIAP antibody and markers for neurons and glial …
In vivo real-time imaging of the liver with confocal endomicroscopy permits visualization of the temporospatial patterns of hepatocyte apoptosis.
2011
Apoptosis is a dynamic process of programmed cell death and is involved in multiple diseases. However, its mechanisms and sequence of events are still incompletely understood, partly because of the inability to visualize single cells continuously in vivo. The aim of the present study was to monitor hepatocyte apoptosis with confocal endomicroscopy in living rodents. In 73 anaesthetized mice, apoptotic liver injury was induced by injection of the CD95-agonistic antibody Jo2. Individual hepatocytes were followed for up to 240 min with a handheld confocal probe (FIVE1; Optiscan) providing 0.7 μm resolution (1,000-fold magnification). Different fluorescence staining protocols were used for cell…
Excitotoxin-induced changes in transglutaminase during differentiation of cerebellar granule cells
2002
Excitotoxicity induced by NMDA receptor stimulation is able to increase the activity of many enzymes involved in neuronal cell death. Primary cultures of rat cerebellar granule cells were used to elucidate the role of transglutaminase reaction in the excitotoxic cell response, and to evaluate the role of glutamate receptors in cell survival and degeneration. Granule neurons, maintained in vitro for two weeks, were exposed to NMDA at different stages of differentiation. Following NMDA receptor activation, increases in transglutaminase activity were observed in cell cultures. The levels of enzyme activity were higher in cells at 5 days in vitro than in those at 8-9 or 13-14 days in vitro. Mor…
Selective targeting of activated T cells in chronic intestinal inflammation
2009
Programmed cell death (apoptosis) has been implicated in normal biological processes as well as in the pathology of human diseases.1 The characterisation of genes involved in apoptosis has been pursued intensively and led to the identification of two major classes of genes: the bcl-2 family and the caspase family. Caspases are proteases that cleave their target substrates at specific peptide sequences and during apoptosis the activation of caspases takes place in a cascade fashion, leading to nuclear engulfment and cell death. Thus, caspases represent key functional components of the apoptosis pathway in human cells. Resistance against apoptosis is a key phenomenon in various chronic inflam…
Apoptosis: a relevant tool for anticancer therapy.
2006
Apoptosis is a form of cell death that permits the removal of damaged, senescent or unwanted cells in multicellular organisms, without damage to the cellular microenvironment. Defective apoptosis represents a major causative factor in the development and progression of cancer. The majority of chemotherapeutic agents, as well as radiation, utilize the apoptotic pathway to induce cancer cell death. Resistance to standard chemotherapeutic strategies also seems to be due to alterations in the apoptotic pathway of cancer cells. Recent knowledge on apoptosis has provided the basis for novel targeted therapies that exploit apoptosis to treat cancer. These new target include those acting in the ext…
Coupling Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress to the Cell Death Program
2002
Accumulation of misfolded proteins and alterations in Ca2+ homeostasis in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) causes ER stress and leads to cell death. However, the signal-transducing events that connect ER stress to cell death pathways are incompletely understood. To discern the pathway by which ER stress-induced cell death proceeds, we performed studies on Apaf-1−/− (null) fibroblasts that are known to be relatively resistant to apoptotic insults that induce the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. While these cells were resistant to cell death initiated by proapoptotic stimuli such as tamoxifen, they were susceptible to apoptosis induced by thapsigargin and brefeldin-A, both of which induce ER stress…
The Role of Autophagy and Apoptosis During Embryo Development
2015
Programmed cell death (PCD) and cell survival are two sides of the same coin. Autopha‐ gy and apoptosis are crucial processes during embryo development of Invertebrates and Vertebrates organisms, as they are necessary for the formation of a new organism, start‐ ing from a fertilized egg. Fertilization triggers cell remodeling from each gamete to a toti‐ potent zygote. During embryogenesis, the cells undergo various processes, thus allowing the transformation of the embryo into an adult organism. In particular, cells require the appropriate tools to suddenly modify their morphology and protein content in order to respond to intrinsic and external stimuli. Autophagy and apoptosis are involved…