Search results for "Caspase 2"
showing 5 items of 5 documents
Effects of caspase inhibitors (z-VAD-fmk, z-VDVAD-fmk) on Nile Red fluorescence pattern in 7-ketocholesterol-treated cells: Investigation by flow cyt…
2007
Background: The 7-ketocholesterol (7KC)-induced cell death has some characteristics of apoptosis and is associated with polar lipid accumulation. So, we investigated the effects of the broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk and of the caspase-2 inhibitor z-VDVAD-fmk on lipid profile evaluated by staining with Nile Red (NR). Methods: The 7KC-treated human monocytic U937 cells were cultured in the absence or in the presence of the caspase inhibitors z-VAD-fmk or z-VDVAD-fmk. When staining with NR is performed, neutral and polar lipids have yellow and orange/red emission, respectively, and fluorescence was then analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM) and by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLS…
Caspase-2 is an initiator caspase responsible for pore-forming toxin-mediated apoptosis
2012
Bacterial pathogens modulate host cell apoptosis to establish a successful infection. Pore-forming toxins (PFTs) secreted by pathogenic bacteria are major virulence factors and have been shown to induce various forms of cell death in infected cells. Here we demonstrate that the highly conserved caspase-2 is required for PFT-mediated apoptosis. Despite being the second mammalian caspase to be identified, the role of caspase-2 during apoptosis remains enigmatic. We show that caspase-2 functions as an initiator caspase during Staphylococcus aureus alpha-toxin- and Aeromonas aerolysin-mediated apoptosis in epithelial cells. Downregulation of caspase-2 leads to a strong inhibition of PFT-mediate…
DNA damage-induced cell death by apoptosis
2006
Following the induction of DNA damage, a prominent route of cell inactivation is apoptosis. During the last ten years, specific DNA lesions that trigger apoptosis have been identified. These include O6-methylguanine, base N-alkylations, bulky DNA adducts, DNA cross-links and DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Repair of these lesions are important in preventing apoptosis. An exception is O6-methylguanine-thymine lesions, which require mismatch repair for triggering apoptosis. Apoptosis induced by many chemical genotoxins is the consequence of blockage of DNA replication, which leads to collapse of replication forks and DSB formation. These DSBs are thought to be crucial downstream apoptosis-tr…
Topotecan triggers apoptosis in p53-deficient cells by forcing degradation of XIAP and survivin thereby activating caspase-3-mediated Bid cleavage.
2009
The topoisomerase I inhibitor topotecan (TPT) is used in the therapy of different tumors including high-grade gliomas. We previously showed that TPT-induced apoptosis depends on p53 with p53 wild-type (wt) cells being more resistant because of p53-controlled degradation of topoisomerase I. Here, we show that p53-deficient (p53(-/-)) fibroblasts undergo excessive mitochondrial apoptosis featuring H2AX phosphorylation, Bcl-x(L) decline, cytochrome c release, caspase-9/-3/-2 activation, and cleavage of Bid. In wt and apaf-1(-/-) cells, caspase-2 did not become activated and Bid was not cleaved. In addition, p53(-/-) cells cotreated with TPT and caspase-3 inhibitor showed neither caspase-2 acti…
A caspase-3-dependent pathway is predominantly activated by the excitotoxin pregnenolone sulfate and requires early and late cytochrome c release and…
2002
This study investigates the implication of mitochondria- and caspase-dependent pathways in the death of retinal neurones exposed to the neurosteroid pregnenolone sulfate (PS) shown to evoke apoptosis and contribute to amplification and propagation of excitotoxicity. After a brief PS challenge of intact retinas, caspase-3 and caspase-2 activation and cytochrome c release occur early and independent of changes in the oxidative state measured by superoxide dismutase activity. The temporal and spatial relationship of these events suggests that a caspase-3-dependent pathway is activated in response to cytochrome c release and requires caspase-2 activation and a late cytochrome c release in speci…