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harakiri, a novel regulator of cell death, encodes a protein that activates apoptosis and interacts selectively with survival-promoting proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L).

Programmed cell death is essential in organ development and tissue homeostasis and its deregulation is associated with the development of several diseases in mice and humans. The precise mechanisms that control cell death have not been elucidated fully, but it is well established that this form of cellular demise is regulated by a genetic program which is activated in the dying cell. Here we report the identification, cloning and characterization of harakiri, a novel gene that regulates apoptosis. The product of harakiri, Hrk, physically interacts with the death-repressor proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L), but not with death-promoting homologs, Bax or Bak. Hrk lacks conserved BH1 and BH2 regions and significant homology to Bcl-2 family members or any other protein, except for a stretch of eight amino acids that exhibits high homology with BH3 regions. Expression of Hrk induces cell death which is inhibited by Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L). Deletion of 16 amino acids including the conserved BH3 region abolished the ability of Hrk to interact with Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L) in mammalian cells. Moreover, the killing activity of this mutant form of Hrk (Hrk deltaBH3) was eliminated or dramatically reduced, suggesting that Hrk activates cell death at least in part by interacting with and inhibiting the protection afforded by Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L). Because Hrk lacks conserved BH1 and BH2 domains that define Bcl-2 family members, we propose that Hrk and Bik/Nbk, another BH3-containing protein that activates apoptosis, represent a novel class of proteins that regulate apoptosis by interacting selectively with survival-promoting Bcl-2 and Bcl-X(L).

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Salicylic acid-independent ENHANCED DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY1 signaling in Arabidopsis immunity and cell death is regulated by the monooxygenase FMO1 and the Nudix hydrolase NUDT7.

Arabidopsis thaliana ENHANCED DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY1 (EDS1) controls defense activation and programmed cell death conditioned by intracellular Toll-related immune receptors that recognize specific pathogen effectors. EDS1 is also needed for basal resistance to invasive pathogens by restricting the progression of disease. In both responses, EDS1, assisted by its interacting partner, PHYTOALEXIN-DEFICIENT4 (PAD4), regulates accumulation of the phenolic defense molecule salicylic acid (SA) and other as yet unidentified signal intermediates. An Arabidopsis whole genome microarray experiment was designed to identify genes whose expression depends on EDS1 and PAD4, irrespective of local SA accumulation, and potential candidates of an SA-independent branch of EDS1 defense were found. We define two new immune regulators through analysis of corresponding Arabidopsis loss-of-function insertion mutants. FLAVIN-DEPENDENT MONOOXYGENASE1 (FMO1) positively regulates the EDS1 pathway, and one member (NUDT7) of a family of cytosolic Nudix hydrolases exerts negative control of EDS1 signaling. Analysis of fmo1 and nudt7 mutants alone or in combination with sid2-1, a mutation that severely depletes pathogen-induced SA production, points to SA-independent functions of FMO1 and NUDT7 in EDS1-conditioned disease resistance and cell death. We find instead that SA antagonizes initiation of cell death and stunting of growth in nudt7 mutants.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Svf1 inhibits reactive oxygen species generation and promotes survival under conditions of oxidative stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Aberrant regulation of apoptosis, or programmed cell death, contributes to the aetiology of several diseases, including cancers, immunodeficiencies and neurodegenerative illnesses. We hypothesized that key features of mammalian cell death regulation may be conserved in single celled organisms such as the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We previously identified the yeast gene SVF1 in a screen for mutations that could be functionally complemented by exogenous expression of the human anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-x(L). Anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members have been shown to promote redox stability through upregulation of antioxidant pathways in mammalian cells. Here we demonstrate that the Svf1 protein is required for yeast survival under conditions of oxidative stress, including cold stress. Cells lacking SVF1 are hypersensitive to conditions associated with increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and to direct chemical precursors of ROS, and demonstrate increased levels of ROS under these conditions. Hypersensitivity to oxidative stress can be reversed by treatment with the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine or expression of exogenous SVF1, although exogenous expression of Bcl-x(L) did not protect cells from cold stress. Exogenous SVF1 expression in mammalian cells confers resistance to H(2)O(2) exposure. Our data are consistent with previous observations suggesting a key role of oxidative stress response in mammalian apoptotic regulation and validate the use of S. cerevisiae as a model for studying programmed cell death.

Animals↗

Steroid regulation of programmed cell death during Drosophila development.

Steroid hormones play an important role in the regulation of numerous physiological responses, but the mechanisms that enable these systemic signals to trigger specific cell changes remain poorly characterized. Recent studies of Drosophila illustrate several important features of steroid-regulated programmed cell death. A single steroid hormone activates both cell differentiation and cell death in different tissues and at multiple stages during development. While several steroid-regulated genes are required for cell execution, most of these genes function in both cell differentiation and cell death, and require more specific factors to kill cells. Genes that regulate apoptosis during Drosophila embryogenesis are induced by steroids in dying cells later in development. These apoptosis genes likely function downstream of hormone-induced factors to serve a more direct role in the death response. This article reviews the current knowledge of steroid signaling and the regulation of programmed cell death during development of Drosophila.

Animals↗

Haem oxygenase-1 prevents cell death by regulating cellular iron.

Haem oxygenase-1 (HO1) is a heat-shock protein that is induced by stressful stimuli. Here we demonstrate a cytoprotective role for HO1: cell death produced by serum deprivation, staurosporine or etoposide is markedly accentuated in cells from mice with a targeted deletion of the HO1 gene, and greatly reduced in cells that overexpress HO1. Iron efflux from cells is augmented by HO1 transfection and reduced in HO1-deficient fibroblasts. Iron accumulation in HO1-deficient cells explains their death: iron chelators protect HO1-deficient fibroblasts from cell death. Thus, cytoprotection by HO1 is attributable to its augmentation of iron efflux, reflecting a role for HO1 in modulating intracellular iron levels and regulating cell viability.

Animals↗

c-FLIP-L recombinant adeno-associated virus vector infection prevents Fas-mediated but not nerve growth factor withdrawal-mediated cell death in PC12 cells.

Fas is a cell surface death receptor that may play an important role in regulating cell death in neuronal cell types by activation of caspase 8. Cellular FLICE inhibitory protein-long (c-FLIP-L) is an endogenous inhibitor of the activation of caspase 8 by Fas. The current study addresses the role of c-FLIP-L in regulation of cell death in PC12 cells induced by nerve growth factor (NGF) withdrawal and Fas antibody, which acts as a Fas ligand and activates the Fas receptor. A recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vector that expresses c-FLIP-L was constructed. PC12 cells infected with the c-FLIP-L rAAV were resistant to apoptosis induced by treatment with Fas antibody compared to cells infected with enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) expressing rAAV. Overexpression of c-FLIP-L rAAV inhibited cleavage of caspase 8 induced by Fas antibody treatment. In contrast, treatment with the c-FLIP-L rAAV did not protect PC12 cells from cell death induced by NGF withdrawal. In conclusion, overexpression of c-FLIP-L rAAV inhibits Fas antibody-mediated cell death, but not NGF withdrawal-mediated cell death in PC12 cells.

Adenoviridae Infections↗

Regulation of interferon and retinoic acid-induced cell death activation through thioredoxin reductase.

Interferons (IFNs) and retinoids are potent biological response modifiers. The IFN-beta and all-trans-retinoic acid combination, but not these single agents individually, induces death in several tumor cell lines. To elucidate the molecular basis for these actions, we have employed an antisense knockout approach to identify the gene products that mediate cell death and isolated several genes associated with retinoid-IFN-induced mortality (GRIMs). One of the GRIM cDNAs, GRIM-12, was identical to human thioredoxin reductase (TR). To define the functional relevance of TR to cell death and to define its mechanism of death-modulating functions, we generated mutants of TR and studied their influence on the IFN/RA-induced death regulatory functions of caspases. Wild-type TR activates cell death that was inhibited in the presence of caspase inhibitors or catalytically inactive caspases. A mutant TR, lacking the active site cysteines, inhibits the cell death induced by caspase 8. IFN/all-trans-retinoic acid-induced cytochrome c release from the mitochondrion was promoted in the presence of wild type and was inhibited in the presence of mutant TR. We find that TR modulates the activity of caspase 8 to promote death. This effect is in part caused by the stimulation of death receptor gene expression. These studies identify a new mechanism of cell death regulation by the IFN/all-trans-retinoic acid combination involving redox enzymes.

Animals↗

Mitochondrial regulation of cell death: mitochondria are essential for procaspase 3-p21 complex formation to resist Fas-mediated cell death.

Death receptor Fas transduces cell death signaling upon stimulation by Fas ligand, and this death signaling is mediated by caspase. Recently, we reported that the cell cycle regulator p21 interacts with procaspase 3 to resist Fas-mediated cell death. In the present study, the molecular characterization and functional region of the procaspase 3-p21 complex was further investigated. We observed the p21 expression in the mitochondrial fraction of HepG2 cells and detected Fas-mediated cell death only in the presence of actinomycin D. However, mitochondrial-DNA-lacking HepG2 (MDLH) cells showed this effect even in the absence of actinomycin D. Both p21 and procaspase 3 were expressed in MDLH cells, but the procaspase 3-p21 complex formation was not observed. Interestingly, the resistance to Fas-mediated cell death in the MDLH cells without actinomycin D was recovered after microinjection of HepG2-derived mitochondria into the MDLH cells. We conclude that mitochondria are necessary for procaspase 3-p21 complex formation and propose that the mitochondrial role during cell death is not only death induction but also death suppression.

Apoptosis↗

CDw150 associates with src-homology 2-containing inositol phosphatase and modulates CD95-mediated apoptosis.

CDw150, a receptor up-regulated on activated T or B lymphocytes, has a key role in regulating B cell proliferation. Patients with X-linked lymphoproliferative disease have mutations in a gene encoding a protein, DSHP/SAP, which interacts with CDw150 and is expressed in B cells. Here we show that CDw150 on B cells associates with two tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins, 59 kDa and 145 kDa in size. The 59-kDa protein was identified as the Src-family kinase Fgr. The 145-kDa protein is the inositol polyphosphate 5'-phosphatase, SH2-containing inositol phosphatase (SHIP). Both Fgr and SHIP interact with phosphorylated tyrosines in CDw150's cytoplasmic tail. Ligation of CDw150 induces the rapid dephosphorylation of both SHIP and CDw150 as well as the association of Lyn and Fgr with SHIP. CD95/Fas-mediated apoptosis is enhanced by signaling via CDw150, and CDw150 ligation can override CD40-induced rescue of CD95-mediated cell death. The ability of CDw150 to regulate cell death does not correlate with serine phosphorylation of the Akt kinase, but does correlate with SHIP tyrosine dephosphorylation. Thus, the CDw150 receptor may function to regulate the fate of activated B cells via SHIP as well as via the DSHP/SAP protein defective in X-linked lymphoproliferative disease patients.

Antigens, CD↗

The role of cell death in regulating the size and shape of the mammalian forebrain.

The size of the cerebral cortex is determined by the rate of production of neurons and glial cells in the proliferative ventricular and subventricular zones. Recent studies from targeted mutations of different death-effector gene families indicate that programmed cell death (PCD) plays an important role in cell production and early morphogenesis of the mammalian forebrain before the formation of neuronal connections. For example, disruption of the c/Jun N-kinase signaling pathway by double-targeted mutation of both Jnk1 and Jnk2 results in increased PCD in the forebrain leading to precocious degeneration of cerebral precursors. In contrast, disturbance of the caspase cascade by targeted disruption of either casp-9 or casp-3 leads to decreased PCD causing expansion and exencephaly of the forebrain as well as supernumerary neurons in the cerebral cortex. The supernumerary neurons in these knockout mice align radially and form an expanded cortical plate which begins to form cerebral convolutions. Thus, the precise coordination of different apoptotic signaling pathways during early stages of neurogenesis is crucial for regulation of the proper cortical size and shape.

Animals↗

Glucocorticoid hormones in the regulation of cell death.

The immune T-cell compartment maintains the capability to respond to a wide variety of antigens (Ag). This whole process is regulated by lymphocyte apoptosis (programmed cell death, PCD) and involves the coordinated expression of a great number of genes including those coding for cytokines and their receptors, such as for example IL-2/IL-2R and the Fas/FasL systems and those coding for transcription factors, including the NF-kB complex, involved in T-cell activation and apoptosis in that they simultaneously activate cell suicide and an anti-death programme. This binary effect, PCD activation and inhibition, is due on one hand to GCH-induced activation of the caspases cascade and on the other to the induction of expression of a new gene that we have named GILZ. In fact, GILZ over-expression in transfected cells inhibits the sequential increase of NF-kB/DNA-binding activity, IL-2 production and IL-2R expression, and transcription of the Fas/FasL complex that follows TCR triggering and plays an important role in the control of T-lymphocyte apoptosis. These results indicate a new mechanism responsible for the GCH-mediated inhibition of T-cell death and activation that could contribute to anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive efficacy.

Animals↗

Cellular FLICE/caspase-8-inhibitory protein as a principal regulator of cell death and survival in human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Human hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) show resistance to apoptosis mediated by several death receptors. Because cellular FLICE/caspase-8-inhibitory protein (cFLIP) is a recently identified intracellular inhibitor of caspase-8 activation that potently inhibits death signaling mediated by all known death receptors, including Fas, TNF-receptor (TNF-R), and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptors (TRAIL-Rs), we investigated the expression and function of cFLIP in human HCCs. We found that cFLIP is constitutively expressed in all human HCC cell lines and is expressed more in human HCC tissues than in nontumor liver tissues. Metabolic inhibitors, actinomycin D (ActD) or cycloheximide (CHX), dramatically rendered HCC cells sensitive to Fas-mediated apoptosis. Neither caspase-8 nor caspase-3 was activated by agonistic anti-Fas antibody alone, but both caspases were activated by Fas stimulation in the presence of ActD or CHX, indicating the importance of caspase-8 inhibitors that are sensitive to metabolic inhibitors. Actually, cFLIP expression was decreased in ActD or CHX treatment. cFLIP down-regulation induced by cFLIP antisense oligodeoxynucleotides sensitized HLE cells to Fas, TNF-R, and TRAIL-R-mediated apoptosis. Furthermore, cFLIP over-expression activated nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB and cFLIP down-regulation attenuated NF-kappaB activation induced by TNF-alpha or TRAIL. Pretreatment with pan-caspase-inhibitor, benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp (OMe) fluoromethyl ketone (Z-VAD-fmk), restored NF-kappaB activity attenuated by cFLIP down-regulation. cFLIP expression was increased by TNF-alpha, TRAIL, or vascular endothelial growth factor but decreased by wortmannin, indicating that cFLIP expression is regulated by both the NF-kappaB and phosphatidylinostiol-3 kinase (PI-3)/Akt pathways. These results suggest that cFLIP plays an important role in cell survival not simply by inhibiting death-receptor-mediated apoptosis but also by regulating NF-kappaB activation in human HCCs.

Apoptosis↗

Cell death of barley aleurone protoplasts is mediated by reactive oxygen species.

The barley aleurone layer is a terminally differentiated secretory tissue whose activity is hormonally controlled. The plant hormone gibberellic acid (GA) stimulates the secretion of hydrolytic enzymes and triggers the onset of programmed cell death (PCD). Abscisic acid (ABA) antagonizes the effects of GA and inhibits enzyme secretion and PCD. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are key players in many types of PCD, and data presented here implicate ROS in hormonally regulated death of barley aleurone cells. Incubation of aleurone layers or protoplasts in H(2)O(2)-containing media results in death of GA-treated but not ABA-treated aleurone cells. Cells that are programmed to die are therefore less able to withstand ROS than cells that are programmed to remain alive. Illumination of barley aleurone protoplasts with blue or UV-A light results in a rapid increase in intracellular H(2)O(2) production. GA-treated protoplasts die rapidly in response to this increase in intracellular H(2)O(2) production, but ABA-treated protoplasts do not die. The rate of light-induced death could be slowed by antioxidants, and incubating protoplasts in the dark with the antioxidant butylated hydroxy toluene reduces the rate of hormonally induced death. Taken together, these data demonstrate that GA-treated aleurone protoplasts are less able than ABA-treated protoplasts to tolerate internally generated or exogenously applied H(2)O(2), and strongly suggest that ROS are components of the hormonally regulated cell death pathway in barley aleurone cells.

Abscisic Acid↗

The small GTP-binding protein rac is a regulator of cell death in plants.

Cell death plays important roles in the development and defense of plants as in other multicellular organisms. Rapid production of reactive oxygen species often is associated with plant defense against pathogens, but their molecular mechanisms are not known. We introduced the constitutively active and the dominant negative forms of the small GTP-binding protein OsRac1, a rice homolog of human Rac, into the wild type and a lesion mimic mutant of rice and analyzed H(2)O(2) production and cell death in transformed cell cultures and plants. The results indicate that Rac is a regulator of reactive oxygen species production as well as cell death in rice.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

[Genes, molecules, and mechanisms regulating programmed cell death].

Apoptosis is a morphologically distinct form of programmed cellular death that plays a central role during embryogenesis, tissue homeostasis, and to remove not necessary or potentially dangerous cells. Moreover, disregulation of genes mediating or modulating apoptosis contributes to the pathogenesis of a number of human diseases, including cancer, autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, viral infections and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. A number of genes and molecules promoting or protective against cell death is at present-day known and an important information about the external and internal signals involved in stimulation and suppression of apoptosis is also emerging. In the intracellular pathway of the death deregulation of [Ca2+](i) plays a pivotal role. Increased ionized intracellular calcium stimulates both the activation of enzymes (protein kinases, endonucleases, proteases and phospholipases) and plasma membrane K+ channels. This calcium-mediated activation leads to morphostructural changes, such as cell shrinkage, cytoplasmatic blebbing, nuclear chromatin condensation and DNA degradation into oligonucleosomal fragments. At least some genes of the cell death pathway have been conserved throughout animal evolution; ced-3 e ced-9 that regulate the initiation of cellular suicide in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans are homologous to genes that in mammalian cells are thought to play a similar role (interleukin-1 beta converting enzyme [ICE] family, Bcl-2). It is possible to suppose that these regulators could constitute a target for treatment of disorders related with disregulation of apoptosis.

Apoptosis↗

Apoptosis in cardiovascular remodeling--effect of medication.

In the last decade, apoptosis has emerged as a key determinant of target organ damage in cardiovascular diseases. The suggestion that increased cardiomyocyte apoptosis participates in the etiology of heart failure probably contributed to the negative view of the prevalence of apoptosis in the field of cardiovascular diseases. However, we and others have shown that up-regulation of apoptosis in certain cardiovascular cells may contribute to the beneficial action of antihypertensive drugs on target-organ structure. As an explanation for this apparent discrepancy, the same stimulus, e.g. angiotensin II, can induce apoptosis or stimulate cell growth in different cell types (e.g., cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts, respectively). Using the angiotensin pathway as a paradigm, this review proposes an integrative view of cell growth and cell death regulation in cardiovascular cells in order to illustrate how cell-specific responses to the same stimulus may in part explain the patterns of cell population dynamics during the development and treatment of target organ damage in hypertension.

Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists↗

Dying for NF-kappaB? Control of cell death by transcriptional regulation of the apoptotic machinery.

The transcription factor nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) is a pleiotropic protein complex that is activated from a sequestered, cytoplasmic form by pro-inflammatory extracellular signals and cellular stress. Several hundred cellular genes have been shown to be regulated by NF-kappaB, including cytokines, chemokines and adhesion molecules. Nearly eight years ago, a flurry of publications showed that loss or suppression of NF-kappaB results in an enhanced sensitivity to apoptosis. In the ensuing years, activation of NF-kappaB has become almost synonymous with enhanced cell survival, although more recent data suggests that this transcription factor plays a more complex role in the regulation of cell death.

Animals↗

Steroid regulated programmed cell death during Drosophila metamorphosis.

During insect metamorphosis, pulses of the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (ecdysone) direct the destruction of obsolete larval tissues and their replacement by tissues and structures that form the adult fly. We show here that larval midgut and salivary gland histolysis are stage-specific steroid-triggered programmed cell death responses. Dying larval midgut and salivary gland cell nuclei become permeable to the vital dye acridine orange and their DNA undergoes fragmentation, indicative of apoptosis. Furthermore, the histolysis of these tissues can be inhibited by ectopic expression of the baculovirus anti-apoptotic protein p35, implicating a role for caspases in the death response. Coordinate stage-specific induction of the Drosophila death genes reaper (rpr) and head involution defective (hid) immediately precedes the destruction of the larval midgut and salivary gland. In addition, the diap2 anti-cell death gene is repressed in larval salivary glands as rpr and hid are induced, suggesting that the death of this tissue is under both positive and negative regulation. Finally, diap2 is repressed by ecdysone in cultured salivary glands under the same conditions that induce rpr expression and trigger programmed cell death. These studies indicate that ecdysone directs the death of larval tissues via the precise stage- and tissue-specific regulation of key death effector genes.

Acridine Orange↗