凋亡蛋白:特异性触发肿瘤细胞死亡的蛋白质

凋亡蛋白(apoptin)是近年来发现由鸡贫血病毒(CAV)vp3基因产生的蛋白质, 主要引起鸡淋巴细胞凋亡[ 1、2 ].进一步研究发现, 凋亡蛋白具有一种抗肿瘤细胞特异性, 即仅仅诱导肿瘤细胞或转化细胞凋亡, 而对正常细胞或二倍体细胞不起作用.更让人感兴趣的是, 凋亡蛋白诱导的凋亡不依赖功能性P53的生成, 也不被BAG-1、Bcr-abl的生成所抑制, 甚至不受凋亡抑制因子Bcl-2过分产生的影响[3、4].这些特性预示, 凋亡蛋白可被用作一种治疗因子, 只要它在体内能被大量传递给肿瘤细胞, 就可选择性地将它们根除.这一诱人的基因治疗策略超越了目前所有基因治疗方法, 可能会给肿瘤的基因治疗带来广阔前景.     

从人白细胞cDNA文库筛选凋亡素相互作用蛋白

来源于鸡贫血病毒的小分子蛋白-凋亡素(apoptin)能够选择性诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡,为研究其选择性诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡的分子机制,利用酵母双杂交系统筛选从人白细胞cDNA文库筛选apoptin相互作用蛋白,核酸序列分析及同源性检索表明,其中一个与ABP280（actin-binding protein 280）有高度同源性.细胞免疫共沉淀实验结果显示：在哺乳动物细胞水平仍能够检测到apoptin与ABP280片段的特异的相互作用.分别构建缺失C端11个氨基酸、中间33～46位氨基酸和二者均缺失的apoptin的3个突变体, 突变体与ABP280相互作用研究表明：apoptin的33～46位氨基酸（核外运信号）对于apoptin 与ABP280的相互作用是必需的,而C端核定位信号/DNA结合序列对于apoptin 与ABP280的相互作用不是充分必要的.     

细胞色素C在apoptin诱导宫颈癌Hela细胞凋亡中的作用

目的研究肿瘤特异性凋亡基因（apoptin）在诱导Hela细胞凋亡中的信号转导机制。方法用含有apoptin基因的真核表达载体瞬间转染体外培养的Hela细胞;采用MTT法检测Hela细胞的凋亡;以比色法检测caspase-8和caspase-3的相对活性;Western blotting检测凋亡细胞中细胞色素C的表达量。结果 MTT法证明ap-optin基因瞬间转染的Hela细胞凋亡率明显高于其他各组（P〈0.01）;caspase-3的活性升高,但caspase-8活性没有明显变化;细胞色素C释放量明显增多。结论 Apoptin基因可能通过促进线粒体释放细胞色素C激活caspase-3,进而诱导Hela细胞凋亡。     

Apoptin的分子生物学基础及作用特点

Ａｐｏｐｔｉｎ是由鸡贫血病毒编码的一种小分子蛋白,它以非Ｐ５３依赖性途径诱导不同类型人肿瘤细胞的凋亡,采用Ｂｃｌ－２的抑制作用,令人感兴趣的是Ａｐｏｐｔｉｎ不诱导人类正常细胞的凋亡,但当正常细胞被病毒转化后则易受Ａｐｏｐｔｉｎ诱导的凋亡,这些特性使得Ａｐｏｐｔｉｎ很可能成为一种极具潜力的抗肿瘤生物制剂。     

TAT-凋亡素融合蛋白的表达及其抗肿瘤活性

凋亡素(apoptin)由鸡贫血病毒vp3基因编码,能特异地诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡而对正常细胞 没有毒性,为了获得可转导入细胞内部的凋亡素,将人工合成的编码TAT蛋白转导结构域的DNA片段与凋亡素编码基因克隆入质粒pET-28a内,构建出表达融合蛋白TAT-apoptin的原核表达载体pET-28a-TAT-apoptin.在大肠杆菌Rosetta（DE3）中表达融合蛋白,利用IDA -Ni2+ 亲和柱纯化,葡聚糖凝胶G 25除去尿素后得到可溶的变性蛋白.纯化后的TAT apoptin加入体外培养的人脐静脉内皮细胞(HUVECs)和人肺癌Anip973细胞,对照组加入TAT-麦芽糖结合蛋白（TAT-MBP）. 经免疫组化检测,转导1 h后TAT-MBP分布于以上两种细胞的胞浆和胞核,TAT-apoptin则主要分布于2种细胞的胞浆内,转导24 h后TAT-MBP的亚细胞定位没有变化,TAT-apoptin分别定位于HUVECs的胞浆和Anip973的胞核中.脱氧核糖核苷酸末端转移酶介导的缺口末端标记法（TUNEL）显示转导48 h后,TAT-MBP处理过的 HUVECs和Anip973细胞、TAT-apoptin处理过的HUVECs没有明显改变,而TAT-apoptin处理过的Anip973细胞大量凋亡.以上结果表明TAT apoptin融合蛋白在肿瘤治疗上有潜在的应用价值.     

来源于鸡贫血病毒的凋亡素研究进展

肿瘤化疗药物多以p53依赖性途径诱导细胞凋亡,而许多肿瘤在发生过程中丧失了D53功能;此外,在肿瘤发生过程中往往伴随着抑制细胞凋亡的bcl-2蛋白的高水平表达。而来源于鸡贫血病毒的凋亡素能够选择性地诱导肿瘤细胞和转化细胞发生凋亡,并以非p53依赖性途径诱导细胞凋亡,不受bcl-2蛋白的抑制作用。因此,凋亡素作为1种抗肿瘤制剂用于肿瘤治疗能够选择性地诱导肿瘤细胞和转化细胞发生凋亡,而并不杀伤人和鼠的正常二倍体细胞,且无毒副作用…,具有很好的临床应用前景。     

细胞凋亡信号途径与免疫系统之间的串流

细胞凋亡作为一种生命体的主要细胞死亡方式,在清除多余或受感染细胞中发挥重要作用.尽管在组织或胚胎正常发育过程中,细胞凋亡诱导免痉反应比较温和,但在病毒感染或者对死亡受体(death receptor.DR)进行刺激时凋亡可以触发强烈的天然和获得性免疫反应.凋亡信号途径中的分子与免疫系统有着复杂的相互作用.本文综述了有关凋亡性死亡在诱导炎症,维持免疫系统动态平衡,促进免疫应答以及凋亡信号途径和免疫系统抗病毒机制相互关系等方面的研究成果,分析细胞凋亡所诱发免疫效应的机制.     

非酒精性脂肪性肝病细胞凋亡的内质网应激启动机制

内质网应激反应,是由于某些因素导致内质网的生理功能紊乱引起的一种细胞自我防御保护机制.内质网应激所诱导的细胞凋亡是近年来新被认识的一种凋亡途径,它不同于既往经典线粒体、死亡受体介导的细胞凋亡.当短暂性内质网应激时,通过激活未折叠蛋白反应来增强机体自我保护及生存能力;而持续性应激状态下,如非酒精性脂肪性肝病所诱导的内质网应激启动一系列凋亡途径如CHOP、JNK、Caspase等,上述凋亡途径可以加速诱导肝细胞凋亡,使NAFLD向肝纤维化方向甚至肝硬化发展.     

凋亡蛋白的基因表达、纯化和体外活性

来源于鸡贫血病毒的小分子蛋白质凋亡蛋白（apoptin）能够选择性诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡,原核表达的凋亡蛋白是否具有体内的凋亡活性,对于用无细胞体系研究凋亡蛋白诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡机制和今后更好地开发凋亡素的临床应用具有重要意义。据此,采用原核表达载体pBV220和 pPROEXHT进行了凋亡蛋白的原核表达和纯化复性研究,体外证明了凋亡蛋白的凋亡诱导活性,并揭示原核表达的凋亡蛋白即使没有细胞质的参与,仍具有诱导细胞核凋亡的活性。     

高糖通过线粒体途径诱导成骨细胞凋亡

线粒体途径是细胞凋亡的重要途径之一. 在特定的刺激下,例如高糖条件,可以通过caspase依赖性和非依赖性两种途径诱导多种细胞凋亡.但线粒体凋亡途径在高糖引起成骨细胞凋亡中所起的作用,目前尚不清楚.本研究证明,高糖可以通过线粒体凋亡途径诱导成骨细胞凋亡.Annexin V-FITC/PI流式细胞学检测显示,高糖可诱导MC3T3-E1细胞凋亡.Western印迹检测发现,不同浓度D-葡萄糖（11,22,33 mmol/L）可以引起线粒体中Bax蛋白表达的增加,使Bax蛋白由细胞质中易位到线粒体,激活了线粒体凋亡途径.JC-1荧光探针检测证实,高糖处理成骨细胞后,线粒体膜电位明显降低,表明线粒体途径被激活.而细胞质中的细胞色素c、凋亡诱导因子（AIF）表达增加,细胞色素c和AIF从线粒体中释放到细胞质中,释放到细胞质中的细胞色素c使caspase-3、caspase-9剪切活化,从而激活了caspase依赖性凋亡途径.因此,线粒体凋亡途径可能是高糖诱导成骨细胞凋亡过程中一个重要的途径.     

Mitotic catastrophe triggered in human cancer cells by the viral protein apoptin

Mitotic catastrophe is an oncosuppressive mechanism that senses mitotic failure leading to cell death or senescence. As such, it protects against aneuploidy and genetic instability, and its induction in cancer cells by exogenous agents is currently seen as a promising therapeutic end point. Apoptin, a small protein from Chicken Anemia Virus (CAV), is known for its ability to selectively induce cell death in human tumor cells. Here, we show that apoptin triggers p53-independent abnormal spindle formation in osteosarcoma cells. Approximately 50% of apoptin-positive cells displayed non-bipolar spindles, a 10-fold increase as compared to control cells. Besides, tumor cells expressing apoptin are greatly limited in their progress through anaphase and telophase, and a significant drop in mitotic cells past the meta-to-anaphase transition is observed. Time-lapse microscopy showed that mitotic osteosarcoma cells expressing apoptin displayed aberrant mitotic figures and/or had a prolonged cycling time during mitosis. Importantly, all dividing cells expressing apoptin eventually underwent cell death either during mitosis or during the following interphase. We infer that apoptin can efficiently trigger cell death in dividing human tumor cells through induction of mitotic catastrophe. However, the killing activity of apoptin is not only confined to dividing cells, as the CAV-derived protein is also able to trigger caspase-3 activation and apoptosis in non-mitotic cancer cells.     

Proteasomal insensitivity of apoptin in tumor cells

The small viral protein apoptin is capable of inducing apoptosis selectively in human tumor cells. In normal cells apoptin localizes in the cytoplasm where it forms aggregates, becomes epitope-shielded and eventually degraded. By inhibiting the proteasome activity with the chemical inhibitors bortezomib and Ada-Ahx(3)L(3)VS apoptin levels can be stabilized in normal cells similar to the tumor suppressor p53 protein. In contrast, proteasome inhibition in tumor cells did not affect the apoptin stability while it still stabilized p53 levels. Apparently, apoptin is degraded by proteasomal activity in normal human cells, a process that no longer takes place in tumor cells. This loss of proteasomal susceptibility appears to be specific for apoptin.     

Enhanced expression of apoptin by the Myc-Max binding motif and SV40 enhancer for SCLC gene therapy

Apoptin is derived from chicken anemia virus (CAV) and known to induce tumor specific apoptosis but not normal cells. The aim of this study was to use increased expression of apoptin by the Myc-Max response element (MMRE) and SV40 enhancer in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) gene therapy. To investigate the possibility of the utilization of the MMRE, apoptin, and SV40 promoter/enhancer in targeted cancer gene therapy, adenovirus vector expressing apoptin controlled by the MMRE, and SV40 promoter/enhancer was constructed. Ad-MMRE-apoptin-enh infected SCLC cells were significantly suppressed and induced apoptosis more than those of Ad-apoptin or Ad-apoptin-enh. Infection with Ad-MMRE-apoptin-enh of normal cells did not increase apoptosis. About 85% of SCLC tumors show overexpression of the myc family, so the increased expression of apoptin by MMRE and SV40 enhancer can be used in targeted SCLC gene therapy. These results indicate that apoptin expression was increased by the MMRE and SV40 promoter/enhancer, and that this strategy can be used in SCLC targeted cancer gene therapy.     

Prevalent conformations and subunit exchange in the biologically active apoptin protein multimer.

Recombinant, bacterially expressed apoptin protein induces apoptosis in human tumour cell lines but not in normal cells, mimicking the behaviour of ectopically expressed apoptin. Recombinant apoptin is isolated exclusively as a highly stable multimeric complex of 30-40 monomers, with little, if any, alpha-helical and beta-sheet structure. Despite its apparent disorder, multimeric apoptin is biologically active. Here, we present evidence that most of the apoptin moieties within the complex may well share a similar conformation. Furthermore, the multimer has extensive and uniform hydrophobic patches and conformationally stable domains. Only a small fraction of apoptin subunits can exchange between multimers under physiologically relevant conditions. These results prompt a model in which the apoptin multimer has a highly stable core of nonexchangeable subunits to which exchangeable subunits are attached through hydrophobic interactions. In combination with previous findings, our results lead us to propose that the stable core of apoptin is the biologically relevant structure.     

Apoptin与肿瘤细胞凋亡

Apoptin是一种能够特异性地诱导肿瘤细胞和转化细胞凋亡的小蛋白质。简要综述了Apoptin的来源及其分子生物学特性、Apoptin诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡的特点和分子机制、Apoptin在肿瘤治疗方面的研究进展,以及Apoptin作为一种抗肿瘤制剂的应用前景。     

Apoptin induces pyroptosis of colorectal cancer cells via the GSDME-dependent pathway

Apoptin is a small molecular weight protein encoded by the VP3 gene of chicken anemia virus (CAV). It can induce apoptosis of tumor cells and play anti-tumorigenic functions. In this study, we identified a time-dependent inhibitory role of apoptin on the viability of HCT116 cells. We also demonstrated that apoptin induces pyroptosis through cleaved caspase 3, and with a concomitant cleavage of gasdermin E (GSDME) rather than GSDMD. GSDME knockdown switched the apoptin-induced cell death from pyroptosis to apoptosis in vitro. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the effect of apoptin on GSDME-dependent pyroptosis could be mitigated by caspase-3 and caspase-9 siRNA knockdown. Additionally, apoptin enhanced the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), causing aggregation of the mitochondrial membrane protein Tom20. Moreover, bax and cytochrome c were released to the activating caspase-9, eventually triggering pyroptosis. Therefore, GSDME mediates the apoptin-induced pyroptosis through the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Finally, using nude mice xenografted with HCT116 cells, we found that apoptin induces pyroptosis and significantly inhibits tumor growth. Based on this mechanism, apoptin may provide a new strategy for colorectal cancer therapy.     

Apoptin induces apoptosis by changing the equilibrium between the stability of TAp73 and ΔNp73 isoforms through ubiquitin ligase PIR2

Apoptin, a protein derived from the chicken anaemia virus, induces cell death in various cancer cells but shows little or no cytotoxicity in normal cells. The mechanism of apoptin-induced cell death is currently unknown but it appears to induce apoptosis independent of p53 status. Here we show that p73, a p53 family member, is important in apoptin-induced apoptosis. In p53 deficient and/or mutated cells, apoptin induced the expression of TAp73 leading to the induction of apoptosis. Knockdown of p73 using siRNA resulted in a significant reduction in apoptin-induced cytotoxicity. The p53 and p73 pro-apoptotic target PUMA plays an important role in apoptin-induced cell death as knockdown of PUMA significantly reduced cell sensitivity to apoptin. Importantly, apoptin expression resulted in a marked increase in TAp73 protein stability. Investigation into the mechanisms of TAp73 stability showed that apoptin induced the expression of the ring finger domain ubiquitin ligase PIR2 which is involved in the degradation of the anti-apoptotic ?Np73 isoform. Collectively, our results suggest a novel mechanism of apoptin-induced apoptosis through increased TAp73 stability and induction of PIR2 resulting in the degradation of ?Np73 and activation of pro-apoptotic targets such as PUMA causing cancer cell death.     

瘤体内注射凋亡素基因诱导人骨肉瘤S180细胞株凋亡研究

观察瘤体内注射凋亡素基因诱导人骨肉瘤S180细胞株凋亡的效果。利用脂体介导将重组质粒pCDNAVP3转染至荷瘤裸鼠肿瘤结节内。PCR和RT PCR检测结果表明 ,质粒可存在和持续表达 14d以上。抑瘤试验结果证实 ,凋亡素可抑制S180细胞的生长 ,抑瘤率达 2 7.2 %。TUNFL染色法检测结果表明 ,试验组的TUNEL阳性细胞率明显高于对照组。上述结果显示 ,所注射的凋亡素基因可诱导人骨肉瘤S180细胞株凋亡。