Caspase-independent apoptosis in yeast

Apoptosis is a highly regulated cellular suicide program crucial for metazoan development. Yeast counterparts of central metazoan apoptotic regulators, such as metacaspase Yca1p, have been identified. In spite of the importance of Yca1p in yeast apoptotic process, many other factors such as Aif1p, orthologs of EndoG, AMID and cyclophilin D play important roles in caspase-independent apoptotic pathways. This review summarized recent progress about studies of various intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic stimuli that may induce yeast cell death via caspase-independent apoptosis.     

通过核质转运调节细胞凋亡的蛋白质

凋亡,也称Ⅰ型程序性细胞死亡,是细胞在面临严重威胁时发起的保护性主动死亡机制. 凋亡对于个体的生长发育及各种生理功能具有不可或缺的作用. 作为涉及整个细胞的复杂过程,凋亡的顺利进行有赖于众多凋亡相关因子的协调合作与精确调控. 细胞受到凋亡刺激后,核内的某些蛋白质转运出核,将凋亡信号传递到核外,胞质内的多种蛋白质则转运入核,在细胞核这一信息整合的大本营直接发挥作用. 这种双向交流机制在胞核与胞质间建立起密切的联系,同时使得相关蛋白质在特定场所发挥促进或抑制凋亡的作用,确保凋亡信号及时、通畅、有序地传递. 因此,蛋白质的核质转运作为介导胞核与胞质物质交换、信号交流的关键机制,在凋亡过程中就显得尤为重要. 本文主要就核质转运的机制、通过核质转运调节凋亡的蛋白质及其作用机理作一综述.     

Adeno-associated virus-mediated antiapoptotic gene delivery: in vivo gene therapy for neurological disorders

Apoptosis is an important mechanism of physiological and pathological cell death and is known to occur in various neurological disorders. Apoptosis is associated with activation of genetic programs in which apoptosis-effector genes promote cell death, thereby opposing repressor genes that enhance cell survival. In this review, we describe various apoptotic pathways, with a special reference to the caspase cascade and discuss the role of individual antiapoptotic factors in various target diseases. Apoptosis could be suppressed by in vivo gene delivery of antiapoptotic factors directly into the central nervous system. The adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector is a good candidate for such gene therapy because it can infect postmitotic neurons. We also describe our in vivo system for overexpression of apoptotic protease activating factor-1 (Apaf-1) caspase recruitment domain as an Apaf1-dominant negative inhibitor (Apaf-1-DN) to regulate the mitochondrial caspase cascade. Apaf-1-DN delivery using an AAV vector system inhibited mitochondrial apoptotic signaling pathway and prevented dopaminergic cell death in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease. Our results suggest that AAV-Apaf-1-DN is potentially useful as an antimitochondrial apoptotic gene therapy for neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease.     

The role of mitochondria in apoptosis

Apoptosis (programmed cell death) is a cellular self-destruction mechanism that is essential for a variety of biological events, such as developmental sculpturing, tissue homeostasis, and the removal of unwanted cells. Mitochondria play a crucial role in regulating cell death. Ca2+ has long been recognized as a participant in apoptotic pathways. Mitochondria are known to modulate and synchronize Ca2+ signaling. Massive accumulation of Ca2+ in the mitochondria leads to apoptosis. The Ca2+ dynamics of ER and mitochondria appear to be modulated by the Bcl-2 family proteins, key factors involved in apoptosis. The number and morphology of mitochondria are precisely controlled through mitochondrial fusion and fission process by numerous mitochondria-shaping proteins. Mitochondrial fission accompanies apoptotic cell death and appears to be important for progression of the apoptotic pathway. Here, we highlight and discuss the role of mitochondrial calcium handling and mitochondrial fusion and fission machinery in apoptosis.     

Apoptosis in ventricular myocytes: the role of tumor suppressor proteins

Apoptosis or programmed cell death is an important physiologic event crucial for the selective removal of damaged or unwanted cells from body tissues. In the cardiovascular system, apoptosis has been observed in the vasculature and myocardium. Untimely or inappropriate myocardial cell loss through an apoptotic process may contribute to ventricular remodeling and the ultimate demise of ventricular function following injury. Therapeutic interventions designed to modulate or prevent myocardial apoptotic cell loss may therefore prove beneficial in maintaining cardiac function. Incite into the molecular mechanisms that govern apoptosis in mammalian cells has led to the identification of several key factors that promote or prevent the apoptotic process. In this report, we discuss putative regulators of cardiac cell apoptosis with specific reference to the tumor suppressor proteins, p53 and Rb. The interplay between these factors, as well as the anti-apoptotic molecules related to the Bcl-2 the family are discussed in the context of the heart under normal and disease conditions.     

Serine/threonine protein kinases and apoptosis

Over the past decade, our understanding of apoptosis, or programmed cell death, has increased greatly, with the identification of some of the major components of the apoptotic programme and the processes regulating their activation. Although apoptosis is an intrinsic process present in all cells, it can be regulated by extrinsic factors, including hormones, growth factors, cell surface receptors, and cellular stress. The actions of both pro- and antiapoptotic factors are often affected by modulation of the phosphorylation status of key elements of the apoptotic process. This minireview will focus on the role of protein kinases in apoptosis. Apoptosis is a multistep process and protein kinases have been implicated both in the upstream induction phase of apoptosis and in the downstream execution stage, as the direct targets for caspases. Due to the space constraints of this review it is not possible to discuss all of the kinases involved in the apoptotic process and we have focused here on the role of the serine/threonine protein kinases. The kinases of this family that have been suggested to play a role in apoptosis are the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family, specifically p42/44 ERK, p38 MAPK and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), protein kinase B (PKB), or Akt and protein kinase C (PKC). We have also considered briefly the potential for the regulation of these kinases by tyrosine protein kinases, such as c-abl.     

动物细胞培养过程中的细胞凋亡

细胞培养过程中的细胞凋亡是细胞受环境因素的影响而发生的现象。随着对细胞凋亡的分子生物学和细胞生物学了解的深入,显示了有效地控制动物细胞培养中细胞凋亡的巨大潜力。包括采用ＤＮＡ重组技术把抗细胞凋亡的基因导入细胞和在培基中加入具有抗细胞凋亡的生存因子或化合物等手段已用于控制细胞培养过程中的细胞凋亡。这些技术将大大延长细胞达到饱和密度后的培养时间,提高细胞培养系统的生产效率。     

Potential role of macrophages as immunoregulators of pregnancy

The role of the maternal immune system during pregnancy has focused mainly on the aspect of immune tolerance to the invading trophoblast and, therefore, fetus. While this is a critical aspect of reproductive immunology, it is also important to consider the function of the maternal immune system in the promotion of implantation and maintenance of pregnancy. Apoptosis or cell death is not the final stage in tissue development. The quick and effective removal of apoptotic cells by tissue macrophages represents a vital process preventing "leak" of self-antigens and promoting the production of proliferative/survival factors. One of the key requirements of apoptotic cell clearance is the resolution of inflammatory conditions, which, as in the case of pregnancy, may have lethal consequences. This review will focus on decidual macrophages and their role on apoptosis and cell clearance during pregnancy.     

Apoptosis Dependent Decrease of the Intramembrane Ion Traffic in Cultured Mouse Fibroblasts Shown by Conductivity Dispersion

We have investigated the intramembranal ion traffic in apoptotic 3T6 cells in culture. Apoptosis was induced by various treatments, such as serum deprivation, high density growth and hydrogen peroxide at subnecrotic doses. Cell death was assessed by nucleosomal DNA fragmentation, single cell electrophoresis, immunofluorescence and histological staining. To study the modifications of membrane structure and function, we adopted a well established biophysical strategy based on the measurement of the electrical conductivity of cell suspensions, as a function of the frequency of the electrical field applied to the sample. A comparison between the conductivity of normal and apoptotic cell suspensions shows that programmed cell death causes a decrease of membrane conductivity which indicates a diminished intramembranal ion traffic. Our results strongly suggest that one of the early events in the triggering of apoptosis is represented by an overall reduction of plasma membrane function. Finally, our results are in agreement with the idea that the nucleus is not the sole target of the apoptotic process.     

Proteomic approach to apoptotic thymus maturation

Apoptosis is an essential process for selection of T lymphocytes specific for foreign antigen in the process of mammalian thymus maturation. Proteomics, a comprehensive study of proteins expressed in a cell, will facilitate the systematic analysis of protein molecules related to such a complicated biological system. Protein expression profiles including information about protein signatures, localization and their quantitative changes with extracellular stimulations are extremely useful to construct intracellular pathway models resulting in the apoptotic cell death.     

Programmed Cell Death Initiation and Execution in Budding Yeast

Apoptosis or programmed cell death (PCD) was initially described in metazoans as a genetically controlled process leading to intracellular breakdown and engulfment by a neighboring cell . This process was distinguished from other forms of cell death like necrosis by maintenance of plasma membrane integrity prior to engulfment and the well-defined genetic system controlling this process. Apoptosis was originally described as a mechanism to reshape tissues during development. Given this context, the assumption was made that this process would not be found in simpler eukaryotes such as budding yeast. Although basic components of the apoptotic pathway were identified in yeast, initial observations suggested that it was devoid of prosurvival and prodeath regulatory proteins identified in mammalian cells. However, as apoptosis became extensively linked to the elimination of damaged cells, key PCD regulatory proteins were identified in yeast that play similar roles in mammals. This review highlights recent discoveries that have permitted information regarding PCD regulation in yeast to now inform experiments in animals.     

The role of apoptosis in the pathogenesis of malignant melanoma

Malignant melanoma genesis is a very complex process that involves a sequence of pathogenetic cellular events. Mutation of various genes and numerous other cellular mechanisms play an important role in the course of malignant melanocyte alteration and their malignant transformation from naevi into melanoma. Apoptosis is an active, genetically controlled process of programmed cell death, which leads to cell destruction and cell death without involvement of surrounding cells or inflammatory response. In this process, disrupted mechanisms of cell regulation and apoptosis take place in malignant melanoma cells, thus leading to their uncontrolled proliferation and melanocyte growth. Apoptosis is a process that involves two major pathways, the intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathway, which interlace at certain points and ultimately result in apoptosis. It can be said that molecular events regulating cell survival, normal growth arrest, apoptosis and cell differentiation, contribute to the overall pathogenesis of malignant cell growth. It is presumed that in the future, understanding of molecular aberrations and cellular processes, such as cell signaling, cell cycle regulation and cell apoptosis, will be essential for better patient monitoring and rational design of effective treatment.     

Mort programmée des cellules germinales testiculaires: causes et mécanismes mis en jeu

Spermatogenesis results from a balance between proliferation and apoptosis. An alteration in this balance could lead to testicular diseases such as testicular tumour or infertility. Apoptosis seem to be important in regulating the processes of spermatogenesis since 60 to 75% of germ cells do not reach the spermatozoa stage. The various molecules of the apoptotic cascade have been detected in rodent or human germ cells, such as effector caspases and upstream proteins from cell death receptor or mitochondrial pathways. One or several different pathways may be involved in the germ cell apoptotic process triggered physiologically, by hormonal deprivation, or by chemical or physical inducers. Finally, caspases appear to play a role in various testicular diseases (particularly infertility).     

Mitochondrial intermembrane proteins in cell death

Apoptosis is a form of programmed cell death important in the development and tissue homeostasis of multicellular organisms. Mitochondria have, next to their function in respiration, an important role in the apoptotic-signaling pathway. Malfunctioning at any level of the cell is eventually translated in the release of apoptogenic factors from the mitochondrial intermembrane space resulting in the organized demise of the cell. Some of these factors, such as AIF and endonuclease G, appear to be highly conserved during evolution. Other factors, like cytochrome c, have gained their apoptogenic function later during evolution. In this review, we focus on the role of cytochrome c, AIF, endonuclease G, Smac/DIABLO, Omi/HtrA2, Acyl-CoA-binding protein, and polypyrimidine tract-binding protein in the initiation and modulation of cell death in different model organisms. These mitochondrial factors may contribute to both caspase-dependent and caspase-independent processes in apoptotic cell death.     

Apoptosis: Programmed cell death in health and disease

Apoptosis is a normal physiological cell death process of eliminating unwanted cells from living organisms during embryonic and adult development. Apoptotic cells are characterised by fragmentation of nuclear DNA and formation of apoptotic bodies. Genetic analysis revealed the involvement of many death and survival genes in apoptosis which are regulated by extracellular factors. There are multiple inducers and inhibitors of apoptosis which interact with target cell specific surface receptors and transduce the signal by second messengers to programme cell death. The regulation of apoptosis is elusive, but defective regulation leads to aetiology of various ailments. Understanding the molecular mechanism of apoptosis including death genes, death signals, surface receptors and signal pathways will provide new insights in developing strategies to regulate the cell survival/death. The current knowledge on the molecular events of apoptotic cell death and their significance in health and disease is reviewed.     

Regulation of apoptosis in mast cells

Apoptosis is a physiological process of cell death that occurs in all multicellular organisms. Its dysregulation has been postulated as one of the main causes in the development of diseases such as cancer, AIDS, autoimmune diseases and allergy. Apoptosis has been mainly studied in the inflammatory cells that participate in the late and chronic stages of allergy (eosinophils, neutrophils, lymphocytes and macrophages) as a new way to elucidate the pathogenesis of this disease. Nevertheless, much less it is known about the regulation of apoptosis in the initiators of the allergic process: The Mast Cells. In normal conditions, mast cells are described as long-living cells that keep a constant number of cells in tissues. However, increased numbers of mast cells are observed in the late phase of asthma and in both the inflammatory and in the repair/remodeling stage of various inflammatory/fibrotic disorders. In this report, we discuss the possible mechanisms that regulate the apoptotic process in normal conditions and disease, such as survival factors and death receptors. A link between mast cell activation, during the early stages of the allergic process, and triggering of anti-apoptotic signaling pathways is also suggested as an important contributor to the extended life of mast cells.     

Caspase-dependant activation of chymotrypsin-like proteases mediates nuclear events during Jurkat T cell apoptosis

Apoptosis involves a cascade of biochemical and morphological changes resulting in the systematic disintegration of the cell. Caspases are central mediators of this process. Supporting and primary roles for serine proteases as pro-apoptotic mediators have also been highlighted. Evidence for such roles comes largely from the use of pharmacological inhibitors; as a consequence information regarding their apoptotic function and biochemical properties has been limited. Here, we circumvented limitations associated with traditional serine protease inhibitors through use of a fluorescently labelled inhibitor of serine proteases (FLISP) that allowed for analysis of the specificity, regulation and positioning of apoptotic serine proteases within a classical apoptotic cascade. We demonstrate that staurosporine triggers a caspase-dependant induction of chymotrypsin-like activity in the nucleus of apoptotic Jurkat T cells. We show that serine protease activity is required for the generation of late stage nuclear events including condensation, fragmentation and DNA degradation. Furthermore, we reveal caspase-dependant activation of two chymotrypsin-like protein species that we hypothesize mediate cell death-associated nuclear events.     

Characterisation of cDNAs of key genes involved in apoptosis in common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)

Apoptosis is a morphologically and biochemically distinct form of eukaryotic cell death that occurs under a variety of physiological and pathological conditions. Many of the cell deaths that occur during normal embryological development and during normal tissue turnover display the morphological hallmarks of apoptosis. In the last 20 or so years a better biochemical picture of how the process occurs has been produced, at least in higher vertebrates. It is now widely accepted that many of the proteolytic cleavages occurring during apoptosis are mediated by caspases, the activation of which, in turn, has been found to be tightly regulated. The current study focuses on the sequencing and analysis of key genes involved in the apoptotic process, based on sequence similarity to known apoptosis genes from genetic models such as zebrafish (Danio rerio) and other vertebrates. The present study identifies key components of the apoptotic process in common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.), which in turn can be used, for example, to monitor the fate of the cellular components of the immune system after an immune challenge.