Cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase A regulates apoptosis by stabilizing the BH3-only protein Bim

The proapoptotic Bcl2 homology domain 3(BH3)-only protein Bim is controlled by stringent post-translational regulation, predominantly through alterations in phosphorylation status. To identify new kinases involved in its regulation, we carried out a yeast two-hybrid screen using a non-spliceable variant of the predominant isoform--Bim(EL)--as the bait and identified the regulatory subunit of cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase A--PRKAR1A--as an interacting partner. We also show that protein kinase A (PKA) is a Bim(EL) isoform-specific kinase that promotes its stabilization. Inhibition of PKA or mutation of the PKA phosphorylation site within Bim(EL) resulted in its accelerated proteasome-dependent degradation. These results might have implications for human diseases that are characterized by abnormally increased PKA activity, such as the Carney complex and dilated cardiomyopathy.     

Lovastatin-induced up-regulation of the BH3-only protein, Bim, and cell death in glioblastoma cells

The mechanism of lovastatin-induced cell death was examined in three established human glioblastoma cell lines; U87, U251, and U138. Changes in potential modifiers of apoptosis, including Bcl-2 family proteins and MAP kinase targets after such lovastatin treatment, were evaluated. Lovastatin (5 microm) treatment causes extensive cell death in two of the cell lines, U87 and U251; but only minimal in a third, U138. Lovastatin-induced death occurs in correlation with significantly increased levels of the BH3-only protein, Bim. The up-regulation of Bim levels was directly associated with an increased incidence of apoptosis. Lovastatin treatment in U87 cells results in activation of targets of three major mitogen-activating protein kinase cascades including Erk1/2, JNK and p38. Changes in levels of Bim, as well as increase phosphorylation of Erk1/2, c-jun, and p38 are all prevented by co-incubation of lovastatin and the isoprenylation metabolite, geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate. Inhibition of the MAP kinase pathways failed to block the increased expression of Bim expression or cell death. Further elucidation of the mechanisms of lovastatin-induced up-regulation of Bim and apoptosis in glioblastoma cells are important in determining a potential role for lovastatin as a chemotherapy agent.     

The deubiquitinase Usp27x stabilizes the BH3‐only protein Bim and enhances apoptosis

Bim is a pro‐apoptotic Bcl‐2 family member of the BH3‐only protein subgroup. Expression levels of Bim determine apoptosis susceptibility in non‐malignant and in tumour cells. Bim protein expression is downregulated by proteasomal degradation following ERK‐dependent phosphorylation and ubiquitination. Here, we report the identification of a deubiquitinase, Usp27x, that binds Bim upon its ERK‐dependent phosphorylation and can upregulate its expression levels. Overexpression of Usp27x reduces ERK‐dependent Bim ubiquitination, stabilizes phosphorylated Bim, and induces apoptosis in PMA‐stimulated cells, as well as in tumour cells with a constitutively active Raf/ERK pathway. Loss of endogenous Usp27x enhances the Bim‐degrading activity of oncogenic Raf. Overexpression of Usp27x induces low levels of apoptosis in melanoma and non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and substantially enhances apoptosis induced in these cells by the inhibition of ERK signalling. Finally, deletion of Usp27x reduces apoptosis in NSCLC cells treated with an EGFR inhibitor. Thus, Usp27x can trigger via its proteolytic activity the deubiquitination of Bim and enhance its levels, counteracting the anti‐apoptotic effects of ERK activity, and therefore acts as a tumour suppressor.     

The BH3-only protein Puma is both necessary and sufficient for neuronal apoptosis induced by DNA damage in sympathetic neurons

DNA damage activates apoptosis in several neuronal populations and is an important component of neuropathological conditions. While it is well established that neuronal apoptosis, induced by DNA damage, is dependent on the key cell death regulators p53 and Bax, it is unknown which proteins link the p53 signal to Bax. Using rat sympathetic neurons as an in vitro model of neuronal apoptosis, we show that cytosine arabinoside is a DNA damaging drug that induces the expression of the BH3-only pro-apoptotic genes Noxa, Puma and Bim. Increased expression occurred after p53 activation, measured by its phosphorylation at serine 15, but prior to the conformational change of Bax at the mitochondria, cytochrome c (cyt c) release and apoptosis. Hence Noxa, Puma and Bim could potentially link p53 to Bax. We directly tested this hypothesis by the use of nullizygous mice. We show that Puma, but not Bim or Noxa, is a crucial mediator of DNA damage-induced neuronal apoptosis. Despite the powerful pro-apoptotic effects of overexpressed Puma in Bax-expressing neurons, Bax nullizygous neurons were resistant to Puma-induced death. Therefore, Puma provides the critical link between p53 and Bax, and is both necessary and sufficient to mediate DNA damage-induced apoptosis of sympathetic neurons.     

Activation of multidomain and BH3-only pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members in p53-defective cells

In the p53-deficient human B lymphoma Namalwa cell line that quickly undergoes apoptosis after DNA topoisomerase I inhibitor (camptothecin, CPT) treatment, we observed rapid and slight induction of the pro-apoptotic BH3-only Bik, Bim-EL, Bim-L and Bim-S proteins. In contrast, the expression levels of Bad and multidomain Bax-alpha and Bak remained mostly unchanged after CPT treatment. However, multiple pro-apoptotic proteins, including Bax-alpha, Bak, Bik, Bim-EL and Bim-L, translocated rapidly to the mitochondria after CPT treatment. Gel filtration chromatography experiments demonstrated that somes of the pro-apoptotic proteins assemble themselves into high molecular weight protein complexes. The protein composition of these oligomers was further analyzed by co-immunoprecipitation experiments performed on highly purified mitochondrial fractions, which revealed the formation of Bax/Bak, Bax/VDAC1, Bak/VDAC1, Bim/VDAC1 and Bim/Bcl-2 complexes after DNA damage induction. Thus, it appeared that induction, mitochondrial translocation and assembly in multimeric protein complexes of several pro-apoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family correlated with the rapid activation of apoptosis in a p53-independent pathway after CPT-mediated DNA strand breaks.     

Phagocytosis-induced apoptosis in macrophages is mediated by up-regulation and activation of the Bcl-2 homology domain 3-only protein Bim

Cell death by apoptosis is important in immune cell homeostasis and in the defense against infectious microorganisms. The physiological event of uptake and intracellular destruction of bacteria is a powerful apoptotic stimulus to macrophages and neutrophil granulocytes. In this study, we provide a molecular analysis of phagocytosis-induced apoptosis. Apoptosis was blocked by Bcl-2 in a mouse macrophage cell line and in primary mouse macrophages. Analysis of the upstream mechanisms revealed that apoptosis was triggered by the Bcl-2 homology domain 3-only protein Bim/Bod. Contact with bacteria or bacterial components induced a strong increase in Bim-expression through TLR and MyD88. Inhibition of the MAPK p38 and JNK reduced both up-regulation of Bim and apoptosis. Phosphorylation of Bim was further observed in mouse macrophages, which appeared to be the result of TLR-dependent phosphatase inhibition. Although TLR-induced Bim was, unlike Bim in resting cells, not bound to the microtubuli cytoskeleton, the up-regulation of Bim was not sufficient to cause apoptosis. A second signal was required that was generated in the process of phagocytosis. Phagocytosis-induced apoptosis was strongly reduced in Bim(-/-) macrophages. These data provide the molecular context of a form of apoptosis that may serve to dispose of terminally differentiated phagocytes.     

A yeast BH3-only protein mediates the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis

Mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization is a watershed event in the process of apoptosis, which is tightly regulated by a series of pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins belonging to the BCL-2 family, each characteristically possessing a BCL-2 homology domain 3 (BH3). Here, we identify a yeast protein (Ybh3p) that interacts with BCL-X(L) and harbours a functional BH3 domain. Upon lethal insult, Ybh3p translocates to mitochondria and triggers BH3 domain-dependent apoptosis. Ybh3p induces cell death and disruption of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential via the mitochondrial phosphate carrier Mir1p. Deletion of Mir1p and depletion of its human orthologue (SLC25A3/PHC) abolish stress-induced mitochondrial targeting of Ybh3p in yeast and that of BAX in human cells, respectively. Yeast cells lacking YBH3 display prolonged chronological and replicative lifespans and resistance to apoptosis induction. Thus, the yeast genome encodes a functional BH3 domain that induces cell death through phylogenetically conserved mechanisms.     

AICAR induces Bax/Bak-dependent apoptosis through upregulation of the BH3-only proteins Bim and Noxa in mouse embryonic fibroblasts

5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide (AICA) riboside (AICAR) is a nucleoside analogue that is phosphorylated to 5-amino-4-imidazolecarboxamide ribotide (ZMP), which acts as an AMP mimetic and activates AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). It has been recently described that AICAR triggers apoptosis in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells, and its mechanism of action is independent of AMPK as well as p53. AICAR-mediated upregulation of the BH3-only proteins BIM and NOXA correlates with apoptosis induction in CLL cells. Here we propose mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) as a useful model to analyze the mechanism of AICAR-induced apoptosis. ZMP formation was required for AICAR-induced apoptosis, though direct Ampk activation with A-769662 failed to induce apoptosis in MEFs. AICAR potently induced apoptosis in Ampkα1 ^?/? /α2 ^?/? MEFs, demonstrating an Ampk-independent mechanism of cell death activation. In addition, AICAR acts independently of p53, as MEFs lacking p53 also underwent apoptosis normally. Notably, MEFs lacking Bax and Bak were completely resistant to AICAR-induced apoptosis, confirming the involvement of the mitochondrial pathway in its mechanism of action. Apoptosis was preceded by ZMP-dependent but Ampk-independent modulation of the mRNA levels of different Bcl-2 family members, including Noxa, Bim and Bcl-2. Bim protein levels were accumulated upon AICAR treatment of MEFs, suggesting its role in the apoptotic process. Strikingly, MEFs lacking both Bim and Noxa displayed high resistance to AICAR. These findings support the notion that MEFs are a useful system to further dissect the mechanism of AICAR-induced apoptosis.     

Bim plays a crucial role in synergistic induction of apoptosis by the histone deacetylase inhibitor SBHA and TRAIL in melanoma cells

The wide variation in sensitivity of cancer cells to TRAIL- or histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor – induced apoptosis precludes successful treatment of cancer with these agents. We report here that TRAIL and SBHA synergistically induce apoptosis of melanoma cells as revealed by quantitative analysis using the normalized isobologram method. This is supported by enhanced activation of caspase-3 and cleavage of its substrates, PARP and ICAD. Co-treatment with SBHA and TRAIL did not enhance formation of the death-inducing signaling complex (DISC) and processing of caspase-8 and Bid, but potentiated activation of Bax and release of Cytochrome C and Smac/DIABLO from mitochondria into the cytosol. SBHA down-regulated Bcl-X_L, Mcl-1 and XIAP, but up-regulated Bax, Bak, and the BH3-only protein Bim_EL. Up-regulation of the latter by SBHA was attenuated by the presence of TRAIL, which was inhibitable by the pan-caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk. Inhibition of Bim by siRNA attenuated conformational changes of Bax, mitochondrial apoptotic events, and activation of caspase-3, leading to marked inhibition of the synergy between SBHA and TRAIL. Thus, Bim plays an essential role in synergistic induction of apoptosis by SBHA and TRAIL in melanoma. This work was supported by the NSW State Cancer Council, the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Research Institute Sydney, the Hunter Melanoma Foundation, NSW, and the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia. X.D. Zhang is a Cancer Institute NSW Fellow.     

Cloning of zebrafish BAD,a BH3-only proapoptotic protein,whose overexpression leads to apoptosis in COS-1 cells and zebrafish embryos

The BH3-only proapoptotic protein, BAD, was cloned from zebrafish embryos and its properties were characterized. Zebrafish BAD (zBAD) is a protein with 147 amino acids that contains a BH3 domain and a putative 14-3-3 binding site with the sequence of RPRSRS(84)AP, corresponding to S(136) in mouse BAD (mBAD). zBAD shares 34%, 28%, and 29% amino acid sequence identity to the human, mouse, and rat BAD, respectively. RT-PCR analysis revealed that the expression of zBAD gene is found in various parts of zebrafish tissues. The treatment with the z-VAD fmk, a broad-range caspase inhibitor, in COS-1 cells significantly increased the expression of zebrafish BAD fusion proteins (GFP-zBAD and HA-zBAD), indicating that zebrafish BAD fusion proteins may be cleaved by caspase(s). zBAD was shown to induce apoptosis when it was overexpressed in COS-1 cells. In addition, zBAD was also expressed in muscle cells under the muscle-specific promoter from zebrafish alpha-actin gene. Abnormality in the skeletal muscles and the loss of green fluorescence signal in the same region were observed. Taken together, our results indicate that zBAD could induce apoptosis in vitro and in vivo and may have biological implications in apoptosis during zebrafish development.