scholarly journals Proapoptotic BH3-Only Bcl-2 Family Member Bik/Blk/Nbk Is Expressed in Hemopoietic and Endothelial Cells but Is Redundant for Their Programmed Death

2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 1570-1581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leigh Coultas ◽  
Philippe Bouillet ◽  
Edouard G. Stanley ◽  
Thomas C. Brodnicki ◽  
Jerry M. Adams ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The BH3-only members of the Bcl-2 protein family are essential for initiation of programmed cell death and stress-induced apoptosis. We have determined the expression pattern in mice of the BH3-only protein Bik, also called Blk or Nbk, and examined its physiological function by gene targeting. We found that Bik is expressed widely in the hematopoietic compartment and in endothelial cells of the venous but not arterial lineages. Nevertheless, its loss did not increase the numbers of such cells in mice or protect hematopoietic cells in vitro from apoptosis induced by cytokine withdrawal or diverse other cytotoxic stimuli. Moreover, whereas loss of the BH3-only protein Bim rescued mice lacking the prosurvival protein Bcl-2 from fatal polycystic kidney disease and lymphopenia, loss of Bik did not. These results indicate that any function of Bik in programmed cell death and stress-induced apoptosis must overlap that of other BH3-only proteins.

2007 ◽  
Vol 88 (5) ◽  
pp. 1576-1582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Tomasicchio ◽  
Philip Arno Venter ◽  
Karl H. J. Gordon ◽  
Terry N. Hanzlik ◽  
Rosemary Ann Dorrington

The Tetraviridae are a family of small, non-enveloped, insect RNA viruses consisting of one or two single-stranded, positive-sense genomic RNAs encapsidated in an icosahedral capsid with T=4 symmetry. Tetravirus procapsids undergo maturation when exposed to a low pH environment in vitro. While the structural biology of the conformational changes that mediate acid-dependent maturation is well understood, little is known about the significance of acid-dependent maturation in vivo. To address this question, the capsid-coding sequence of the tetravirus Helicoverpa armigera stunt virus was expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. Virus-like particles were shown to assemble as procapsids that matured spontaneously in vivo as the cells began to age. Growth in the presence of hydrogen peroxide or acetic acid, which induced apoptosis or programmed cell death in the yeast cells, resulted in virus-like particle maturation. The results demonstrate that assembly-dependent maturation of tetravirus procapsids in vivo is linked to the onset of apoptosis in yeast cells. We propose that the reduction in pH required for tetraviral maturation may be the result of cytosolic acidification, which is associated with the early onset of programmed cell death in infected cells.


2003 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Carla Liberto ◽  
Giovanni Matera ◽  
Angelo G Lamberti ◽  
Giorgio S Barreca ◽  
Angela Quirino ◽  
...  

2001 ◽  
Vol 152 (3) ◽  
pp. 633-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fawzi Aoudjit ◽  
Kristiina Vuori

Survival of endothelial cells is critical for cellular processes such as angiogenesis. Cell attachment to extracellular matrix inhibits apoptosis in endothelial cells both in vitro and in vivo, but the molecular mechanisms underlying matrix-induced survival signals or detachment-induced apoptotic signals are unknown. We demonstrate here that matrix attachment is an efficient regulator of Fas-mediated apoptosis in endothelial cells. Thus, matrix attachment protects cells from Fas-induced apoptosis, whereas matrix detachment results in susceptibility to Fas-mediated cell death. Matrix attachment modulates Fas-mediated apoptosis at two different levels: by regulating the expression level of Fas, and by regulating the expression level of c-Flip, an endogenous antagonist of caspase-8. The extracellular signal–regulated kinase (Erk) cascade functions as a survival pathway in adherent cells by regulating c-Flip expression. We further show that detachment-induced cell death, or anoikis, itself results from activation of the Fas pathway by its ligand, Fas-L. Fas-L/Fas interaction, Fas–FADD complex formation, and caspase-8 activation precede the bulk of anoikis in endothelial cells, and inhibition of any of these events blocks anoikis. These studies identify matrix attachment as a survival factor against death receptor–mediated apoptosis and provide a molecular mechanism for anoikis and previously observed Fas resistance in endothelial cells.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul Basu ◽  
Vinod Nair ◽  
Clayton W. Winkler ◽  
Tyson A. Woods ◽  
Iain D. C. Fraser ◽  
...  

Abstract Background A key factor in the development of viral encephalitis is a virus crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB). We have previously shown that age-related susceptibility of mice to the La Crosse virus (LACV), the leading cause of pediatric arbovirus encephalitis in the USA, was associated with the ability of the virus to cross the BBB. LACV infection in weanling mice (aged around 3 weeks) results in vascular leakage in the olfactory bulb/tract (OB/OT) region of the brain, which is not observed in adult mice aged > 6–8 weeks. Thus, we studied age-specific differences in the response of brain capillary endothelial cells (BCECs) to LACV infection. Methods To examine mechanisms of LACV-induced BBB breakdown and infection of the CNS, we analyzed BCECs directly isolated from weanling and adult mice as well as established a model where these cells were infected in vitro and cultured for a short period to determine susceptibility to virus infection and cell death. Additionally, we utilized correlative light electron microscopy (CLEM) to examine whether changes in cell morphology and function were also observed in BCECs in vivo. Results BCECs from weanling, but not adult mice, had detectable infection after several days in culture when taken ex vivo from infected mice suggesting that these cells could be infected in vitro. Further analysis of BCECs from uninfected mice, infected in vitro, showed that weanling BCECs were more susceptible to virus infection than adult BCECs, with higher levels of infected cells, released virus as well as cytopathic effects (CPE) and cell death. Although direct LACV infection is not detected in the weanling BCECs, CLEM analysis of brain tissue from weanling mice indicated that LACV infection induced significant cerebrovascular damage which allowed virus-sized particles to enter the brain parenchyma. Conclusions These findings indicate that BCECs isolated from adult and weanling mice have differential viral load, infectivity, and susceptibility to LACV. These age-related differences in susceptibility may strongly influence LACV-induced BBB leakage and neurovascular damage allowing virus invasion of the CNS and the development of neurological disease.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1446
Author(s):  
Tingting Jin ◽  
Jun Lin ◽  
Yingchao Gong ◽  
Xukun Bi ◽  
Shasha Hu ◽  
...  

Both calcium-independent phospholipase A2 beta (iPLA2β) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress regulate important pathophysiological processes including inflammation, calcium homeostasis and apoptosis. However, their roles in ischemic heart disease are poorly understood. Here, we show that the expression of iPLA2β is increased during myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, concomitant with the induction of ER stress and the upregulation of cell death. We further show that the levels of iPLA2β in serum collected from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients and in samples collected from both in vivo and in vitro I/R injury models are significantly elevated. Further, iPLA2β knockout mice and siRNA mediated iPLA2β knockdown are employed to evaluate the ER stress and cell apoptosis during I/R injury. Additionally, cell surface protein biotinylation and immunofluorescence assays are used to trace and locate iPLA2β. Our data demonstrate the increase of iPLA2β augments ER stress and enhances cardiomyocyte apoptosis during I/R injury in vitro and in vivo. Inhibition of iPLA2β ameliorates ER stress and decreases cell death. Mechanistically, iPLA2β promotes ER stress and apoptosis by translocating to ER upon myocardial I/R injury. Together, our study suggests iPLA2β contributes to ER stress-induced apoptosis during myocardial I/R injury, which may serve as a potential therapeutic target against ischemic heart disease.


Blood ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 87 (11) ◽  
pp. 4746-4753 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Cayota ◽  
F Vuillier ◽  
G Gonzalez ◽  
G Dighiero

Oxidative stress has been proposed to be involved in the immunologic defeat observed in effector calls of the immune system as well as in lymphocyte cell death and viral replication in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. Because thiol-containing antioxidants such as N-acetyl-L-cysteine have been shown to have beneficial effects on CD4+ lymphocyte survival and to inhibit programmed cell death and HIV-1 replication, they may play a role in therapeutic strategies of this disease. In this work we have studied the cellular thiol levels and the affect of in vitro antioxidant treatment of purified CD4+ lymphocytes from HIV-infected patients, and correlated these parameters to proliferative responses and programmed cell death. We show that CD4+ lymphocytes from HIV-infected patients display impaired proliferative responses and a significant decrease in cellular thiol levels, indicating a disturbed redox status. Interestingly, antioxidant treatment succeeded to restore defective proliferative responses to CD3- mediated activation in 8 of 11 patients (high antioxidant responders). In contrast to high responders, patients failing to respond to antioxidant treatment (low antioxidant responders), were characterized by an abnormal ratio of apoptotic cells, which was not affected by N- acetyl-L-cysteine and/or 2-beta-mercaptoethanol preincubation. These results demonstrate for the first time that antioxidant treatment is able to revert the impaired proliferative activity of CD4 cells from HIV-infected patients and could help designing therapeutic strategies with antioxidant drugs. However, this action is not observed in cells undergoing programmed cell death.


2012 ◽  
Vol 209 (6) ◽  
pp. 1201-1217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tadashi Yokosuka ◽  
Masako Takamatsu ◽  
Wakana Kobayashi-Imanishi ◽  
Akiko Hashimoto-Tane ◽  
Miyuki Azuma ◽  
...  

Programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) is a negative costimulatory receptor critical for the suppression of T cell activation in vitro and in vivo. Single cell imaging elucidated a molecular mechanism of PD-1–mediated suppression. PD-1 becomes clustered with T cell receptors (TCRs) upon binding to its ligand PD-L1 and is transiently associated with the phosphatase SHP2 (Src homology 2 domain–containing tyrosine phosphatase 2). These negative costimulatory microclusters induce the dephosphorylation of the proximal TCR signaling molecules. This results in the suppression of T cell activation and blockade of the TCR-induced stop signal. In addition to PD-1 clustering, PD-1–TCR colocalization within microclusters is required for efficient PD-1–mediated suppression. This inhibitory mechanism also functions in PD-1hi T cells generated in vivo and can be overridden by a neutralizing anti–PD-L1 antibody. Therefore, PD-1 microcluster formation is important for regulation of T cell activation.


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