cytochrome-c-t and acetoxycycloheximide

The cysteine protease caspase-8 plays an essential role in apoptosis induced by death receptors. The protein synthesis inhibitor acetoxycycloheximide (Ac-CHX) has been previously shown to induce rapid apoptosis mediated by the release of cytochrome c in human leukemia Jurkat cells. In this study, the novel molecular mechanism that links caspase-8 to the mitochondrial release of pro-apoptotic proteins has been identified. Jurkat cells deficient in caspase-8 were more resistant to Ac-CHX than wild-type Jurkat cells and manifested decreased apoptosis induction and caspase activation as well as inefficient release of cytochrome c, Smac/DIABLO, and AIF into the cytosol. In contrast to Fas ligand stimulation, the general caspase inhibitor barely prevented the mitochondrial release of these pro-apoptotic proteins in Ac-CHX-treated cells, suggesting that caspase-8 activity is dispensable for triggering the mitochondrial pathway in Ac-CHX-induced apoptosis. Consistent with this notion, caspase-8-deficient Jurkat cells reconstituted with catalytically inactive caspase-8 became sensitive to Ac-CHX and exhibited apoptosis, caspase activation, the liberation of pro-apoptotic proteins into the cytosol, and Bak conformational change as efficiently as wild-type Jurkat cells. Unlike caspase-3, -6, -7, and -9, a small but significant portion of caspase-8 was found to localize in mitochondria before and after exposure to Ac-CHX. These results clearly demonstrate that caspase-8 is able to mediate the mitochondrial release of pro-apoptotic proteins in a manner independent of its proteolytic activity in Ac-CHX-induced apoptosis.

Topics: Apoptosis; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; bcl-2-Associated X Protein; Blotting, Western; Caspase 8; Caspases; Cycloheximide; Cytochromes c; Cytosol; Enzyme Activation; Humans; Jurkat Cells; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial; Mitochondria; Protein Conformation; Protein Synthesis Inhibitors; RNA, Small Interfering; Subcellular Fractions; Transfection

Cycloheximide (CHX) is an inhibitor of protein synthesis and commonly used to modulate death receptor-mediated apoptosis or to induce apoptosis in a number of normal and transformed cells. In this study we show that a close structural derivative of CHX, acetoxycycloheximide (E-73) induced rapid processing of procaspases and subsequent apoptosis with much higher efficacy than CHX in human leukemia Jurkat T cells. E-73 induced the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria even in the presence of the caspase inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp(OMe)-fluoromethyl ketone. The Bcl-2 family protein Bcl-x(L) suppressed cytochrome c release as well as processing of procaspases-3, -8, and -9 in E-73-treated cells. In Jurkat T cells transfected with the caspase-8 modulator FLIP(L), E-73 still induced activation of procaspase-3 and subsequent apoptosis, suggesting that the caspase-8 activity is dispensable for apoptosis. In contrast to CHX, E-73 drastically induced activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38 MAP kinase. Inhibitory profiles of small-molecular kinase inhibitors revealed that JNK activation was critical for induction of cytochrome c release in E-73-induced apoptosis. Thus, our present results demonstrate that E-73, unlike CHX, induces strong activation of the JNK pathway and triggers rapid apoptosis mediated by the release of cytochrome c.

Topics: Apoptosis; bcl-X Protein; CASP8 and FADD-Like Apoptosis Regulating Protein; Caspases; Cell Nucleus; Cycloheximide; Cyclophosphamide; Cytochromes c; DNA Fragmentation; Enzyme Activation; Humans; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; Jurkat Cells; Phosphorylation; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2