title: Baculovirus p35 and Z-VAD-fmk inhibit thapsigargin-induced apoptosis of breast cancer cells.
abstract: Programmed cell death, or apoptosis, is inhibited by the antiapoptotic oncogene, Bcl-2, and is mediated by a cascade of aspartate-specific cysteine proteases, or caspases, related to interleukin 1-beta converting enzyme. Depending on cell type, apoptosis can be induced by treatment with thapsigargin (TG); a selective inhibitor of the endoplasmic reticulum-associated calcium-ATPase. The role of caspases in mediating TG-induced apoptosis was investigated in the Bcl-2-negative human breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-468. Apoptosis developed in MDA-MB-468 cells over a period of 24-72 h following treatment with 100 nM TG, and was prevented by Bcl-2 overexpression. TG-induced apoptosis was associated with activation of caspase-3 and was inhibited by stable expression of the baculovirus p35 protein, an inhibitor of caspase activity. Also, TG-induced apoptosis was inhibited by treating cells with Z-VAD-fmk, a cell-permeable fluoromethylketone inhibitor of caspases. These findings indicate that TG-induced apoptosis of MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells is subject to inhibition by Bcl-2 and is mediated by caspase activity. This model system should be useful for further investigation directed toward understanding the role of calcium in signaling apoptosis, and its relationship to Bcl-2 and the caspase proteolytic cascade.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University/Ireland Cancer Center, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
authors.forename: X M
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Distelhorst
mesh_terms: D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D006801:Humans; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D019284:Thapsigargin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D014764:Viral Proteins; C096713:benzyloxycarbonylvalyl-alanyl-aspartyl fluoromethyl ketone; C086430:inhibitor of apoptosis, Nucleopolyhedrovirus; D019284:Thapsigargin; C505407:CASP3 protein, human; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases