title: P2Z purinoreceptor ligation induces activation of caspases with distinct roles in apoptotic and necrotic alterations of cell death.
abstract: Myeloic cells express a peculiar surface receptor for extracellular ATP, called the P2Z/P2X7 purinoreceptor, which is involved in cell death signalling. Here, we investigated the role of caspases, a family of proteases implicated in apoptosis and the cytokine secretion. We observed that extracellular ATP induced the activation of multiple caspases including caspase-1, -3 and -8, and subsequent cleavage of the caspase substrates PARP and lamin B. Using caspase inhibitors, it was found that caspases were specifically involved in ATP-induced apoptotic damage such as chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation. In contrast, inhibition of caspases only marginally affected necrotic alterations and cell death proceeded normally whether or not nuclear damage was blocked. Our results therefore suggest that the activation of caspases by the P2Z receptor is required for apoptotic but not necrotic alterations of ATP-induced cell death.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine I, Medical Clinics, Eberhard-Karls-University, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Los
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vandenabeele
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wesselborg
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schulze-Osthoff
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D020170:Caspase 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism*; D016923:Cell Death; D002460:Cell Line; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000473:pathology; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000473:pathology; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D051379:Mice; D017628:Microglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D009336:Necrosis; D018048:Receptors, Purinergic P2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D058486:Receptors, Purinergic P2X7; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: C546469:P2rx7 protein, mouse; D018048:Receptors, Purinergic P2; D058486:Receptors, Purinergic P2X7; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; C505409:Casp3 protein, mouse; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases; D020170:Caspase 1