title: Specific involvement of caspases in the differentiation of monocytes into macrophages.
abstract: Caspases are cysteine proteases involved in apoptosis and cytokine maturation. In erythroblasts, keratinocytes, and lens epithelial cells undergoing differentiation, enucleation has been regarded as a caspase-mediated incomplete apoptotic process. Here, we show that several caspases are activated in human peripheral blood monocytes whose differentiation into macrophages is induced by macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF). This activation is not associated with cell death and cannot be detected in monocytes undergoing dendritic cell differentiation in the presence of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). The mechanisms and consequences of caspase activation were further studied in U937 human monocytic cells undergoing phorbol ester-induced differentiation into macrophages. Differentiation-associated caspase activation involves the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria and leads to the cleavage of the protein acinus while the poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase remains uncleaved. Inhibition of caspases by either exposure to the broad-spectrum inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-(DL)-Asp-fluoromethylketone (z-VAD-fmk) or expression of the p35 baculovirus inhibitory protein or overexpression of Bcl-2 inhibits the differentiation process. In addition, z-VAD-fmk amplifies the differentiation-associated production of radical oxygen species in both phorbol ester-differentiated U937 cells and M-CSF-treated monocytes, shifting the differentiation process to nonapoptotic cell death. Altogether, these results indicate that caspase activation specifically contributes to the differentiation of monocytes into macrophages, in the absence of cell death.
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) U517, Institut Fédératif de Recherche (IFR) 100, Faculty of Medicine, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sordet
authors.forename: Cédric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rébé
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Plenchette
authors.forename: Yaël
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zermati
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hermine
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Vainchenker
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garrido
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Solary
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dubrez-Daloz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D020169:Caspases / Q000502:physiology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000494:pharmacology; D016173:Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000166:cytology*; D009000:Monocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000502:physiology; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D013755:Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate / Q000494:pharmacology; D014162:Transfection; D020298:U937 Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D014764:Viral Proteins; C096713:benzyloxycarbonylvalyl-alanyl-aspartyl fluoromethyl ketone; C081618:p35 protein, Nucleopolyhedrovirus; D015847:Interleukin-4; D016173:Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor; D020169:Caspases; D013755:Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate