title: IL-7 inhibits dexamethasone-induced apoptosis via Akt/PKB in mature, peripheral T cells.
abstract: We have investigated the mechanism of IL-7-mediated inhibition of dexamethasone-induced apoptosis in T cells. Broad-spectrum caspase inhibitors block dexamethasone-triggered nuclear fragmentation, but not the loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential or membrane integrity in CD3(+) mature T cells isolated from adult mouse spleens. IL-7 blocked dexamethasone-induced apoptosis and the processing of caspase-3 and caspase-7. IL-7 also blocked dexamethasone-triggered dephosphorylation of the serine-threonine kinase Akt/PKB and its target, the Ser(136) residue in Bad. The loss of anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-x(L) and inhibitor of apoptosis protein-2 (IAP-2) was also blocked by IL-7. The protective effect was attenuated by pharmacological inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) with one exception: inhibition of PI3K did not abrogate Bcl-x(L) expression in the presence of IL-7. The anti-apoptotic role of Akt suggested by these experiments was tested by overexpression of constitutively active Akt, which blocked dexamethasone-induced apoptosis and elevated IAP-2 but not Bcl-x(L) levels in a mature T cell line. Thus, IL-7 regulates IAP-2 expression and inhibits dexamethasone-induced apoptosis by activating Akt via PI3K-dependent signaling, but regulates Bcl-x(L)expression via a PI3K-independent pathway in mature T cells.
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Biological Sciences, UAS-GKVK Campus, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Hadassah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sade
authors.forename: Apurva
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sarin
mesh_terms: D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D061945:Caspase Inhibitors; D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D015851:Interleukin-7 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009154:Mutation; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000502:physiology; D000081082:Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*; D051020:bcl-X Protein
chemical_list: D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones; D061945:Caspase Inhibitors; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors; D003907:Dexamethasone; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D015851:Interleukin-7; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D000081082:Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011506:Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D051020:bcl-X Protein; C494812:Bcl2l1 protein, mouse; C096713:benzyloxycarbonylvalyl-alanyl-aspartyl fluoromethyl ketone; C103192:butyloxycarbonyl-O-methyl-aspartyl-fluoromethyl ketone