title: Coordinate involvement of cysteine protease and nuclease in the executive phase of plant apoptosis.
abstract: We have developed an oat cell-free apoptosis system to investigate the execution mechanisms of plant apoptosis. Cell extracts derived from oat tissues undergoing toxin (victorin)-induced apoptosis caused nuclear collapse and internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in isolated nuclei. Pharmacological studies revealed that cysteine protease, which is E-64-sensitive but insensitive to caspase-specific inhibitors, is a crucial component in the morphological change of isolated nuclei, and that nuclease and the cysteine protease act cooperatively to induce the apoptotic DNA laddering. Interestingly, this finding is contrasted with those in well-studied animal cell-free systems in which an apoptotic endonuclease is solely responsible for the DNA fragmentation.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Koh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kusaka
authors.forename: Yasuomi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tada
authors.forename: Teppei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shigemi
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakayashiki
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tosa
authors.forename: Shigeyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mayama
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D001312:Aurintricarboxylic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D018554:Avena / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002457:Cell Extracts; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects; D002474:Cell-Free System; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004720:Endonucleases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D007930:Leucine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis / Q000187:drug effects; D014118:Toxins, Biological / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D002457:Cell Extracts; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors; D018744:DNA, Plant; D014118:Toxins, Biological; D001312:Aurintricarboxylic Acid; D004720:Endonucleases; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; D007930:Leucine; C024974:E 64