title: Mitochondria-independent induction of Fas-mediated apoptosis by MSSP.
abstract: Fas-mediated apoptosis has been proposed to play an important role in homeostasis. Fas triggers apoptosis after stimulation by its ligand FasL or the Fas ligand agonist anti-Fas antibody through a mitochondria-dependent or -independent pathway, and MSSP has been identified as a transcription factor that regulates the c-myc gene and was later found to positively or negatively regulate a variety of genes, including alpha-smooth actin, MHC class I, MHC class 2 and the thyrotropin receptor. We further found that expression of the Fas gene was repressed, resulting in abrogation of the Fas-mediated induction of apoptosis both in Mssp-knockout mice and primary thymocytes. MSSP was then found to stimulate promoter activity of the Fas gene by binding to a specific region. In this study, to identify the MSSP-dependent Fas-induced apoptosis pathway, primary fibroblasts from MSSP (+/+) and MSSP (-/-) cells were treated with the combination of interleukin 1-beta and interferon-gamma and expression of the Fas gene was examined. The results showed that the Fas gene was expressed at the same levels in the two cell types. Furthermore, when these cells were treated with the anti-Fas antibody, it was found that cytochrome C was not released in the cytosol and that activations of caspase 8 and caspase 3 occurred in primary fibroblasts from MSSP (+/+) cells but not from MSSP (-/-) cells. These results indicate that Fas-mediated apoptosis induced by MSSP occurs independently of mitochondria.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita 12, Nishi 6, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: Ken-Ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Sanae M M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Iguchi-Ariga
authors.forename: Hiroyoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ariga
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D053181:Caspase 8; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D045304:Cytochromes c / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D005347:Fibroblasts; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000494:pharmacology; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000502:physiology*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D007375:Interleukin-1; C086384:RBMS1 protein, human; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D019014:fas Receptor; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D045304:Cytochromes c; C505530:CASP8 protein, human; C505526:Casp8 protein, mouse; D053181:Caspase 8; D020169:Caspases