title: bcl-2/Adenovirus E1B 19-kd interacting protein 3 (BNIP3) regulates hypoxia-induced neural precursor cell death.
abstract: Perinatal hypoxia-ischemia may result in long-term neurological deficits. In addition to producing neuron death, HI causes death of neural precursor cells (NPCs) in the developing brain. To characterize the molecular pathways that regulate hypoxia-induced death of NPCs, we treated a mouse neural stem cell line (C17.2 cells) and fibroblastic growth factor II-expanded primary NPCs derived from wild-type or gene-disrupted mice, with oxygen glucose deprivation or the hypoxia mimetics desferrioxamine or cobalt chloride. Neural precursor cells undergoing hypoxia exhibited time- and concentration-dependent caspase-3 activation and cell death, which was significantly reduced by treatment with a broad caspase inhibitor or protein synthesis inhibition. Bax/Bak-deficient NPCs were protected from desferrioxamine-induced death and exhibited minimal caspase-3 activation. Oxygen glucose deprivation or hypoxia-mimetic exposure also resulted in increased hypoxia-inducible factor alpha and bcl-2/adenovirus E1B 19-kd interacting protein 3 (BNIP3) expression. BNIP3 shRNA treatment failed to affect hypoxia-induced caspase-3 activation but inhibited cell death and nuclear translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor, indicating that BNIP3 is an important regulator of caspase-independent NPC death after hypoxia. These studies demonstrate that hypoxia activates both caspase-dependent and -independent NPC death pathways that are critically regulated by multiple Bcl-2 family members.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, BirminghamAL 35294-0017, USA. karoth@uab.edu
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Walls
authors.forename: Arindam P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Ballestas
authors.forename: Barbara J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Klocke
authors.forename: Kevin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Roth
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D015687:Cell Hypoxia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D034622:RNA Interference; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: C508686:BNip3 protein, mouse; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D053148:Caspase 3