title: Upregulation of the expression of prodeath serine/threonine protein kinase for programmed cell death by steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone.
abstract: Serine/threonine protein kinases phosphorylate protein substrates to initiate further cellular events. Different serine/threonine protein kinases have varied functions despite their highly conserved homology. We propose prodeath-S/TK, a prodeath serine/threonine protein kinase from the lepidopteran insect Helicoverpa armigera, promotes programmed cell death (PCD) during metamorphosis. Prodeath-S/TK is expressed in various tissues with a high expression level during molting and metamorphosis by 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) induction. Prodeath-S/TK is localized in the larval midgut during metamorphosis. Prodeath-S/TK knockdown by injecting dsRNA into larval hemocoel suppresses the 20E-induced metamorphosis and PCD, as well as downregulates a set of genes involved in the PCD and 20E signaling pathway. 20E upregulates prodeath-S/TK expression through its nuclear receptor EcR-B1 and USP1. Prodeath-S/TK overexpression in the epidermal cell line leads to PCD with DNA fragmentation and the activation of caspases 3 and 7. Prodeath-S/TK plays role in the cytoplasm. The N-terminal and C-terminal sequences of prodeath-S/TK determine its subcellular location. These data indicate that prodeath-S/TK participates in PCD by regulating gene expression in the 20E signaling pathway.
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Plant Cell Engineering and Germplasm Innovation, Ministry of Education, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Cells and Developmental Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Chun-Yan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wen-Li
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jin-Xing
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiao-Fan
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D018844:Cyclin-Dependent Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004441:Ecdysterone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000187:drug effects; D007814:Larva / Q000378:metabolism; D008675:Metamorphosis, Biological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009036:Moths; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D004441:Ecdysterone; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D018844:Cyclin-Dependent Kinases; C089463:PCTAIRE-1 protein kinase