p53-dependent DNA damage-induced apoptosis requires Fas/APO-1-independent activation of CPP32beta.

In many cell types, the p53 tumor suppressor protein is required for the induction of apoptosis by DNA-damaging chemotherapy or radiation. Therefore, identification of the molecular determinants of p53-dependent cell death may aid in the design of effective therapies of p53-deficient cancers. We investigated whether p53-dependent apoptosis requires activation of CPP32beta (caspase 3), a cysteine protease that has been found to mediate apoptosis in response to ligation of the Fas molecule or to granzyme B, a component of CTL lytic granules. Irradiation-induced apoptosis was associated with p53-dependent activation of CPP32beta-related proteolysis, and normal thymocytes were protected from irradiation by Acetyl-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-CHO (Ac-DEVD-CHO), a specific inhibitor of CPP32beta. We next examined whether the Fas system is required for p53-dependent apoptosis and whether stimuli that induce activation of CPP32beta induce apoptosis in p53-deficient cells. Thymocytes or activated T cells from Fas-deficient mice were resistant to apoptosis induced by ligation of Fas or CD3, respectively, but remained normally susceptible to irradiation. Thymocytes from p53-deficient mice, although resistant to DNA damage, remained sensitive to CPP32beta-mediated apoptosis induced by ligation of Fas or CD3, or by exposure to cytotoxic T cells. These results demonstrate that DNA damage-induced apoptosis of T cells requires p53-mediated activation of CPP32beta by a mechanism independent of Fas/FasL interactions and suggest that immunological or molecular methods of activating CPP32beta may be effective at inducing apoptosis in p53-deficient cancers that are resistant to conventional chemotherapy or irradiation.

Requirement of p34cdc2 kinase for apoptosis mediated by the Fas/APO-1 receptor and interleukin 1beta-converting enzyme-related proteases.

The induction of apoptosis by the Fas/APO-1 receptor is important for T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity and down-regulation of immune responses. Binding of Fas ligand to the Fas/APO-1 receptor transduces an apoptotic signal that requires activation of interleukin 1beta-converting enzyme (ICE) and CPP32beta, members of a family of cysteine proteases that are evolutionarily conserved determinants of cell death. We report here that Fas/APO-1-triggered apoptosis involves ICE-mediated activation of p34cdc2 kinase. Ligation of the Fas receptor resulted in the rapid stimulation of ICE proteolytic activity and activation of p34cdc2 kinase. Specific tetrapeptide inhibitors of ICE (Acetyl-Tyr-Val-Ala-Asp-chloromethylketone) or CPP32beta (Acetyl-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-aldehyde) prevented the anti-Fas antibody-mediated activation of p34cdc2 and inhibited apoptosis. Inhibition of p34cdc2 activity by transient overexpression of a dominant-negative cdc2 construct or human WEE1 kinase inhibited Fas-mediated apoptosis. These results suggest that activation of p34cdc2 kinase is a critical determinant of cell death mediated by Fas and ICE family proteases.

Selective radiosensitization of p53-deficient cells by caffeine-mediated activation of p34cdc2 kinase.

The induction of tumor cell death by anticancer therapy results from a genetic program of autonomous cell death termed apoptosis. Because the p53 tumor suppressor gene is a critical component for induction of apoptosis in response to DNA damage, its inactivation in cancers may be responsible for their resistance to genotoxic anticancer agents. The cellular response to DNA damage involves a cell-cycle arrest at both the G1/S and G2/M transitions; these checkpoints maintain viability by preventing the replication or segregation of damaged DNA. The arrest at the G1 checkpoint is mediated by p53-dependent induction of p21WAF1/CIP1, whereas the G2 arrest involves inactivation of p34cdc2 kinase. Following DNA damage, p53-deficient cells fail to arrest at G1 and accumulate at the G2/M transition. We demonstrate that abrogation of G2 arrest by caffeine-mediated activation of p34cdc2 kinase results in the selective sensitization of p53-deficient primary and tumor cells to irradiation-induced apoptosis. These data suggest that pharmacologic activation of p34cdc2 kinase may be a useful therapeutic strategy for circumventing the resistance of p53-deficient cancers to genotoxic anticancer agents.

Comparative recombinant protein production of eight insect cell lines.

A recombinant Autographa californica baculovirus expressing secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) gene was used to evaluate the expression of a secreted glycoprotein in eight insect cell lines derived from Spodoptera frugiperda, Trichoplusia ni, Mamestra brassicae and Estigmene acrea. Because cell density was found to influence protein production, SEAP production was evaluated at optimal cell densities for each cell line on both a per cell and per milliliter basis. On a per cell basis, the T. ni-derived BTI-TN-5B1-4 cells produced a minimum of 20-fold more SEAP than the S. frugiperda-derived Sf9 or Sf2l cell lines and a minimum of 9-fold more than any of the other cell lines growing in serum-containing medium. On a per milliliter basis, BTI-TN-5B1-4 cells produced a minimum of fivefold more SEAP than any of the other cell lines tested. Using cell lines that were adapted to serum-free medium, SEAP yields were the same or better than their counterparts in serum-containing medium. At 3 days postinoculation, extracellular SEAP activity ranged from 59 to 85% of total SEAP activity with cell lines grown in serum-free and serum-containing media.

Mitochondrial DNA of the blowfly Phormia regina: restriction analysis and gene localization.

A study of an invertebrate mitochondrial genome, that of the blowfly Phormia regina, has been initiated to compare its structural and functional relatedness to other metazoan mitochondrial genomes. A restriction map of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) isolated from sucrose gradient-purified mitochondria has been established using a combination of single and double restriction endonuclease digestions and hybridizations with isolated mtDNA fragments, revealing a genome size of 17.5 kilobases (kb). A number of mitochondrial genes including those encoding the 12 S and 16 S ribosomal RNA, the cytochrome c oxidase I subunit (COI) and an unidentified open reading frame (URF2) have been located on the Phormia mtDNA by Southern blot analysis using as probes both isolated mtDNA fragments and oligonucleotides derived from the sequences of previously characterized genes from rat and Drosophila yakuba mtDNAs. These data indicate that for those regions examined, the mitochondrial genome organization of blowfly mtDNA is the same as that of Drosophila yakuba, the order being COI-URF2-12 S-16 S. These data also report the presence of an A + T-rich region, located as a 2.5-kb region between the URF2 and the 12 S rRNA genes, and its amplification by the polymerase chain reaction is described.