Thrombospondin-1 C-terminal-derived peptide protects thyroid cells from ceramide-induced apoptosis through the adenylyl cyclase pathway.

Thrombospondin-1, a multi-modular matrix protein is able to interact with a variety of matrix proteins and cell-surface receptors. Thus it is multifunctional. In this work, we examined the role of thrombospondin-1 in ceramide-induced thyroid apoptosis. We focused on the VVM containing sequence localized in the C-terminal domain of the molecule. Primary cultured thyroid cells synthesize thrombospondin-1 depending on their morphological organization. As it leads thyrocytes to organize into monolayers before inducing apoptosis ceramide can modulate this organization. Here, we established that C(2)-ceramide treatment decreased thrombospondin-1 expression by interfering with the adenylyl cyclase pathway, thus leading to apoptosis. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the thrombospondin-1-derived peptide 4N1 (RFYVVMWK) abolished ceramide-induced thyroid cell death by preventing intracellular cAMP levels from dropping. Finally, we reported that 4N1-mediated inhibition of ceramide-induced apoptosis was consistently associated with a down-regulation of the caspase-3 processing. Integrin-associated protein receptor (IAP or CD47) was identified as a molecular relay mediating the observed 4N1 effects. Taken together, our results shed light for the first time on anti-apoptotic activities of the thrombospondin-1-derived peptide 4N1 and provide new information on how thrombospondin-1 may control apoptosis of non-tumoral cells.

The C-terminal CD47/IAP-binding domain of thrombospondin-1 prevents camptothecin- and doxorubicin-induced apoptosis in human thyroid carcinoma cells.

Camptothecin and doxorubicin belong to a family of anticancer drugs that exert cytotoxic effects by triggering apoptosis in various cell types. However there have only been few investigations showing that matricellular proteins like thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) could be involved in the underlying mechanism of this cytotoxicity. In this report, using Hoechst reagent staining, reactive oxygen species production and caspase-3 activity measurement, we determined that both camptothecin and doxorubicin induced apoptosis in human thyroid carcinoma cells (FTC-133). On the one hand, we demonstrated that camptothecin and doxorubicin inhibited TSP-1 expression mainly occurring at the transcriptional level. On the other hand, drug-induced apoptosis determined by western blot analysis for PARP cleavage and caspase-3 activity measurement, was significantly decreased in presence of exogenous TSP-1. In order to identify the sequence responsible for this effect, we used the CD47/IAP-binding peptide 4N1 (RFYVVMWK), derived from the C-terminal domain of TSP-1, and known to play a role in apoptosis. Thus, in presence of 4N1, camptothecin and doxorubicin-induced pro-apoptotic activity was considerably inhibited. These findings suggest that induction of apoptosis by camptothecin or doxorubicin in FTC-133 cells is greatly dependent by a down-regulation of TSP-1 expression and shed new light on a possible role for TSP-1 in drug resistance.

Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) induces a crosstalk between cAMP and ceramide signaling pathways in thyroid epithelial cells.

Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta) is an important regulator of the thyroid cell function. This cytokine has been largely described to trigger an important biological signaling cascade: the sphingomyelin/ceramide pathway. In this report, we show that IL-1beta induces the transient activation of a neutral sphingomyelinase in porcine thyroid cells. Moreover, IL-1beta and ceramides are demonstrated to inhibit the TSH-induced cAMP production via the implication of alphaGi subunit of the adenylyl cyclase system. This crosstalk between cAMP and ceramide pathways constitutes a preponderant process in the TSH-controlled differentiation state of thyrocytes. All these results argue for the involvement of ceramides and IL-1beta in the thyroid function regulation, leading to a cell dedifferentiated state.