Inhibitor of apoptosis protein hILP undergoes caspase-mediated cleavage during T lymphocyte apoptosis.

Several endogenous or viral inhibitors of apoptosis, including Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, FLIP, p35, and CrmA, have been shown to be cleaved by caspases during apoptosis. In this study, we demonstrate that the endogenous inhibitor of apoptosis, hILP/XIAP, is also cleaved in apoptotic T lymphocytes, generating at least one prominent fragment of 29 kDa. This p29 cleaved fragment was detected in Jurkat cells induced to apoptose by anti-Fas antibody, staurosporin, or VP-16. The cleavage of hILP appears to be caspase mediated because the production of the p29 protein was inhibited by the pan-caspase peptide inhibitor, Z-VAD.FMK. In Jurkat cells engineered to overexpress CrmA, cleavage of hILP in response to anti-Fas antibody or staurosporin was inhibited, whereas overexpression of Bcl-2 abrogated the cleavage in response to VP-16. Cleavage of hILP was also observed in cell-free reactions using in vitro translated hILP and recombinant caspase-3 or -7. Moreover, we found that the p29 hILP fragment retained the ability to bind caspase-3 and -7, as shown previously for full-length or BIR-2 hILP. The p29 cleavage product was also detected during T-cell receptor-mediated apoptosis in peripheral blood lymphocytes from normal donors. Furthermore, tumor-associated T lymphocytes purified from ascites of patients with ovarian cancer expressed fragmented hILP, which was not detected in control T cells purified from peripheral blood of normal donors. Our results suggest that the cleavage of hILP represents an important event in apoptosis of T lymphocytes in both normal and pathological in vivo settings.

Sequential two-step cleavage of the retinoblastoma protein by caspase-3/-7 during etoposide-induced apoptosis.

During cellular apoptosis, retinoblastoma protein (RB) is subjected to cleavage near the carboxyl terminus by a caspase-3-like protease. In addition, an heretofore unidentified protease cleaves RB internally, generating fragments of 68 and 48 kDa. Internal cleavage abrogates the ability of RB to associate with E2F. To investigate the mechanism of RB internal cleavage, we developed and employed an in vitro cleavage assay. Incubation of in vitro translated (35)S-RB with apoptotic cell extracts led to RB cleavage at the C-terminus, followed by internal cleavage. The caspase peptide inhibitors z-VAD-FMK or z-DEVD-FMK blocked both cleavage events. Rapid C-terminal and internal cleavage were also observed when recombinant caspase-3 was added to (35)S-RB. Moreover, when caspase-3 was added to nonapoptotic cell extract, efficient internal cleavage of cellular RB was observed. Caspase-mediated internal cleavage occurred following RB residue aspartate(349) in the sequence DSID(349). This sequence is consistent with a DXXD recognition motif for caspase-3-like enzymes. Interestingly, we also observed RB internal cleavage in caspase-3-deficient MCF-7 cells, indicating that other caspases are capable of cleaving RB internally. Indeed, caspase-7, a member of the caspase-3 subfamily, was found to cleave (35)S-RB at both the carboxyl terminus, and following aspartate(349). By contrast, caspases that are not members of the caspase-3 subfamily failed to cleave RB. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that during apoptosis, a caspase-3-like protease is responsible for degradation and functional inactivation of RB by cleaving the protein internally following aspartate(349).

Isolation of Bcl-2 binding proteins that exhibit homology with BAG-1 and suppressor of death domains protein.

The Bcl-2 oncoprotein is a potent inhibitor of apoptosis and is overexpressed in a variety of different malignancies. Bcl-2 function is regulated through heterodimerization with other members of the Bcl-2 protein family. In addition, several proteins that are not members of the Bcl-2 family can bind to Bcl-2, including BAG-1 protein. In this study, we screened for proteins that bind to Bcl-2, and isolated two additional members of the BAG-1 protein family, BAG-3 and BAG-4. The BAG-4 protein that we cloned also corresponds to the recently isolated suppressor of death domains (SODD) protein, a molecule that binds and inhibits signaling by tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1). Both BAG-3 and BAG-4/SODD were found to physically associate with Bcl-2, and both proteins are well conserved from human to mouse. A region of homology, comprising 68 amino acids, is present in the carboxyl termini of BAG-3 and BAG-4/SODD, and this region corresponds with sequences termed BAG domains that are found in other members of the BAG-1 protein family. In BAG-3 and BAG-4/SODD, the BAG domains appear to constitute the Bcl-2 binding regions of these molecules. BAG-3 and BAG-4/SODD, like BAG-1, were also shown to bind to Hsp70 inside the cell. Moreover, BAG-3 overexpression modestly inhibited apoptosis resulting from cytokine deprivation of IL-3-dependent 32D cells. Together, our findings demonstrate that other members of the BAG-1 protein family, namely BAG-3 and BAG-4/SODD, bind to Bcl-2 and provide a potential link between pathways regulated by Bcl-2 and pathways regulated by Hsp70, as well as TNFR1.