Bcl-2 and Bax function independently to regulate cell death.

The BCL-2 family has various pairs of antagonist and agonist proteins that regulate apoptosis. Whether their function is interdependent is uncertain. Using a genetic approach to address this question, we utilized gain- and loss-of-function models of Bcl-2 and Bax and found that apoptosis and thymic hypoplasia characteristic of Bcl-2-deficient mice are largely absent in mice also deficient in Bax. A single copy of Bax promoted apoptosis in the absence of Bcl-2. In contrast, overexpression of Bcl-2 still repressed apoptosis in the absence of Bax. While an in vivo competition exists between Bax and Bcl-2, each is able to regulate apoptosis independently.

Mouse models of cell death.

Cell death is critical for the development and orderly maintenance of cellular homeostasis in metazoans. Developmental genetics in model systems, including Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster, have helped to identify and order the components of cell-death pathways. An even more complex network of apoptotic pathways has evolved in higher organisms that possess homologs within each set of cell-death regulators. Whereas biochemical studies provide details of molecular mechanisms, genetic models reveal the essential physiologic roles. Transgenic and gene-ablated mice have helped to elucidate mammalian apoptotic pathways and identify the principal effect of each cell death regulator. Here, we review the details of the apoptotic machinery as revealed by mice deficient in critical components of cell-death pathways; we concentrate on cell-death regulators classified as members of the caspase and Bcl2 families or, broadly, as adaptors and mitochondrial released factors.

Rnx deficiency results in congenital central hypoventilation.

The genes Tlx1 (Hox11), Enx (Hox11L2, Tlx-2) and Rnx (Hox11L2, Tlx-3) constitute a family of orphan homeobox genes. In situ hybridization has revealed considerable overlap in their expression within the nervous system, but Rnx is singularly expressed in the developing dorsal and ventral region of the medulla oblongata. Tlx1-deficient and Enx-deficient mice display phenotypes in tissues where the mutated gene is singularly expressed, resulting in asplenogenesis and hyperganglionic megacolon, respectively. To determine the developmental role of Rnx, we disrupted the locus in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. Rnx deficient mice developed to term, but all died within 24 hours after birth from a central respiratory failure. The electromyographic activity of intercostal muscles coupled with the C4 ventral root activity assessed in a medulla-spinal cord preparation revealed a high respiratory rate with short inspiratory duration and frequent apnea. Furthermore, a coordinate pattern existed between the abnormal activity of inspiratory neurons in the ventrolateral medulla and C4 motorneuron output, indicating a central respiratory defect in Rnx mice. Thus, Rnx is critical for the development of the ventral medullary respiratory centre and its deficiency results in a syndrome resembling congenital central hypoventilation.

Prolongation of ovarian lifespan into advanced chronological age by Bax-deficiency.

Female mammals are endowed with a finite number of oocytes at birth, each enclosed by a single layer of somatic (granulosa) cells in a primordial follicle. The fate of most follicles is atretic degeneration, a process that culminates in near exhaustion of the oocyte reserve at approximately the fifth decade of life in women, leading to menopause. Apoptosis has a fundamental role in follicular atresia, and recent studies have shown that Bax, which is expressed in both granulosa cells and oocytes, may be central to ovarian cell death. Here we show that young adult female Bax-/- mice possess threefold more primordial follicles in their ovarian reserve than their wild-type sisters, and this surfeit of follicles is maintained in advanced chronological age, such that 20-22-month-old female Bax-/- mice possess hundreds of follicles at all developmental stages and exhibit ovarian steroid-driven uterine hypertrophy. These observations contrast with the ovarian and uterine atrophy seen in aged wild-type female mice. Aged female Bax-/- mice fail to become pregnant when housed with young adult males; however, metaphase II oocytes can be retrieved from, and corpora lutea form in, ovaries of aged Bax-/- females following superovulation with exogenous gonadotropins, and some oocytes are competent for in vitro fertilization and early embryogenesis. Therefore, ovarian lifespan can be extended by selectively disrupting Bax function, but other aspects of normal reproductive performance remain defective in aged Bax-/- female mice.

Aromatic hydrocarbon receptor-driven Bax gene expression is required for premature ovarian failure caused by biohazardous environmental chemicals.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are toxic chemicals released into the environment by fossil fuel combustion. Moreover, a primary route of human exposure to PAHs is tobacco smoke. Oocyte destruction and ovarian failure occur in PAH-treated mice, and cigarette smoking causes early menopause in women. In many cells, PAHs activate the aromatic hydrocarbon receptor (Ahr), a member of the Per-Arnt-Sim family of transcription factors. The Ahr is also activated by dioxin, one of the most intensively studied environmental contaminants. Here we show that an exposure of mice to PAHs induces the expression of Bax in oocytes, followed by apoptosis. Ovarian damage caused by PAHs is prevented by Ahr or Bax inactivation. Oocytes microinjected with a Bax promoter-reporter construct show Ahr-dependent transcriptional activation after PAH, but not dioxin, treatment, consistent with findings that dioxin is not cytotoxic to oocytes. This difference in the action of PAHs versus dioxin is conveyed by a single base pair flanking each Ahr response element in the Bax promoter. Oocytes in human ovarian biopsies grafted into immunodeficient mice also accumulate Bax and undergo apoptosis after PAH exposure in vivo. Thus, Ahr-driven Bax transcription is a novel and evolutionarily conserved cell-death signaling pathway responsible for environmental toxicant-induced ovarian failure.

Differentiation and cell death: lessons from the immune system.

The immune system provides a unique vantage point from which to view the interrelationship between differentiation and cell death, as apoptosis is a prominent feature of B- and T-lymphocyte development. Two common themes emerge from recent experimental observations. First, survival signals are crucial during the differentiation process. The upregulation of Bcl-2 during positive selection suggests that this molecule serves as a survival signal to maintain lymphoid homeostasis. Second, if cell death is repressed, cellular differentiation can occur in the absence of inductive signals.

The apoptotic v-cyclin-CDK6 complex phosphorylates and inactivates Bcl-2.

v-cyclin encoded by Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus/human herpesvirus 8 (KSHV or HHV8) associates with cellular cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (CDK6) to form a kinase complex that promotes cell-cycle progression, but can also induce apoptosis in cells with high levels of CDK6. Here we show that whereas HHV8-encoded v-Bcl-2 protects against this apoptosis, cellular Bcl-2 has lost its anti-apoptotic potential as a result of an inactivating phosphorylation in its unstructured loop region. Moreover, we identify Bcl-2 as a new substrate for v-cyclin-CDK6 in vitro, and show that it is present in a complex with CDK6 in cell lysates. A Bcl-2 mutant with a S70A S87A double substitution in the loop region is not phosphorylated and provides resistance to apoptosis, indicating that inactivation of Bcl-2 by v-cyclin-CDK6 may be required for the observed apoptosis. Furthermore, the identification of phosphorylated Bcl-2 in HHV8-positive Kaposi's sarcoma indicates that HHV8-mediated interference with host apoptotic signalling pathways may encourage the development of Kaposi's sarcoma.

Apoptosis-associated signaling pathways are required for chemotherapy-mediated female germ cell destruction.

Female sterility resulting from oocyte destruction is an unfortunate, and in many cases inevitable, consequence of chemotherapy. We show that unfertilized mouse oocytes exposed to therapeutic levels of the antitumor drug, doxorubicin (DXR), undergo apoptosis; however, fertilized oocytes do not initiate apoptosis, but enter cell-cycle arrest, when treated with DXR. Apoptosis induced by DXR in oocytes is blocked by sphingosine-1-phosphate, an inhibitor of ceramide-promoted cell death. Oocytes from Bax-deficient, but not p53-null, female mice display complete resistance to DXR-induced apoptosis in vivo and in vitro. Pretreatment of oocytes with a specific peptide inhibitor of caspases also abrogates the apoptotic response to DXR. These findings indicate that oocyte destruction caused by chemotherapy can be prevented by manipulation of apoptosis-associated signaling pathways.

Hyperglycemia induces apoptosis in pre-implantation embryos through cell death effector pathways.

Although perinatal mortality rates have improved for pregnant diabetic women because of insulin therapy and tight metabolic control, infants of diabetics still experience significantly higher rates of congenital malformations and spontaneous miscarriages compared with those of non-diabetic women. Our results here indicate that hyperglycemic conditions, either in vivo or in vitro, modulate the expression of an apoptosis regulatory gene as early as the pre-implantation blastocyst stage in the mouse. Apoptosis in the mammalian pre-implantation blastocyst is a normal process, thought to protect the early embryo by eliminating abnormal cells. Here we demonstrate that expression of Bax, a Bcl-2-like protein, is increased at the blastocyst stage in the presence of high concentrations of glucose, and that these changes correlate morphologically with increased DNA fragmentation. Expression of Bax and caspase are necessary for this in vitro glucose-induced apoptotic event, and ceramide is involved in mediating this embryotoxic effect of glucose. We also show that these apoptotic cellular changes can be prevented in vivo by treating hyperglycemic mice with insulin before and immediately after conception. These findings emphasize the importance of tight glycemic control in diabetic women at the earliest stages after conception.

Enx (Hox11L1)-deficient mice develop myenteric neuronal hyperplasia and megacolon.

The isolated homeobox gene Enx (Hox11L1) is expressed in enteric neurons innervating distal ileum, and proximal and distal colon. Enx-deficient mice develop megacolon with massive distension of the proximal colon. The number of myenteric ganglia, total neurons per ganglion, and NADPH diaphorase presumptive inhibitory neurons per ganglion are increased in the proximal and distal colon, but decreased in the distal ileum of all Enx-/- mice. Enx-/- mice provide a model for human neuronal intestinal dysplasia (NID), in which myenteric neuronal hyperplasia and megacolon are seen. These results suggest that Enx is required for the proper positional specification and differentiative cell fate of enteric neurons.

Inhibition of virus-induced neuronal apoptosis by Bax.

The Bax protein is widely known as a pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member that when overexpressed can trigger apoptosis in multiple cell types and is important for the developmental cell death of neurons. However, Bax was found here to be a potent inhibitor of neuronal cell death in mice infected with Sindbis virus. Newborn mice, which are highly susceptible to a fatal infection with neurotropic Sindbis virus, were significantly protected from neuronal apoptosis and fatal disease when infected with a recombinant Sindbis virus encoding Bax. Deletion of the N terminus of Bax, which mimics cleaved Bax, converted Bax into a pro-apoptotic factor in vivo. As mice mature during the first week after birth, they acquire resistance to a fatal Sindbis virus infection. However, Bax-deficient mice remained very sensitive to fatal disease compared with their control littermates, indicating that endogenous Bax functions as a survival factor and contributes to age-dependent resistance to Sindbis virus-induced mortality. The protective effects of Bax were reproduced in cultured hippocampal neurons but not in cultured dorsal root ganglia neurons. These findings indicate that cell-specific factors determine the anti-apoptotic versus pro-apoptotic function of Bax.

Human J chain gene. Structure and expression in B lymphoid cells.

As part of an ongoing investigation of the regulation of gene expression in B cell development, we have obtained a genomic DNA clone encoding the human J chain protein. The nucleotide sequence of exons encoding the mature protein defines a 137 amino acid primary sequence similar to that previously determined at the protein level. Probes from the gene have been used to analyze J chain expression in human cell lines corresponding to pre-B and B lymphocytes. J chain RNA was detected in two of six human pre-B cell lines and in 8 of 10 B cell lines expressing various Ig isotypes. The expression of the J chain gene is, thus, not tightly linked to IgM or IgA secretion. Our data do not, however, support the recent suggestion (7) that synthesis of J chain precedes that of mu chain in B lymphocyte differentiation. Because of the presence of nine candidate polyadenylation signals (AATAAA or AATTAAA) downstream of the C-terminal coding block of the J chain gene, the 3' end of the gene could not be determined from sequence data alone. To define the 3' end, J chain RNA from a human B lymphocyte line was used to protect an end-labelled DNA fragment from S1 nuclease digestion. The sequence 40 basepairs 5' of the functional polyadenylation site identified by these S1 experiments is homologous the same region of a previously reported mouse J chain complementary DNA clone.

The T cell receptor repertoire of CD4-8+ thymocytes is altered by overexpression of the BCL-2 protooncogene in the thymus.

The bcl-2 gene encodes an intracellular, membrane-associated protein that protects immature cortical thymocytes from a wide variety of apoptotic stimuli, including glucocorticoids, radiation, and anti-CD3 treatment. Since cortical thymocytes are the primary target cells for thymic positive and negative selection processes, and since these processes are associated with cell death, we evaluated the role of bcl-2 in T cell development in two ways. In the first approach, transgenic mice expressing high levels of Bcl-2 in cortical thymocytes were mated with H-Y T cell receptor (TCR) transgenic mice, the latter being a well-defined system for the study of positive and negative selection of T cells. We found that the bcl-2 transgene had a dramatic effect on positive selection. This was manifested by a greatly increased production of mature thymocytes that were highly skewed towards the CD4-8+ lineage. The change involving CD4-8+ thymocytes occurred not only in bcl-2 transgenic mice, but was also observed in H-Y TCR/bcl-2 doubly transgenic mice, regardless of whether the H-Y TCR was expressed in the selecting (H-2b) or nonselecting (H-2d) environments. Furthermore, a large proportion of CD4-8+ thymocytes produced in H-2b H-Y TCR/bcl-2 doubly transgenic female mice expressed endogenous TCR alpha chains rather than the transgenic TCR alpha chain. These observations are consistent with the model that high expression of Bcl-2 in cortical thymocytes overrides the normal apoptotic pathway. This then allows the selection of CD4-8+ thymocytes expressing TCRs that are otherwise nonselectable. However, the bcl-2 transgene did not protect CD4+8+ thymocytes expressing the male-specific TCR from deletion in male doubly transgenic mice. In the second approach, we determined the level of bcl-2 mRNA expression in populations of thymocytes defined by their CD4/CD8 phenotypes using quantitative reversed transcriptase PCR techniques. Our results indicate that bcl-2 mRNA was expressed at a high level in immature CD4-8- thymocytes and in mature CD4+8- thymocytes. There is a dramatic downregulation of bcl-2 mRNA in CD4+8+ thymocytes, particularly those expressing a low level of TCR. CD4+8+ thymocytes that upregulated their TCR, likely as a result of receiving positive selection signals, also upregulated bcl-2 mRNA. This observation suggests that rescue of immature thymocytes from the programmed cell death pathway by positive selection signals is accompanied by the upregulation of bcl-2 mRNA.

Bcl-XL and Bcl-2 repress a common pathway of cell death.

The effect of Bcl-xL upon the developmental death of T cells was assessed by generating transgenic mice that expressed Bcl-xL within all thymocyte subsets. Bcl-xL protected thymocytes from a variety of apoptotic stimuli, including gamma irradiation, glucocorticoids, and anti-CD3 treatment. Bcl-xL altered thymocyte maturation, resulting in increased numbers of CD3int/hi and CD4-8+ thymocytes. Overall, the phenotype of Bcl-xL transgenics was essentially indistinguishable from a Bcl-2 transgenic model. Overexpression of Bcl-xL or Bcl-2 resulted in the down-regulation of the other molecule, providing further evidence of their reciprocal regulation. In a genetic test of redundancy, the Bcl-xL transgene rescued mature T cells in Bcl-2 null mice. Immunoprecipitation indicated that Bcl-xL, like Bcl-2, heterodimerized with the death-promoting molecule Bax in thymocytes. This in vivo model argues that Bcl-xL, like Bcl-2, functions in a common pathway to repress cell death.

The kappa-deleting element. Germline and rearranged, duplicated and dispersed forms.

Human light chain genes are used in a kappa before lambda order. Accompanying this hierarchy is the rearrangement of a kappa-deleting element (Kde) which eliminates the kappa locus before lambda gene rearrangement. In approximately 60% of rearrangements the Kde recombines at a conserved heptamer within the J kappa-C kappa intron. We demonstrated that aberrant V/J rearrangements possessing apparent "N" nucleotides existed 5' to the J kappa-Kde rearrangements. This suggests that the Kde may selectively eliminate nonfunctional V/J alleles. A kappa-producing cell that displayed the unusual finding of lambda gene rearrangement demonstrated a rearranged Kde. This rearrangement was a V kappa/Kde recombination and the heptamer-11 bp spacer-nonamer flanking the V kappa is the target site of the Kde 40% of the time. The mouse possesses a counterpart to the Kde (recombining sequence [RS]) and the highly conserved regions surround the heptamer-spacer-nonamer signals. No complete protein product was predicted from the germline Kde near its break-point and no consistent fusion product was predicted from either the V/Kde or V/J-Kde rearrangements. A distal portion of the Kde is duplicated and is present at 2q11 as well as 2p11. The evolutionary conservation of the kappa-elimination event, the duplication and maintenance of the Kde indicates that it has a function. A portion of the Kde may still prove to encode a trans-acting factor that directly affects lambda rearrangement. A certain role for the Kde is its site-specific rearrangement, which destroys ineffective kappa genes and sets the stage for lambda gene utilization.

On the key role of secondary lymphoid organs in antiviral immune responses studied in alymphoplastic (aly/aly) and spleenless (Hox11(-)/-) mutant mice.

The role of the spleen and of other organized secondary lymphoid organs for the induction of protective antiviral immune responses was evaluated in orphan homeobox gene 11 knockout mice (Hox11(-/-)) lacking the spleen, and in homozygous alymphoplastic mutant mice (aly/aly) possessing a structurally altered spleen but lacking lymph nodes and Peyer's patches. Absence of the spleen had no major effects on the immune response, other than delaying the antibody response by 1-2 d. In aly/aly mice, the thymus-independent IgM response against vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) was delayed and reduced, whereas the T-dependent switch to the protective IgG was absent. Therefore, aly/aly mice were highly susceptible to VSV infection. Since aly/aly spleen cells yielded neutralizing IgM and IgG after adoptive transfer into recipients with normally structured secondary lymphoid organs, these data suggest that the structural defect was mainly responsible for inefficient T-B cooperation. Although aly/aly mice generated detectable, but reduced, CTL responses after infection with vaccinia virus (VV) and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), the elimination of these viruses was either delayed (VV) or virtually impossible (LCMV); irrespective of the dose or the route of infection, aly/aly mice developed life-long LCMV persistence. These results document the critical role of organized secondary lymphoid organs in the induction of naive T and B cells. These structures also provide the basis for cooperative interactions between antigen-presenting cells, T cells, and B cells, which are a prerequisite for recovery from primary virus infections via skin or via blood.

Normal human B cells display ordered light chain gene rearrangements and deletions.

Human kappa-producing B cell lines and leukemias retain their excluded lambda light chain genes in the germ line configuration, whereas transformed lambda-producing B cells uniformly rearrange or delete their kappa genes (12). Whether the unexpected lambda gene recombinations within malignant lambda-producing B cells reflect a normal developmental process or are secondary to transformation and specific chromosomal translocations was uncertain. To resolve this issue, we purified circulating lambda-bearing B cells from a normal individual to 97% purity by using a series of negative selection steps and a final positive selection on a cell sorter. Over 95% of the collective kappa genes in these lambda B cells were no longer in their germ line form, with the majority (60%) deleted and the remainder present but in a rearranged state. The chromosomal loss of the germ line kappa genes included the joining (J kappa) segments as well as the constant (C kappa) region, yet the particular variable (V kappa) gene family studied was spared. In addition, the incidence of kappa gene deletions was higher in long-term than in freshly transformed lambda B cell lines. This implies that the deletion of aberrantly rearranged kappa genes may occur as a second event. Such a mechanism would serve to eliminate aberrant transcripts and light chain fragments that might interfere with the synthesis and assembly of effective immunoglobulin molecules. Thus, despite the nearly equal usage of kappa and lambda light chain genes in man, there appears to be a sequential order to their expression during normal B cell ontogeny in which kappa gene rearrangements precede those of lambda.

Expression of interleukin 2 receptors on activated human B cells.

Using anti-Tac, a monoclonal anti-interleukin 2 (IL-2) receptor antibody, we have explored the possibility that certain activated B cells display receptors for IL-2. Resting normal B cells and unselected B cell lines established from normal individuals were Tac antigen negative. In contrast, the cell surface Tac antigen expression was demonstrable on 6 of 10 B cell lines from patients with Burkitt's lymphoma, 5 of 6 B cell lines derived from patients with HTLV-I-associated adult T cell leukemia (including all four that had integrated HTLV-I into their genome), and on certain normal B cells activated with pokeweed mitogen. Furthermore, cloned Epstein-Barr virus-transformed B cell lines derived from Tac-positive normal B cells continued to express the Tac antigen in long-term cultures and manifested high affinity IL-2 receptors identified in binding studies with purified radiolabeled IL-2. The line 5B4 developed in the present study could be induced with purified JURKAT-derived or recombinant IL-2 to express a larger number of IL-2 receptors. Furthermore, the addition of IL-2 to the 5B4 B cell line augmented IgM synthesis, which could be blocked by the addition of anti-Tac. The size of the IL-2 receptors expressed on the cloned normal B cell lines was similar (53,000-57,000 daltons) to that of receptors on phytohemagglutinin-stimulated T cell lymphoblasts. Thus, certain malignant and activated normal B cells display the Tac antigen and manifest high affinity receptors for IL-2. These data suggest that IL-2 may play a role in the differentiation of activated B cells into immunoglobulin-synthesizing and -secreting cells.

Interleukin 7-dependent B lymphocyte precursor cells are ultrasensitive to apoptosis.

We have compared the sensitivity of clonogenic interleukin 7 (IL-7)-dependent murine B cell precursors with that of clonogenic mature B cells and myeloid precursors to alpha-particles from plutonium-238 and X radiation. All three populations are relatively sensitive, but B cell precursors are ultrasensitive. This differential sensitivity is also observed with corticosteroid, etoposide, and cisplatin, all apoptosis-inducing drugs used in the treatment of leukemia and other cancers. Further, we show that x-rays and drugs induce the bulk of the B cell precursor population to undergo rapid apoptosis, despite the continued presence of IL-7. B cell precursors were found to express very low levels of BCL-2 protein compared with mature splenic B cells and their resistance to x-rays and corticosteroid could be enhanced by expression of a BCL-2 transgene. These data have important implications for normal lymphopoiesis and for the behavior of leukemic lymphoid precursor cells.

Bax deletion further orders the cell death pathway in cerebellar granule cells and suggests a caspase-independent pathway to cell death.

Dissociated cerebellar granule cells maintained in medium containing 25 mM potassium undergo an apoptotic death when switched to medium with 5 mM potassium. Granule cells from mice in which Bax, a proapoptotic Bcl-2 family member, had been deleted, did not undergo apoptosis in 5 mM potassium, yet did undergo an excitotoxic cell death in response to stimulation with 30 or 100 microM NMDA. Within 2 h after switching to 5 mM K+, both wild-type and Bax-deficient granule cells decreased glucose uptake to <20% of control. Protein synthesis also decreased rapidly in both wild-type and Bax-deficient granule cells to 50% of control within 12 h after switching to 5 mM potassium. Both wild-type and Bax -/- neurons increased mRNA levels of c-jun, and caspase 3 (CPP32) and increased phosphorylation of the transactivation domain of c-Jun after K+ deprivation. Wild-type granule cells in 5 mM K+ increased cleavage of DEVD-aminomethylcoumarin (DEVD-AMC), a fluorogenic substrate for caspases 2, 3, and 7; in contrast, Bax-deficient granule cells did not cleave DEVD-AMC. These results place BAX downstream of metabolic changes, changes in mRNA levels, and increased phosphorylation of c-Jun, yet upstream of the activation of caspases and indicate that BAX is required for apoptotic, but not excitotoxic, cell death. In wild-type cells, Boc-Asp-FMK and ZVAD-FMK, general inhibitors of caspases, blocked cleavage of DEVD-AMC and blocked the increase in TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) positivity. However, these inhibitors had only a marginal effect on preventing cell death, suggesting a caspase-independent death pathway downstream of BAX in cerebellar granule cells.