Exit of cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol has been implicated as an important step in apoptosis. In the cytosol, cytochrome c binds to the CED-4 homologue, Apaf-1, thereby triggering Apaf-1–mediated activation of caspase-9. Caspase-9 is thought to propagate the death signal by triggering other caspase activation events, the details of which remain obscure. Here, we report that six additional caspases (caspases-2, -3, -6, -7, -8, and -10) are processed in cell-free extracts in response to cytochrome c, and that three others (caspases-1, -4, and -5) failed to be activated under the same conditions. In vitro association assays confirmed that caspase-9 selectively bound to Apaf-1, whereas caspases-1, -2, -3, -6, -7, -8, and -10 did not. Depletion of caspase-9 from cell extracts abrogated cytochrome c–inducible activation of caspases-2, -3, -6, -7, -8, and -10, suggesting that caspase-9 is required for all of these downstream caspase activation events. Immunodepletion of caspases-3, -6, and -7 from cell extracts enabled us to order the sequence of caspase activation events downstream of caspase-9 and reveal the presence of a branched caspase cascade. Caspase-3 is required for the activation of four other caspases (-2, -6, -8, and -10) in this pathway and also participates in a feedback amplification loop involving caspase-9.

Apoptosis is orchestrated by a family of cysteine proteases known as the caspases. Fourteen mammalian caspases have been identified, three of which (caspase-3, -6, and -7) are thought to coordinate the execution phase of apoptosis by cleaving multiple structural and repair proteins. However, the relative contributions that the "executioner" caspases make to the demolition of the cell remains speculative. Here we have used cell-free extracts immuno-depleted of either caspase-3, -6, or -7 to examine the caspase requirements for apoptosis-associated proteolysis of 14 caspase substrates as well as nuclear condensation, chromatin margination, and DNA fragmentation. We show that caspase-3 is the primary executioner caspase in this system, necessary for cytochrome c/dATP-inducible cleavage of fodrin, gelsolin, U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein, DNA fragmentation factor 45 (DFF45)/inhibitor of caspase-activated DNase (ICAD), receptor-interacting protein (RIP), X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (X-IAP), signal transducer and activator of transcription-1 (STAT1), topoisomerase I, vimentin, Rb, and lamin B but not for cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) or lamin A. In addition, caspase-3 was also essential for apoptosis-associated chromatin margination, DNA fragmentation, and nuclear collapse in this system. Surprisingly, although caspase-6 and -7 are considered to be important downstream effector caspases, depletion of either caspase had minimal impact on any of the parameters investigated, calling into question their precise role during the execution phase of apoptosis.

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Interleukin-1 beta converting enzyme (ICE)-like proteases, which are synthesized as inactive precursors, play a key role in the induction of apoptosis. We now demonstrate that benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp (OMe) fluoromethylketone (Z-VAD.FMK), an ICE-like protease inhibitor, inhibits apoptosis by preventing the processing of CPP32 to its active form. These results suggest that novel inhibitors of apoptosis can be developed which prevent processing of proforms of ICE-like proteases.

Caspases participate in the molecular control of apoptosis in several guises; as triggers of the death machinery, as regulatory elements within it, and ultimately as a subset of the effector elements of the machinery itself. The mammalian caspase family is steadily growing and currently contains 14 members. At present, it is unclear whether all of these proteases participate in apoptosis. Thus, current research in this area is focused upon establishing the repertoire and order of caspase activation events that occur during the signalling and demolition phases of cell death. Evidence is accumulating to suggest that proximal caspase activation events are typically initiated by molecules that promote caspase aggregation. As expected, distal caspase activation events are likely to be controlled by caspases activated earlier in the cascade. However, recent data has cast doubt upon the functional demarcation of caspases into signalling (upstream) and effector (downstream) roles based upon their prodomain lengths. In particular, caspase-3 may perform an important role in propagating the caspase cascade, in addition to its role as an effector caspase within the death programme. Here, we discuss the apoptosis-associated caspase cascade and the hierarchy of caspase activation events within it.

BID, a pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member, promotes cytochrome c release during apoptosis initiated by CD95L or TNF. Activation of caspase-8 in the latter pathways results in cleavage of BID, translocation of activated BID to mitochondria, followed by redistribution of cytochrome c to the cytosol. However, it is unclear whether BID participates in cytochrome c release in other (non-death receptor) cell death pathways. Here, we show that BID is cleaved in response to multiple deathinducing stimuli (staurosporine, UV radiation, cycloheximide, etoposide). However BID cleavage in these contexts was blocked by Bcl-2, suggesting that proteolysis of BID occurred distal to cytochrome c release. Furthermore, addition of cytochrome c to Jurkat post-nuclear extracts triggered breakdown of BID at Asp-59 which was catalysed by caspase-3 rather than caspase-8. We provide evidence that caspase-3 catalysed cleavage of BID represents a feedback loop for the amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome c release during cytotoxic drug and UV radiation-induced apoptosis.

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A reversed-phase liquid chromatography-linear ion trap-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectrometric method was developed for the profiling of lipids in human and mouse plasma. With the use of a fused-core C 8 column and a binary gradient, more than 160 lipids belonging to eight different classes were detected in a single LC-MS run. The method was fully validated and the analytical characteristics such as linearity ( R (2), 0.994-1.000), limit of detection (0.08-1.28 microg/mL plasma), repeatability (RSD, 2.7-7.9%) and intermediate precision (RSD, 2.7-15.6%) were satisfactory. The method was successfully applied to p53 mutant mice plasma for studying some phenotypic effects of p53 expression.