Suttorp. Rho protein inactivation induced apoptosis of cultured human endothelial cells.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the major pathogen of community-acquired pneumonia and one of the most common causes of death due to infectious diseases in industrialized countries. Lung epithelium lines the airways and constitutes the first line of innate defense against respiratory pathogens. Little is known about the molecular interaction of pneumococci with lung epithelial cells. Apoptosis of lung epithelium is involved in some bacterial lung infections. In this study different pneumococcal strains specifically induced either apoptotic or necrotic death of human alveolar and bronchial epithelial cells. Pneumococcus-induced apoptosis did not depend on the virulence factors pneumolysin and H 2 O 2 . Apoptotic cells showed increased activity of caspases 6, 8, and 9 but not increased activity of caspase 3. Moreover, programmed cell death could be strongly reduced by a caspase 6 inhibitor and a pan-caspase inhibitor. Inhibitors of calpain and chymotrypsin-and trypsin-like proteases also reduced pneumococcus-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, pneumococcus-infected human alveolar epithelial cells showed Bid cleavage and reduced levels of Bcl2 and Bax. Overexpression of Bcl2 in these cells reduced apoptosis significantly. Thus, pneumococci induced apoptosis of human alveolar and bronchial epithelial cells. Programmed cell death was executed by caspase 6 and noncaspase proteases, but not by caspase 3, and could be blocked by overexpression of Bcl2.

Lysyl oxidase (LOX) catalyzes cross-linking of elastin and collagen, which is essential for structural integrity and function of bone tissue. The present study examined the role of Lox gene deficiency for the osteoblast phenotype in primary calvarial osteoblasts from E18.5 Lox knockout (Lox -/-) and wild type (wt) (C57 BL/6) mice. Next to Lox gene depletion, mRNA expression of Lox isoforms, LOXL1-4, was significantly down-regulated in Lox -/-bone tissue. A significant decrease of DNA synthesis of Lox -/-osteoblasts compared to wt was found. Early stages of osteoblastic apoptosis studied by Annexin-V binding as well as later stages of DNA fragmentation were not affected. However, mineral nodule formation and osteoblastic differentiation were markedly decreased, as revealed by significant down-regulation of osteoblastic markers, type I collagen, BSP and Runx2/ Cbfa1.

These data demonstrate that P gingivalis infects primary human chondrocytes and affects cellular responses, which might contribute to the tissue damage seen in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.