A Role for Caspases in Lens Fiber Differentiation

There is increasing evidence that programmed cell death (PCD) depends on a novel family of intracellular cysteine proteases, called caspases, that includes the Ced-3 protease in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the interleukin-1β-converting enzyme (ICE)-like proteases in mammals. Some develop...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of cell biology 1998-01, Vol.140 (1), p.153-158
Main Authors: Ishizaki, Yasuki, Jacobson, Michael D., Raff, Martin C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Apoptosis
Caenorhabditis elegans
Caspase 3
Caspases
Cell Differentiation
Cell nucleus
Cell Nucleus - physiology
Cells
Cells, Cultured
Cellular biology
Cellular differentiation
Cultured cells
Cysteine Endopeptidases - metabolism
Delta cells
Epithelial cells
Epithelial Cells - cytology
Epithelial Cells - physiology
Fiber cells
Fibers
In situ nick end labeling
Insulin
Lens, Crystalline - cytology
Lens, Crystalline - physiology
Mammals
Organ Culture Techniques
Peptides
Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase-1
Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases
Proteins - metabolism
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
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Summary:There is increasing evidence that programmed cell death (PCD) depends on a novel family of intracellular cysteine proteases, called caspases, that includes the Ced-3 protease in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the interleukin-1β-converting enzyme (ICE)-like proteases in mammals. Some developing cells, including lens epithelial cells, erythroblasts, and keratinocytes, lose their nucleus and other organelles when they terminally differentiate, but it is not known whether the enzymatic machinery of PCD is involved in any of these normal differentiation events. We show here that at least one CPP32 (caspase-3)-like member of the caspase family becomes activated when rodent lens epithelial cells terminally differentiate into anucleate lens fibers in vivo, and that a peptide inhibitor of these proteases blocks the denucleation process in an in vitro model of lens fiber differentiation. These findings suggest that at least part of the machinery of PCD is involved in lens fiber differentiation.
ISSN:0021-9525
1540-8140
DOI:10.1083/jcb.140.1.153