Trim17, novel E3 ubiquitin-ligase, initiates neuronal apoptosis

Accumulating data indicate that the ubiquitin-proteasome system controls apoptosis by regulating the level and the function of key regulatory proteins. In this study, we identified Trim17, a member of the TRIM/RBCC protein family, as one of the critical E3 ubiquitin ligases involved in the control of neuronal apoptosis upstream of mitochondria. We show that expression of Trim17 is increased both at the mRNA and protein level in several in vitro models of transcription-dependent neuronal apoptosis. Expression of Trim17 is controlled by the PI3K/Akt/GSK3 pathway in cerebellar granule neurons (CGN). Moreover, the Trim17 protein is expressed in vivo, in apoptotic neurons that naturally die during post-natal cerebellar development. Overexpression of active Trim17 in primary CGN was sufficient to induce the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis in survival conditions. This pro-apoptotic effect was abolished in Bax(-/-) neurons and depended on the E3 activity of Trim17 conferred by its RING domain. Furthermore, knock-down of endogenous Trim17 and overexpression of dominant-negative mutants of Trim17 blocked trophic factor withdrawal-induced apoptosis both in CGN and in sympathetic neurons. Collectively, our data are the first to assign a cellular function to Trim17 by showing that its E3 activity is both necessary and sufficient for the initiation of neuronal apoptosis. Cell Death and Differentiation (2010) 17, 1928-1941; doi: 10.1038/cdd.2010.73; published online 18 June 201

Active killing of neurons during development and following stress: a role for p75(NTR) and Fas?

Evidence for active triggering of neuronal death continues to accumulate. The transmembrane receptors p75(NTR) and Fas can trigger (and in some cases are required for) programmed cell death of the neurons that express them, through signalling pathways that are regulated by a variety of cytoplasmic effectors. Neuronal death induced by trophic deprivation often requires Fas signalling, further blurring the boundaries between naturally occurring and stress-induced neuronal death

Programmed cell death of embryonic motoneurons triggered through the Fas death receptor

About 50% of spinal motoneurons undergo programmed cell death (PCD) after target contact, but little is known about how this process is initiated. Embryonic motoneurons coexpress the death receptor Fas and its ligand FasL at the stage at which PCD is about to begin. In the absence of trophic factors, many motoneurons die in culture within 2 d. Most (75%) of these were saved by Fas-Fc receptor body, which blocks interactions between Fas and FasL, or by the caspase-8 inhibitor tetrapeptide IETD. Therefore, activation of Fas by endogenous FasL underlies cell death induced by trophic deprivation. In the presence of neurotrophic factors, exogenous Fas activators such as soluble FasL or anti-Fas antibodies triggered PCD of 40-50% of purified motoneurons over the following 3-5 d; this treatment led to activation of caspase-3, and was blocked by IETD. Sensitivity to Fas activation is regulated: motoneurons cultured for 3 d with neurotrophic factors became completely resistant. Levels of Fas expressed by motoneurons varied little, but FasL was upregulated in the absence of neurotrophic factors. Motoneurons resistant to Fas activation expressed high levels of FLICE-inhibitory protein (FLIP), an endogenous inhibitor of caspase-8 activation. Our results suggest that Fas can act as a driving force for motoneuron PCD, and raise the possibility that active triggering of PCD may contribute to motoneuron loss during normal development and/or in pathological situations

Brain basic fibroblast growth factor stimulates the release of plasminogen activators by newborn rat cultured astroglial cells

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), a growth factor for many cell types including newborn rat astroglial cells, stimulates in a dose-dependent fashion the release of plasminogen activators (PAs) by these cells as measured by the fibrin-overlay method or the Coleman and Green's colorimetric assay. This effect of bFGF on PAs secretion (about 4.5-fold increase at 40 ng/ml bFGF) does not result from an aspecific stimulation of protein secretion by astrocytes and is only partly correlated with the mitogenic activity of bFGF. bFGF was also tested on two clonal glioma cell lines (C6 and LN18). Only one of those cell types (LN18) showed a stimulated PA release in the presence of bFGF. These data are discussed with respect to the putative roles of plasminogen activators in the developing nervous system

Expression of a dominant negative form of Daxx in vivo rescues motoneurons from Fas (CD95)-induced cell death

International audienceFas-induced death of motoneurons in vitro has been shown to involve two signaling cascades that act together to execute the death program: a Fas-Daxx-ASK-1-p38 kinase-nNOS branch, which controls transcriptional and post-translational events, and the second classical Fas-FADD-caspase-8 branch. To analyze the role of Daxx in the developmental motoneuron cell death, we studied Fas-dependent cell death in motoneurons from transgenic mice that overexpress a dominant-negative form of Daxx. Motoneurons purified from these transgenic mice are resistant to Fas-induced death. This protective effect is specific to Fas because ultraviolet irradiation-triggered death is not affected by the transgene. The Daxx and the FADD pathways work in parallel because only Daxx, but not FADD, is involved in the transcriptional control of neuronal nitric oxide synthase and nitric oxide production. Nevertheless, we do not observe involvement of Daxx in developmental motoneuronal cell death, as the pattern of naturally occurring programmed cell death in vivo is normal in transgenic mice overexpressing the dominant negative form of Daxx, suggesting that Daxx-independent pathways are used during development