Caspase-2-mediated cell death is required for deleting aneuploid cells

Caspase-2, one of the most evolutionarily conserved of the caspase family, has been implicated in maintenance of chromosomal stability and tumour suppression. Caspase-2 deficient (Casp2-/-) mice develop normally but show premature ageing-related traits and when challenged by certain stressors, succumb to enhanced tumour development and aneuploidy. To test how caspase-2 protects against chromosomal instability, we utilized an ex vivo system for aneuploidy where primary splenocytes from Casp2-/- mice were exposed to anti-mitotic drugs and followed up by live cell imaging. Our data show that caspase-2 is required for deleting mitotically aberrant cells. Acute silencing of caspase-2 in cultured human cells recapitulated these results. We further generated Casp2C320S mutant mice to demonstrate that caspase-2 catalytic activity is essential for its function in limiting aneuploidy. Our results provide direct evidence that the apoptotic activity of caspase-2 is necessary for deleting cells with mitotic aberrations to limit aneuploidy.S Dawar, Y Lim, J Puccini, M White, P Thomas, L Bouchier-Hayes, D R Green, L Dorstyn and S Kuma

Термодинамічні дослідження телуридів ербію методом ЕРС

The work presents the results of a thermodynamic study of the Er-Te system by the method of electromotive forces (EMF) in the temperature range of 300-450 K. From the EMF measurements of the concentration cells relative to the Er and ErTe electrodes, the partial thermodynamic functions of ErTe and Er in the alloys are determined, based on which the standard thermodynamic formation functions and the standard entropies of the intermediate compounds ErTe3, Er2Te3, and ErTe are calculated. A comparative analysis of the obtained data with the literature is carried out

Phase composition and catalytic properties of MnNaW/SiO2 oxide system in oxidative conversion of methane

MnNaW/SiO2 oxide system based on a mesoporous silica matrix synthesized using tetraethoxysilane and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as precursors were prepared and characterized by SEM/EDS, XRD, EPR, N-2 adsorption-desorption measurements and studied in the oxidative conversion of methane (OCM). It is shown that MnNaW/SiO2 catalyst consists of MnOx, Na2WO4, MnWO4, and SiO2 phases. At the reaction temperature of 750-850 degrees C the molten Na2WO4 phase covers the surface of crystalline SiO2, and the interaction of MnOx, Na2WO4 and SiO2 matrix forms "liquid glass". It is assumed that Na1-yMnOx particles formed as a result of the interaction of the system components during catalyst formation and characterized by the presence of ion-radical lattice oxygen are catalytically active sites in the OCM process

The enigma of caspase-2: the laymen's view

International audienceProteolysis of cellular substrates by caspases (cysteine-dependent aspartate-specific proteases) is one of the hallmarks of apoptotic cell death. Although the activation of apoptotic caspases is considered a 'late-stage' event in apoptosis signaling, past the commitment stage, one caspase family member, caspase-2, splits the cell death community into half-those searching for evidence of an apical initiator function of this molecule and those considering it as an amplifier of the apoptotic caspase cascade, at best, if relevant for apoptosis at all. This review screens past and present biochemical as well as genetic evidence for caspase-2 function in cell death signaling and beyond