Apoptosis is a highly regulated form of programmed cell death, essential to the development and homeostasis of multicellular organisms. Cytochrome c is a central figure in the activation of the apoptotic intrinsic pathway, thereby activating the caspase cascade through its interaction with Apaf-1. Our recent studies have revealed 14-3-3ε (a direct inhibitor of Apaf-1) as a cytosolic cytochrome c target. Here we explore the cytochrome c / 14-3-3ε interaction and show the ability of cytochrome c to block 14-3-3ε-mediated Apaf-1 inhibition, thereby unveiling a novel function for cytochrome c as an indirect activator of caspase-9/3. We have used calorimetry, NMR spectroscopy, site mutagenesis and computational calculations to provide an insight into the structural features of the cytochrome c / 14-3-3ε complex. Overall, these findings suggest an additional cytochrome c-mediated mechanism to modulate apoptosome formation, shedding light onto the rigorous apoptotic regulation network.
Pubmed ID: 29511177 RIS Download
Publication data is provided by the National Library of Medicine ® and PubMed ®. Data is retrieved from PubMed ® on a weekly schedule. For terms and conditions see the National Library of Medicine Terms and Conditions.
A commercial antibody supplier and provider of various services.
View all literature mentionsCommercial instrument and chemical vendor. Developer and manufacturer of specialized technological products for life science research and clinical diagnostics markets.
View all literature mentionsAn American pharmaceutical company aiming to make a difference in the lives of people globally through their medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products.
View all literature mentionsSoftware package for NMR spectra acquisition, processing, and data analysis. Features include: deconvolution/spectrum simulation/iteration; comprehensive functionalities for processing, displaying and analyzing one and multi-dimensional spectra; and user customization. A full list of features is available on the website.
View all literature mentionsSoftware package of molecular simulation programs. It is distributed into AmberTools15 and Amber14. AmberTools15 is a software package which can carry out complete molecular dynamics simulations with either explicit water or generalized Born solvent models. It is distributed in source code format and must be compiled in order to be used. Amber14 builds on AmberTools15 by adding the pmemd program, which provides better performance on multiple CPUs and dramatic speed improvements on GPUs compared to sander (molecular dynamics). GPU info, manuals, and tutorials are available on the website.
View all literature mentionsCell line HeLa is a Cancer cell line with a species of origin Homo sapiens
View all literature mentionsCell line HEK293T is a Transformed cell line with a species of origin Homo sapiens (Human)
View all literature mentions