Cell Death & Differentiation

Linkermann, A; Konstantinidis, K; Kitsis, R N

doi: 10.1038/cdd.2015.151pmid: 26586571

Metkar, S S; Pardo, J; Anderluh, G; Salvesen, G; Trapani, J A; Simon, M M

doi: 10.1038/cdd.2015.141pmid: 26639556

Lalaoui, N; Johnstone, R; Ekert, P G

doi: 10.1038/cdd.2015.136pmid: 26517530

Valdés-Mas, R; Gutiérrez-Abril, J; Puente, X S; López-Otín, C

doi: 10.1038/cdd.2015.155pmid: 26611460

Lockshin, R A

doi: 10.1038/cdd.2015.126pmid: 26564398

In the 50 years since we described cell death as ‘programmed,’ we have come far, thanks to the efforts of many brilliant researchers, and we now understand the mechanics, the biochemistry, and the genetics of many of the ways in which cells can die. This knowledge gives us the resources to alter the fates of many cells. However, not all cells respond similarly to the same stimulus, in either sensitivity to the stimulus or timing of the response. Cells prevented from dying through one pathway may survive, survive in a crippled state, or die following a different pathway. To fully capitalize on our knowledge of cell death, we need to understand much more about how cells are targeted to die and what aspects of the history, metabolism, or resources available to individual cells determine how each cell reaches and crosses the threshold at which it commits to death.

Oettinghaus, B; Schulz, J M; Restelli, L M; Licci, M; Savoia, C; Schmidt, A; Schmitt, K; Grimm, A; Morè, L; Hench, J; Tolnay, M; Eckert, A; D'Adamo, P; Franken, P; Ishihara, N; Mihara, K; Bischofberger, J; Scorrano, L; Frank, S

Preyat, N; Rossi, M; Kers, J; Chen, L; Bertin, J; Gough, P J; Le Moine, A; Rongvaux, A; Van Gool, F; Leo, O

doi: 10.1038/cdd.2015.60pmid: 26001219

Cellular necrosis has long been regarded as an incidental and uncontrolled form of cell death. However, a regulated form of cell death termed necroptosis has been identified recently. Necroptosis can be induced by extracellular cytokines, pathogens and several pharmacological compounds, which share the property of triggering the formation of a RIPK3-containing molecular complex supporting cell death. Of interest, most ligands known to induce necroptosis (including notably TNF and FASL) can also promote apoptosis, and the mechanisms regulating the decision of cells to commit to one form of cell death or the other are still poorly defined. We demonstrate herein that intracellular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) has an important role in supporting cell progression to necroptosis. Using a panel of pharmacological and genetic approaches, we show that intracellular NAD+ promotes necroptosis of the L929 cell line in response to TNF. Use of a pan-sirtuin inhibitor and shRNA-mediated protein knockdown led us to uncover a role for the NAD+-dependent family of sirtuins, and in particular for SIRT2 and SIRT5, in the regulation of the necroptotic cell death program. Thus, and in contrast to a generally held view, intracellular NAD+ does not represent a universal pro-survival factor, but rather acts as a key metabolite regulating the choice of cell demise in response to both intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

Schuler, F; Baumgartner, F; Klepsch, V; Chamson, M; Müller-Holzner, E; Watson, C J; Oh, S; Hennighausen, L; Tymoszuk, P; Doppler, W; Villunger, A

doi: 10.1038/cdd.2015.61pmid: 26045049

After cessation of lactation, involution of the mouse mammary gland proceeds in two distinct phases, a reversible and an irreversible one, which leads to the death and removal of alveolar cells. Cell death is preceded by the loss of STAT5 activity, which abrogates cell differentiation and gain of STAT3 activity. Despite early observations implicating BCL2 (B cell lymphoma 2) family proteins in this process, recent evidence suggests that STAT3-controlled cathepsin activity is most critical for cell death at the early stage of involution. Somewhat surprisingly, this cell death associates with but does not depend on the activation of pro-apoptotic effector caspases. However, transgenic overexpression of BCL2, that blocks caspase activation, delays involution while conditional deletion of BclX accelerates this process, suggesting that BCL2 family proteins are needed for the effective execution of involution. Here, we report on the transcriptional induction of multiple pro-apoptotic BCL2 family proteins of the ‘BH3-only’ subgroup during involution and the rate-limiting role of BIM in this process. Loss of Bim delayed epithelial cell clearance during involution after forced weaning in mice, whereas the absence of related Bmf had minor and loss of Bad or Noxa no impact on this process. Consistent with a contribution of BCL2 family proteins to the second wave of cell death during involution, loss of Bim reduced the number of apoptotic cells in this irreversible phase. Notably, the expression changes observed within the BCL2 family did not depend on STAT3 signalling, in line with its initiating role early in the process, but rather appear to result from relief of repression by STAT5. Our findings support the existence of a signalling circuitry regulating the irreversible phase of involution in mice by engaging BH3-only protein-driven mitochondrial apoptosis.

Zhang, S; Qi, Q; Chan, C B; Zhou, W; Chen, J; Luo, H R; Appin, C; Brat, D J; Ye, K

doi: 10.1038/cdd.2015.66pmid: 26001218

The AMP-activated protein kinase, a key regulator of energy homeostasis, has a critical role in metabolic disorders and cancers. AMPK is mainly regulated by cellular AMP and phosphorylation by upstream kinases. Here, we show that PIKE-A binds to AMPK and blocks its tumor suppressive actions, which are mediated by tyrosine kinase Fyn. PIKE-A directly interacts with AMPK catalytic alpha subunit and impairs T172 phosphorylation, leading to repression of its kinase activity on the downstream targets. Mutation of Fyn phosphorylation sites on PIKE-A, depletion of Fyn, or pharmacological inhibition of Fyn blunts the association between PIKE-A and AMPK, resulting in loss of its inhibitory effect on AMPK. Cell proliferation and oncogenic assays demonstrate that PIKE-A antagonizes tumor suppressive actions of AMPK. In human glioblastoma samples, PIKE-A expression inversely correlates with the p-AMPK levels, supporting that PIKE-A negatively regulates AMPK activity in cancers. Thus, our findings provide additional layer of molecular regulation of the AMPK signaling pathway in cancer progression.

Beyer, U; Krönung, S K; Leha, A; Walter, L; Dobbelstein, M

doi: 10.1038/cdd.2015.68pmid: 26024393

The long terminal repeat (LTR) of human endogenous retrovirus type 9 (ERV9) acts as a germline-specific promoter that induces the expression of a proapoptotic isoform of the tumor suppressor homologue p63, GTAp63, in male germline cells. Testicular cancer cells silence this promoter, but inhibitors of histone deacetylases (HDACs) restore GTAp63 expression and give rise to apoptosis. We show here that numerous additional transcripts throughout the genome are driven by related ERV9-LTRs. 3' Rapid amplification of cDNA ends (3’RACE) was combined with next-generation sequencing to establish a large set of such mRNAs. HDAC inhibitors induce these ERV9-LTR-driven genes but not the LTRs from other ERVs. In particular, a transcript encoding the death receptor DR5 originates from an ERV9-LTR inserted upstream of the protein coding regions of the TNFRSF10B gene, and it shows an expression pattern similar to GTAp63. When treating testicular cancer cells with HDAC inhibitors as well as the death ligand TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), rapid cell death was observed, which depended on TNFRSF10B expression. HDAC inhibitors also cooperate with cisplatin (cDDP) to promote apoptosis in testicular cancer cells. ERV9-LTRs not only drive a large set of human transcripts, but a subset of them acts in a proapoptotic manner. We propose that this avoids the survival of damaged germ cells. HDAC inhibition represents a strategy of restoring the expression of a class of ERV9-LTR-mediated genes in testicular cancer cells, thereby re-enabling tumor suppression.