Ca super(2+)/Calmodulin-dependent Protein Kinase II Is Required for Microcystin-induced Apoptosis
The potent natural toxins microcystin, nodularin, and okadaic acid act rapidly to induce apoptotic cell death. Here we show that the apoptosis correlates with protein phosphorylation events and can be blocked by protein kinase inhibitors directed against the multifunctional Ca super(2+)/calmodulin-d...
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Published in | The Journal of biological chemistry Vol. 277; no. 4; pp. 2804 - 2811 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
25.01.2002
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The potent natural toxins microcystin, nodularin, and okadaic acid act rapidly to induce apoptotic cell death. Here we show that the apoptosis correlates with protein phosphorylation events and can be blocked by protein kinase inhibitors directed against the multifunctional Ca super(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). The inhibitors used comprised a battery of cell-permeable protein kinase antagonists and CaMKII-directed peptide inhibitors introduced by microinjection or enforced expression. Furthermore, apoptosis could be induced by enforced expression of active forms of CaMKII but not with inactive CaMKII. It is concluded that the apoptogenic toxins, presumably through their known ability to inhibit serine/threonine protein phosphatases, can cause CaMKII-dependent phosphorylation events leading to cell death. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Feature-1 |
ISSN: | 0021-9258 |