Involvement of Caspase-2 in Cisplatin-Induced Cell Death in 2008 Ovarian Cancer Cells

Abstract

Adkins, B., Involvement of caspase-2 in cisplatin-induced cell death in 2008 ovarian cancer cells. Master of Science (Molecular Biology and Immunology) April, 2008, 59 pp., 12 illustrations, bibliography, 73 titles. Cisplatin, one of the most effective anticancer drugs in the treatment of ovarian cancer, causes DNA damage and leads to apoptosis. Caspases, a family of cysteine proteases, are essential for the induction of apoptosis. Initiator caspases activate effector caspases to trigger apoptosis. Caspase-2 can function as both an initiator and effector caspase although there are controversies regarding its role in DNA damage-induced apoptosis. Caspase-2 is the only caspase constitutively located in the nucleus, although its function there is unknown. In the present study we have investigated if caspase-2 is important during cisplatin-induced apoptosis and whether cisplatin treatment affects the localization of caspase-2. Caspase-2 depletion suggested that caspase-2 acts upstream of caspase-2 acts upstream of caspase-9 in cisplatin-induced apoptosis. We also made a novel observation that rottlerin, an inhibitor of DNA damage-induced apoptosis, specifically downregulates caspase-2 via the ubiquitin proteamose-mediated pathway. We further show that cisplatin induces caspase-2 translocation out of the nucleus. Moreover, translocation of caspase-2 is more important for cisplatin-induced cell death.