
[Cancer Research 60, 4331-4335, August 15, 2000]
© 2000 American Association for Cancer Research
Fenretinide-induced Caspase 3 Activity Involves Increased Protein Stability in a Mechanism Distinct from Reactive Oxygen Species Elevation1
Anna M. DiPietrantonio,
Tze-Chen Hsieh,
Gloria Juan,
Frank Traganos,
Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz and
Joseph M. Wu2
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology [A. M. D., T-C. H., J. M. W.] and the Brander Cancer Institute [T-C. H., G. J., F. T., Z. D., J. M. W.], New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York 10595
 |
ABSTRACT
|
|---|
Fenretinide (4-HPR) is a synthetic retinoid that displays a broad range
of biological effects and has also demonstrated clinical efficacy as a
chemopreventative agent. One cellular activity of 4-HPR is its ability
to induce apoptosis. This effect has been proposed to relate to changes
in intracellular reactive oxygen species. We show herein that a 1-h
treatment of HL-60 cells with 4-HPR led to a dose-dependent increase in
hydroperoxides. Pretreatment of cells with the antioxidant vitamin C
abolished apoptosis, measured as the appearance of the
sub-G1 peak, in 4-HPR-treated cells. The retinoid also
elicited a 3.6-fold increase in caspase 3 activity; however, this
increase was not affected by vitamin C treatment. Analysis of caspase 3
protein expression by Western blot analysis revealed that 4-HPR
resulted in a significant increase in the appearance of the active p17
subunit without effecting a concomitant change in p32 procaspase 3
levels. Studies on de novo synthesis and stability of
caspase 3 by pulse-chase and immunoprecipitation methods show that
4-HPR-treated samples had decreased incorporation of radioactive amino
acid precursors into newly synthesized procaspase 3 but, during the
chase (for up to 9 h), had more labeled caspase 3 remaining when
compared with controls. These studies suggest that 4-HPR may effect
changes in caspase 3 activity by modulating changes in zymogen
stability by a mechanism distinct from the retinoid-elicited increase
in reactive oxygen species.
 |
Introduction
|
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The synthetic retinoid
4-HPR3
has reported efficacy as a chemopreventative agent for breast and
prostate cancer and is currently being investigated for treatment of
bladder cancer (1, 2, 3, 4)
. Due to its reduced toxicity and
effectiveness as a chemopreventative agent in comparison with other
retinoids, the mechanism of action of 4-HPR is of great interest.
Studies in vitro have demonstrated that 4-HPR induces
apoptosis in numerous carcinoma cell lines. Recent reports suggest that
this effect may be mediated through increases in ROS that result from a
perturbation between complex II and complex III of the mitochondrial
respiratory chain (5
, 6) . In addition, elevations in the
levels of the lipid second messenger ceramide as well as increased
caspase 3 activity have also been reported in cells treated with 4-HPR
(7
, 8)
. All three molecular events (ROS, ceramide
elevation, and caspase 3 activity changes) appear to be critical in the
cell death pathway triggered by this retinoid because inhibitors of
each of these events block 4-HPR-induced apoptosis (6, 7, 8)
.
Due to the importance of caspase 3 in the execution phase of apoptosis
and because the mechanism of caspase 3 modulation by 4-HPR remains
ill-defined, we investigated regulation of caspase 3 by 4-HPR. Our
results suggest that this retinoid affects the stability of procaspase
3 by a mechanism independent of ROS elevation.
 |
Materials and Methods
|
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Chemicals.
All-trans-RA (Sigma Chemical Co.) and 4-HPR (supplied by the
Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute) were dissolved in absolute
ethanol as 10 and 1 mM stocks, respectively. The
cell-permeable caspase inhibitors DEVD-CHO and
YVAD-CHO and the caspase colorimetric substrates Ac-DEVD-pNA and
Ac-YVAD-pNA were purchased from Biomol and dissolved in DMSO as
stock solutions.
Cell Culture.
HL-60 cells (American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, MD) were
cultured as described previously (7
, 9
, 10)
. In a typical
experiment, 2 x 105 HL-60
cells/ml were seeded in T-75 flasks as 10-ml cultures. At the indicated
times, cells were harvested, washed twice with PBS, and counted using a
hemocytometer. Cell viability was determined by trypan blue exclusion.
Flow Cytometry.
Control and treated cells were washed twice with PBS and fixed in 10 ml
of ice-cold 70% ethanol. After overnight incubation at -20°C,
samples were washed twice with PBS and resuspended in 1 ml of PBS
containing 10 µg/ml propidium iodide and 100 µg/ml RNase A. Cell
cycle phase distribution and the percentage of apoptotic cells were
determined on a FACScan flow cytometer, and the data were analyzed
using cellFit software (9)
.
Caspase 3 Activity and Protein Expression.
Cell lysates were prepared as described previously (11)
.
Briefly, the cell pellet was resuspended in hypotonic lysis buffer (50
µl/106 cells) containing 10 mM
HEPES (pH 8.0), 1.5 mM MgCl2, 10
mM KCl, 1 mM DTT, 0.5 mM
phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, and 10 µg/ml each of aprotinin,
leupeptin, and pepstatin. The cell suspension was incubated on ice for
15 min, passed five times through a 27-gauge needle, and centrifuged at
14,000 rpm for 15 min at 4°C. For Western blot analysis, 30 µg of
cell lysate were separated on a 15% gel, and immunoreactivity with
anti-caspase 3 (Santa Cruz Biotechnology) was demonstrated by enhanced
chemiluminescence or color reaction.
Protease activity was assayed as detailed previously (12)
,
with the following modifications. Cell lysates (50 µg) were added to
148 µl of reaction buffer [100 mM HEPES (pH 7.5), 20%
glycerol, 0.5 mM EDTA, and 5 mM DTT] and 2
µl of substrate DEVD-pNA (final concentration, 100 µM),
followed by incubation at 30°C for 6 h. The enzyme-catalyzed
release of pNA was monitored at 405 nm in a microtiter plate reader
(model Elx 800; Bio-Tek Instruments). Specificity
of caspase 3 assay was validated by showing that the release of pNA was
inhibited by a 30-min preincubation with 100 nM inhibitor
DEVD-CHO at room temperature.
Pretreatment with Antioxidants.
NAC (Sigma Chemical Co.) was prepared in media immediately before use,
with the pH adjusted to 7.4. Vitamin C (Sigma Chemical Co.) was
dissolved in H2O and stored at 4°C. Cells were
pretreated for 3 h with either antioxidant before the addition of
4-HPR.
Measurement of ROS.
The probe DCFH-DA (Molecular Probes) was dissolved in DMSO as a 50
mM stock. HL-60 cells were washed with PBS and resuspended
in PBS at a density of 1 x 106
cells/ml as 1-ml cultures. Cultures were incubated with 100
µM DCFH-DA for 15 min before the addition of 4-HPR. All
samples were incubated at 37°C for 1 h, and absorbance was
measured at 504 nm.
Labeling of Proteins.
To determine new protein synthesis, HL-60 cells were incubated with 20
µCi/ml [35S]methionine/cysteine before the
addition of 4-HPR. Relative stability of newly synthesized proteins was
monitored by labeling cells overnight with 20 µCi/ml
[35S]methionine/cysteine. The label was removed
by extensive washing with media, and cells were adjusted to a fixed
density and treated with 4-HPR. Aliquots of treated or control cells
were harvested at the time points indicated. Radioactive caspase 3 was
immunoprecipitated and analyzed by autoradiography, as described below.
The same membranes were probed by Western blot analysis to determine
caspase 3 expression.
Immunoprecipitation.
Cell lysates were obtained as described and further processed at 4°C.
Lysates (250 µg) were brought up to 1 ml with hypotonic lysis buffer
and incubated, with shaking, with 20 µl of protein A-agarose (Santa
Cruz Biotechnology). After centrifugation (5 min in a microcentrifuge),
the supernatant was transferred to a new tube and incubated overnight
with 1 µg of anti-caspase 3 (Santa Cruz Biotechnology), followed by
an additional 2-h incubation with 20 µl of protein A-agarose. The
agarose beads were washed three times by repeated centrifugation and
resuspension in PBS containing 1 mM DTT, 0.5% NP40, 0.5
mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, and 10 µg/ml each of
aprotinin, pepstatin, and leupeptin. After the final wash, the beads
were resuspended in 25 µl of SDS-loading buffer [100 mM
Tris-HCl (pH 6.8), 4 mM EDTA, 20% glycerol, 4% SDS,
0.01% bromphenol blue, and 5% ß-mercaptoethanol], boiled for 5
min, and centrifuged, and the supernatant was subjected to 15%
SDS-PAGE.
 |
Results
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Determination of ROS.
To determine whether 4-HPR treatment induced the formation of ROS, we
used two probes, DCFH-DA and lucigenin, to measure intracellular
hydrogen peroxide and superoxide, respectively. A 1-h treatment of
HL-60 cells with 1, 3, 5, and 10 µM 4-HPR increased
hydroperoxide levels by 170%, 270%, 540%, and 617%, respectively,
when compared with controls (Fig. 1A
). The dose-dependent elevation in hydrogen peroxide was not
matched by changes in superoxide, as measured by the lucigenin assay
(data not shown).

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Fig. 1. Vitamin C inhibits 4-HPR-induced apoptosis.
A, changes in hydroperoxide levels, as measured using
the probe DCFH-DA, after 1 h of treatment with increasing
concentrations of 4-HPR. B, flow cytometry analysis
(performed after 24 h) of control and 4-HPR-treated cells without
antioxidant pretreatment (1) or pretreated with either
100 µM vitamin C (2) or 10 mM
NAC (3).
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Treatment with Antioxidants.
To test whether the 4-HPR-elicited increase in ROS is related to its
ability to induce apoptosis, we measured apoptosis-characteristic
internucleosomal cleavage of DNA appearing as an additional peak in
flow cytometry analysis, using cells pretreated with the antioxidants
NAC or vitamin C. NAC, which had previously been reported to inhibit
apoptosis (6)
, did not affect 4-HPR-induced DNA
fragmentation, whereas pretreatment with 100 µM vitamin C
abolished the appearance of the sub-G1 peak,
which is associated with cells undergoing apoptosis (Fig. 1B
).
Activation of Caspase 3 by 4-HPR.
Previous studies in our laboratory have demonstrated the specific
cleavage of the DNA repair enzyme PARP after treatment with 4-HPR
(7)
. Also, PARP processing and apoptosis were similarly
inhibited by the caspase 3 inhibitor DEVD-CHO (7
, 10)
.
These studies suggested the involvement of caspase 3, known to be
critically involved in the execution phase of apoptosis, in the
mechanism of 4-HPR. To test this possibility, activation of this enzyme
was monitored by Western blot analysis and activity assays.
Conceivably, the generation of active caspase-3 would be accompanied by
the conversion of the 32-kDa procaspase 3 into p17 and p10 subunits. As
shown in Fig. 2A
, Western blot analysis revealed the appearance of the p17
subunit at 69 h after treatment with 4-HPR, which is absent in
control samples. Incubation of cell extracts from control cells and
cells treated with the caspase 3 colorimetric substrate DEVD-pNA showed
that 912-h treatment with 4-HPR resulted in a 3.6-fold increase in
caspase activity when compared with control samples (Fig. 2B
). Cells treated with RA did not show a comparable change
in caspase 3 activity at any of the time points tested (Fig. 2B
).

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Fig. 2. 4-HPR treatment induces caspase 3 activity.
A, the processing of the procaspase was monitored by
Western blot analysis. The arrow indicates the p17 form
of caspase 3. B, caspase activity was measured at the
time points indicated in control and treated cells. Time-matched
control values were set at 1. Data represent the mean ± SD from three separate experiments.
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The Effect of Antioxidants on Caspase Activity.
Because 4-HPR treatment led to an elevation of ROS (Fig. 1A
)
and caspase 3 activity (Fig. 2
), it was of interest to determine what
relationship, if any, exists between these two events. Accordingly,
cells were pretreated with 100 µM vitamin C
(which has previously been shown to inhibit apoptosis; Fig. 1C
) or 10 mM NAC, followed by the
addition of 4-HPR, and caspase 3 activity was measured 9 h
thereafter. Neither antioxidant affected the increase in caspase
activity elicited by 4-HPR (Fig. 3
).

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Fig. 3. Pretreatment with antioxidants does not affect
caspase activity. Cells were pretreated for 3 h with 100
µM vitamin C or 10 mM NAC, and caspase
activity was measured 9 h after the addition of 4-HPR. Results are
the mean ± SD from three separate experiments.
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New Synthesis and Stability of Caspase 3.
The conversion of procaspase 3 into its active subunits should
accompany decrease of the p32 precursor. Quantification of the caspase
3 zymogen, however, showed no significant change in its expression
between control and 4-HPR-treated cells (Fig. 4
A, bottom panel). To further explore the mechanisms that
underlie the precursor/product relationship of caspase 3, we evaluated
its de novo synthesis. In these experiments, cells were
incubated with [35S]methionine/cysteine, and
procaspase 3 was immunoprecipitated at the time points indicated. An
increase in time of labeling resulted in a proportionately greater
incorporation of radioactive precursor amino acids into
immunoprecipitated procaspase 3 in control samples (Fig. 4
A, top
panel). In 4-HPR-treated samples, little to no increase in
labeling of procaspase 3 was observed over the same period of labeling;
at all time points assayed, labeling of procaspase 3 in 4-HPR-treated
samples was significantly less than that in control samples (Fig. 4
A, top panel). Analysis of the steady-state level of
procaspase 3 by Western blot analysis shows that its expression
remained unchanged over the same duration (Fig. 4
A, bottom
panel).

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Fig. 4. 4-HPR increases caspase 3 protein stability.
A, decreased synthesis of procaspase 3 in response to
4-HPR. Top panel, autoradiograph of immunoprecipitated
and SDS-PAGE-separated 35S-labeled procaspase 3. Western
blot analysis of the same membrane shown in the bottom
panel illustrates that the expression of total procaspase
remained unchanged as a result of treatment with 4-HPR.
B, the decay of labeled caspase 3 over the course of
9 h in control cells. Western blot analysis was performed on the
same membranes used for autoradiography to determine total protein
expression. Quantification was performed using Jandel Scientific.
C, labeled caspase 3 remaining after 6 h of
treatment, with control values set at 100.
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We next considered whether 4-HPR affected caspase 3 stability. To test
this possibility, cells were labeled with
[35S]methionine/cysteine, washed, and chased
with unlabeled media. The decrease in immunoprecipitated procaspase 3
was monitored over a 9-h chase. As expected, the amount of label in
procaspase 3 decreased over time of chase in control samples (Fig. 4B
). Unexpectedly, 4-HPR-treated samples had significantly
greater amounts of labeled procaspase 3 remaining 69 h after the
chase (Fig. 4C
). Together, these results suggest that 4-HPR
affects procaspase 3 stability but not de novo synthesis.
 |
Discussion
|
|---|
ROS are important mediators and regulators of apoptosis. Various
apoptosis stimuli such as tumor necrosis factor, irradiation, and
chemicals such as etoposide increase the levels of intracellular ROS
(13
, 14) . Apoptosis can be abolished by antioxidants
(15
, 16)
and induced by treatment with ROS such as
H2O2 (17
, 18)
.
In agreement with a previous report (6)
, we show in this
study that 4-HPR elicited a concentration-dependent elevation of
hydroperoxides in HL-60 cells (Fig. 1A
). Moreover,
4-HPR-induced apoptosis is blocked by prior treatment of cells with the
antioxidant vitamin C (Fig. 1B
) and not NAC, as has been
reported previously by others (6)
. Thus, although the
involvement of ROS in 4-HPR-induced apoptosis appears to be cell line
specific (5, 6, 7, 8)
, in HL-60 cells, it is likely to play a
critical role in mediating 4-HPR-induced apoptosis.
To further investigate the integral link between caspase 3 and
induction of apoptosis by 4-HPR, we monitored both the expression and
activity changes of caspase 3. Treatment with 4-HPR and not RA led to
the processing of p32 caspase 3 into a p17 fragment (Fig. 2A
), which was paralleled by increased caspase activity at
912 h posttreatment (Fig. 2B
). Pretreatment with the
antioxidant vitamin C inhibited apoptosis (Fig. 1C
);
however, it had no effect on 4-HPR-induced caspase activity (Fig. 3
).
These results suggest that caspase activation is mechanistically
distinct from increased intracellular peroxides. Although these events
appear to involve separate mechanisms, both mediate the induction of
apoptosis because inhibition of either pathway inhibited DNA
fragmentation. Fig. 5
summarizes our hypothesis that 4-HPR elicits apoptosis in responsive
cells both by ROS-dependent and ROS-independent mechanisms. We further
suggest that the latter mechanistic scheme links the elevation in
ceramide (7)
to subsequent caspase activation, culminating
in PARP processing and the eventual establishment of apoptosis.
Therefore, 4-HPR as well as other agents can elicit several pathways
simultaneously, which ultimately can lead to apoptosis. Whether there
is a convergence of the signaling events remains to be determined.

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Fig. 5. Proposed mechanism of 4-HPR induced apoptosis in HL-60
cells. Treatment with 4-HPR increases ceramide levels and caspase 3
activity in HL-60 cells. Inhibition of either ceramide elevation or
caspase activity prevents the characteristic DNA fragmentation of cells
undergoing apoptosis. 4-HPR-induced ROS appears to be distinct from
this mechanism because pretreatment with antioxidants, which
effectively blocked apoptosis, had no effect on caspase activity.
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An important contribution of this study was an understanding of the
modulation of caspase 3 by 4-HPR. Despite the critical roles that
caspases play in the apoptosis cascade, very little is known about the
regulation of this family of proteins. Several pathways leading to
proteolytic activation of the zymogen have been described. One pathway
of caspase activation involves receptor-mediated recruitment of adaptor
protein, leading to subsequent activation of caspase 8. Another pathway
requires mitochondria-to-cytosol relocalization of cytochrome
c, followed by caspase 9 activation (19)
.
Considerably less is known about the regulation of the enzymatic
activity, although in recent studies, modification by phosphorylation
has been proposed to regulate the active caspase (20)
.
In this study, 4-HPR treatment led to the cleavage of caspase 3 into
its p17 form, and, as expected, this resulted in increased enzymatic
activity. However, there was no observable difference in the expression
of the p32 zymogen. Evaluation of new protein synthesis and procaspase
3 stability using labeled amino acids revealed decreased protein
turnover in response to 4-HPR. These results suggest an additional
level of caspase control through the regulation of protein turnover.
The relative levels of the enzyme may play a role in its activation.
Studies have demonstrated that increasing the local concentration of
caspases through chemically induced dimerization or overexpression
results in caspase activation independent of apoptotic stimuli
(21
, 22)
. Therefore, decreasing turnover of the procaspase
may allow the concentration of the zymogen to remain unchanged,
although there is processing of caspase 3 into the active p17 form. To
our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrates increased
caspase 3 stability in cells undergoing apoptosis and raises the
possibility of yet another mechanism, namely, one involving increased
protein stability, for effecting caspase activation. The mechanism by
which 4-HPR affects protein turnover warrants further investigation.
 |
FOOTNOTES
|
|---|
The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
1 Supported in part by the Vivian Wu-Au Memorial
Cancer Research Fund and an unrestricted research grant from the Philip
Morris Co. Inc. (to J. M. W.) and by NIH National Cancer Institute
Grant CA RO1 28 704 (to Z. D.). 
2 To whom requests for reprints should be
addressed, at Room 147, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology, Basic Sciences Building, New York Medical College, Valhalla,
NY 10595. Phone: (914) 594-4891; Fax: (914) 594-4058; E-mail: Joseph_Wu{at}nymc.edu 
3 The abbreviations used are: 4-HPR, fenretinide;
ROS, reactive oxygen species; RA, retinoic acid; NAC,
N-acetyl cysteine; DCFH-DA,
dichloroflourescein-diacetate; PARP, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. 
Received 5/16/00.
Accepted 6/28/00.
 |
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