An Sp1 transcription factor coordinates caspase-dependent and -independent apoptotic pathways
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Author(s)
Hirose, Takashi
Horvitz, Howard Robert
Date Issued
July 2013
Journal
Nature
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Citation
Hirose, Takashi, and H. Robert Horvitz. “An Sp1 Transcription Factor Coordinates Caspase-Dependent and -Independent Apoptotic Pathways.” Nature 500, no. 7462 (July 14, 2013): 354–358.
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Author's final manuscript
Abstract
During animal development, the proper regulation of apoptosis requires the precise spatial and temporal execution of cell-death programs, which can include both caspase-dependent and caspase-independent pathways. Although the mechanisms of caspase-dependent and -independent cell killing have been examined extensively, how these pathways are coordinated within a single cell that is fated to die is unknown. Here we show that the Caenorhabditis elegans Sp1 transcription factor SPTF-3 specifies the programmed cell deaths of at least two cells—the sisters of the pharyngeal M4 motor neuron and the AQR sensory neuron—by transcriptionally activating both caspase-dependent and -independent apoptotic pathways. SPTF-3 directly drives the transcription of the gene egl-1, which encodes a BH3-only protein that promotes apoptosis through the activation of the CED-3 caspase. In addition, SPTF-3 directly drives the transcription of the AMP-activated protein kinase-related gene pig-1, which encodes a protein kinase and functions in apoptosis of the M4 sister and AQR sister independently of the pathway that activates CED-3. Thus, a single transcription factor controls two distinct cell-killing programs that act in parallel to drive apoptosis. Our findings reveal a bivalent regulatory node for caspase-dependent and -independent pathways in the regulation of cell-type-specific apoptosis. We propose that such nodes might act as features of a general mechanism for regulating cell-type-specific apoptosis and could be therapeutic targets for diseases involving the dysregulation of apoptosis through multiple cell-killing mechanisms.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12329
