High concentrations of oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL) induce aberrant apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in atherosclerotic plaques. This apoptosis cannot be blocked completely by the inhibition of caspase, and it eventually potentiates plaque disruption and risk for cardiovascular disease. Given the important role of apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) in caspase-independe...

Neuroprotection can be achieved by preventing apoptotic death of postmitotic cells. Apoptotic death can occur by either a caspase-dependent mechanism, involving cytochrome c, apoptosis protease-activating factor-1 (Apaf-1), and caspase-9, or a caspase-independent mechanism, involving apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF). HIV protease inhibitors (PIs) avert apoptosis in part by preventing mitochondri...

Apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) is a novel apoptotic effector protein that induces chromatin condensation and large-scale ( approximately 50 kbp) DNA fragmentation when added to purified nuclei in vitro. Confocal and electron microscopy reveal that, in normal cells, AIF is strictly confined to mitochondria and thus colocalizes with heat shock protein 60 (hsp60). On induction of apoptosis by sta...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Recently, apoptosis- inducing factor (AIF), a mitochondrial proapoptotic protein, and its nuclear translocation have been reported in caspase-independent neuronal apoptosis. In this study, we investigated the contribution of reactive oxygen species (ROS) to the nuclear translocation of AIF and the subsequent DNA fragmentation after permanent focal cerebral ischemia (pFCI)...

Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) is a mitochondrial flavoprotein that mediates both NADH-oxidizing and caspase-independent apoptosis. Further, the proapoptotic activity of AIF is located in the C-terminus of AIF, although the precise minimum sequence responsible for apoptosis induction remains to be investigated. In the present study, we generated two truncated AIFs, AIFDelta1-480-FLAG, which is...

BACKGROUND Hyperosmotic stress causes cell death through activation of apoptotic pathways if the protective osmolyte response is impaired. In this study we attempt to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of hypertonicity-induced apoptosis and the effect of major organic osmolytes upon those. METHODS Hypertonicity-induced changes in Bcl2-family protein abundance and the presence of cytochrome c ...

background: the anti-cancer effects of honey bee venom (bv) and chrysin might open a new window for treatment of chemo-resistant cancers. this study was designed to evaluate cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic effects of bv and chrysin on a2780cp cistplatin- resistant human ovarian cancer cells. methods: as per the study objectives, a2780cp cells were categorized to 4 groups: 3 experiment groups (treat...

Mitochondria play a pivotal role in apoptosis in multicellular organisms by releasing apoptogenic factors such as cytochrome c that activate the caspases effector pathway, and apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) that is involved in a caspase-independent cell death pathway. Here we report that cell death in the single-celled organism Dictyostelium discoideum involves early disruption of mitochondria...

Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), a mitochondrial oxidoreductase, is released into the cytoplasm to induce cell death in response to apoptotic signals. However, the mechanisms underlying this process have not been resolved. We report that inactivation of the Caenorhabditis elegans AIF homolog wah-1 by RNA interference delayed the normal progression of apoptosis and caused a defect in apoptotic D...

Apoptosis is an essential step in cavitation during embryonic epithelial morphogenesis, but its mechanisms are largely unknown. In this paper, we used embryonic stem cell-differentiated embryoid bodies (EBs) as a model and found that Bnip3 (Bcl-2/adenovirus E1B 19-kD interacting protein), a BH3-only proapoptotic protein, was highly up-regulated during cavitation in a hypoxia-dependent manner. S...