Abstract
It is established that sponges, the phylogenetically oldest still extant phylum of Metazoa, possess key molecules of the apoptotic pathways, that is members from the Bcl-2 family and a pro-apoptotic molecule with death domains. Here we report on transfection studies of human cells with a sponge gene, GCBHP2. Sponge tissue was exposed to heat shock and tributyltin, which caused an upregulation of gene expression of GCBHP2. The cDNA GCBHP2 was introduced into human HEK-293 cells and mouse NIH-3T3 cells; the stable transfection was confirmed by the identification of the transcripts, by Western blotting as well as by immunofluorescence using antibodies raised against the recombinant polypeptide. HEK-293 cells, transfected with GCBHP2, showed high resistance to serum starvation and tributyltin treatment, compared to mock-transfected cells. In contrast to mock-transfected cells, GCBHP2-transfected cells activated caspase-3 to a lower extent. Thus, sponges contain gene(s) involved in apoptotic pathway(s) displaying their function also in human cells.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Amino Acid Sequence
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Animals
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Antibodies / immunology
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Apoptosis / drug effects
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Caspase 3
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Caspases / metabolism
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Cell Line
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Cell Survival* / drug effects
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Cloning, Molecular
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Drug Resistance
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Enzyme Activation / drug effects
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Heat-Shock Response / drug effects
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Heat-Shock Response / genetics
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Hot Temperature
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Humans
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Mice
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Phylogeny
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Porifera* / cytology
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Porifera* / drug effects
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Porifera* / genetics
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Protein Structure, Tertiary
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / chemistry
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / genetics
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / immunology
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / metabolism*
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RNA, Messenger / genetics
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RNA, Messenger / metabolism
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Sequence Alignment
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Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
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Trialkyltin Compounds / pharmacology
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Up-Regulation / drug effects
Substances
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Antibodies
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2
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RNA, Messenger
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Trialkyltin Compounds
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bhp2 protein, Geodia cydonium
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tributyltin
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CASP3 protein, human
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Casp3 protein, mouse
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Caspase 3
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Caspases
Associated data
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GENBANK/AJ293508
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GENBANK/AJ293509