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c-FLIP and CD95 signaling are essential for survival of renal cell carcinoma.
Luebke, Tobias Schwarz, Lisa Beer, Yan Yan Schumann, Sabrina Misterek, Maria Sander, Frida Ewald Plaza-Sirvent, Carlos
Luebke, Tobias
Schwarz, Lisa
Beer, Yan Yan
Schumann, Sabrina
Misterek, Maria
Sander, Frida Ewald
Plaza-Sirvent, Carlos
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2019-05-16
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Abstract
Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most-prominent tumor type of kidney cancers. Resistance of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) against tumor therapy is often owing to apoptosis resistance, e.g., by overexpression of anti-apoptotic proteins. However, little is known about the role of the apoptosis inhibitor c-FLIP and its potential impact on death receptor-induced apoptosis in ccRCC cells. In this study, we demonstrate that c-FLIP is crucial for resistance against CD95L-induced apoptosis in four ccRCC cell lines. Strikingly, downregulation of c-FLIP expression by short hairpin RNA (shRNA)interference led to spontaneous caspase activation and apoptotic cell death. Of note, knockdown of all c-FLIP splice variants was required to induce apoptosis. Stimulation of ccRCC cells with CD95L induced NF-κB and MAP kinase survival pathways as revealed by phosphorylation of RelA/p65 and Erk1/2. Interestingly, CD95L surface expression was high in all cell lines analyzed, and CD95 but not TNF-R1 clustered at cell contact sites. Downstream of CD95, inhibition of the NF-κB pathway led to spontaneous cell death. Surprisingly, knockdown experiments revealed that c-FLIP inhibits NF-κB activation in the context of CD95 signaling. Thus, c-FLIP inhibits apoptosis and dampens NF-κB downstream of CD95 but allows NF-κB activation to a level sufficient for ccRCC cell survival. In summary, we demonstrate a complex CD95-FLIP-NF-κB-signaling circuit, in which CD95-CD95L interactions mediate a paracrine survival signal in ccRCC cells with c-FLIP and NF-κB both being required for inhibiting cell death and ensuring survival. Our findings might lead to novel therapeutic approaches of RCC by circumventing apoptosis resistance.
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Cell Death Dis. 2019 May 16;10(6):384. doi: 10.1038/s41419-019-1609-y.
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en
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2041-4889
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Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International