Some isoforms of secretory phospholipase A 2 (sPLA 2 ) distinguish between healthy and damaged or apoptotic cells. This distinction reflects differences in membrane physical properties. Because various sPLA 2 isoforms respond differently to properties of artificial membranes such as surface charge, they should also behave differently as these properties evolve during a dynamic physiological process such as apoptosis. To test this idea, S49 lymphoma cell death was induced by glucocorticoid (6 -48 h) or calcium ionophore. Rates of membrane hydrolysis catalyzed by various concentrations of snake venom and human groups IIa, V, and X sPLA 2 were compared after each treatment condition. The data were analyzed using a model that evaluates the adsorption of enzyme to the membrane surface and subsequent binding of substrate to the active site. Results were compared temporally to changes in membrane biophysics and composition. Under control conditions, membrane hydrolysis was confined to the few unhealthy cells present in each sample. Increased hydrolysis during apoptosis and necrosis appeared to reflect substrate access to adsorbed enzyme for the snake venom and group X isoforms corresponding to weakened lipid-lipid interactions in the membrane. In contrast, apoptosis promoted initial adsorption of human groups V and IIa concurrent with phosphatidylserine exposure on the membrane surface. However, this observation was inadequate to explain the behavior of the groups V and IIa enzymes toward necrotic cells where hydrolysis was reduced or absent. Thus, a combination of changes in cell membrane properties during apoptosis and necrosis capacitates the cell for hydrolysis differently by each isoform.During programmed cell death, or apoptosis, a variety of changes occur in the plasma membrane of the cell. These include morphological alterations that emerge late in the process such as blebbing and increased permeability of the membrane. Earlier in the process, several more subtle membrane changes occur. The best studied is a loss of the normal asymmetrical transmembrane distribution of phospholipid species. Consequently, anionic lipids like phosphatidylserine, which are typically confined to the inner leaflet of the membrane, become exposed on the outer surface (1). In addition, studies with fluorescent membrane probes have revealed possible increases in fluidity and/or the spacing between lipid molecules that may precede or coincide with the loss of membrane asymmetry, depending on the cell type and mode of apoptosis (2-9). Recently, a latent increase in the order of membrane lipids has also been reported (9).A potential consequence of these events during apoptosis is enzymatic attack of the cell membrane by secretory phospholipase A 2 (sPLA 2 ).2 Ordinarily, healthy cells resist hydrolysis, but during apoptosis they become vulnerable to destruction by the enzyme (9 -11). Studies with snake venom phospholipase A 2 have identified possible ways by which this phenomenon relates to membrane physical properties (8,9,12). Prelimina...

Summary During apoptosis, a number of physical changes occur in the cell membrane including a gradual increase in permeability to vital stains such as propidium iodide. This study explored the possibility that one consequence of membrane changes concurrent with early modest permeability is vulnerability to degradation by secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2). The activity of this hydrolytic enzyme toward mammalian cells depends on the health of the cell; healthy cells are resistant, but they become susceptible early during programmed death. Populations of S49 lymphoma cells during programmed death were classified by flow cytometry based on permeability to propidium iodide and susceptibility to sPLA2. The apoptotic inducers thapsigargin and dexamethasone caused modest permeability to propidium iodide and increased staining by merocyanine 540, a dye sensitive to membrane perturbations. Various sPLA2 isozymes (human groups IIa, V, X, and snake venom) preferentially hydrolyzed the membranes of cells that displayed enhanced permeability. In contrast, cells exposed briefly to a calcium ionophore showed the increase in cell staining intensity by merocyanine 540 without accompanying uptake of propidium iodide. Under that condition, only the snake venom and human group × enzymes hydrolyzed cells that were dying. These results suggested that cells showing modest permeability to propidium iodide during the early phase of apoptosis are substrates for sPLA2 and that specificity among isoforms of the enzyme depends on the degree to which the membrane has been perturbed during the death process. This susceptibility to hydrolysis may be important as part of the signal to attract macrophages toward apoptotic cells.

Summary Secretory phospholipase A2 exhibits much greater activity toward apoptotic versus healthy cells. Various plasma membrane changes responsible for this phenomenon have been proposed, including biophysical alterations described as “membrane fluidity” and “order.” Understanding of these membrane perturbations was refined by applying studies with model membranes to fluorescence measurements during thapsigargin-induced apoptosis of S49 cells using probes specific for the plasma membrane: Patman and trimethylammonium-diphenylhexatriene. Alterations in emission properties of these probes corresponded with enhanced susceptibility of the cells to hydrolysis by secretory phospholipase A2. By applying a quantitative model, additional information was extracted from the kinetics of Patman equilibration with the membrane. Taken together, these data suggested that the phospholipids of apoptotic membranes display greater spacing between adjacent headgroups, reduced interactions between neighboring lipid tails, and increased penetration of water among the heads. The phase transition of artificial bilayers was used to calibrate quantitatively the relationship between probe fluorescence and the energy of interlipid interactions. This analysis was applied to results from apoptotic cells to estimate the frequency with which phospholipids protrude sufficiently at the membrane surface to enter the enzyme’s active site. The data suggested that this frequency increases 50–100-fold as membranes become susceptible to hydrolysis during apoptosis.

For inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) proteins that do not undergo N-terminal cleavage, their activity may occur in the absence of a receptor present in the mitochondrial membrane. One such protein is human 3-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-2 (3βHSD2), the IMM resident protein responsible for catalyzing two key steps in steroid metabolism: the conversion of pregnenolone to progesterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) to androstenedione. Conversion requires that 3βHSD2 serves as both a dehydrogenase and isomerase. The dual functionality of 3βHSD2 results from a conformational change, but the trigger for this change remains unknown. Using Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET), we found that 3βHSD2 interacted strongly with a mixture of dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol (DPPG) and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC). 3βHSD2 became less stable when incubated with the individual lipids, as indicated by the decrease in thermal denaturation (Tm), from 42° C to 37° C. DPPG, alone or in combination with DPPC, led to a decrease in α-helical content without affecting the β-sheet conformation. With the exception of the N-terminal 20 amino acids, mixed vesicles protected 3βHSD2 from trypsin digestion. However, protein incubated with DPPC was only partially protected. The lipid-mediated unfolding completely supports the model in which a cavity forms between the α-helix and β-sheet. As 3βHSD2 lacks a receptor, opening the conformation may activate the protein.

Long chain acyl-CoA synthetases (ACSL) activate fatty acids for utilization by numerous metabolic pathways. Of the five mammalian ACSL isozymes known, ACSL5 is the only one located on mitochondria and thought to be involved in apoptosis. Fatty acids up-regulate ACSL5 and increase apoptosis susceptibility in human hepatocytes, thus, we hypothesize that ACLS5 is a promoting factor in hepatocellular lipoapoptosis. To investigate this mechanism, we have used immunochemical techniques and RNA interference as well as liquid chromatography, tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Fatty acid uptake led to up-regulation of ACSL5 expression and enzymatic activity in primary hepatocytes, HepG2 cells and steatotic liver. Over-expression of ACSL5 decreased HepG2 cell viability and increased susceptibility to TRAIL and TNFa, whereas knock down of ACSL5 reduced apoptosis susceptibility in fatty-acid treated HepG2 cells. Apoptosis sensitisation was accompanied by enhanced caspase-3/7 activity, but was not associated with up-regulation of DR4, DR5 or TNF-R1. By applying lipidomic techniques, we determined the effect of ACSL5 on the cellular amounts and subspecies of fatty acyl-CoAs as well as on sphingolipids, the downstream metabolites that are known to be important regulators of cell death and survival. High ACSL5 activity in HepG2 cells increased synthesis of long-chain acyl-CoAs by 50%, and enhanced ceramide and sphingomyelin levels by 2 to 3 fold. These results indicate that steatosis-induced upregulation of ACSL5 increased apoptosis susceptibility in human hepatocytes and that alterations in sphingolipid metabolism might contribute to ACSL5-mediated apoptotic effects. We propose that ACSL5 could play a role in promoting fatty acid-induced lipoapoptosis in hepatocytes as an important mechanism in fatty liver-related disorders.