Expression and activation of caspase-3/CPP32 in CD34+ cord blood cells is linked to apoptosis after growth factor withdrawal

Objective Caspase-3/CPP32, a member of the interleukin-1 converting enzyme (ICE) family, is considered an executioner protease in mammalian cells during apoptosis. Although expression and activation of caspase-3/CPP32 protein have been studied in many tissues and leukemia cell lines, this has not been explored in primitive hematopoietic CD34+ cells. In this study, we evaluated expression and activation of caspase-3/CPP32 protein in CD34+ cells from cord blood (CB) during apoptosis induced by growth factor deprivation. Methods Reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blot, and flow cytometry analysis were used in this study to determine the expression of caspase-3/CPP32 in CD34+ CB cells during apoptosis. Results Our results demonstrated that caspase-3/CPP32 mRNA was constitutively expressed at a very low level in freshly isolated CD34+ cells. Expression of caspase-3/CPP32 mRNA and protein was upregulated when these cells were first expanded in suspension culture with growth factors for 3 days. However, only the 32 kDa inactive caspase-3/CPP32 proenzyme was detected in the freshly isolated CD34+ cells and after 3 days expansion with cytokines. Within 12 hours after growth factor withdrawal from expanded cells caspase-3/CPP32 was activated and a cleavage 20 kDa protein was detected; a poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) was cleaved by activated caspase-3/CPP32. Activation of caspase-3/CPP32 and apoptosis upon growth factor withdrawal were inhibited/reduced by the caspase inhibitors, z-VAD-fmk and DEVD-CHO. Conclusion These results demonstrate that caspase-3/CPP32 is involved in apoptosis of primitive CB CD34+ cells but may not be the only mechanism involved.