http://www.paper.edu.cn Research Article 1525 An alternative form of paraptosis-like cell death, triggered by TAJ/TROY and enhanced by PDCD5 overexpression Ying Wang1, Xianting Li1, Lu Wang2, Peiguo Ding1, Yingmei Zhang2, Wenling Han2 and Dalong Ma1,2,* 1Laboratory of Medical Immunology, School of Basic Medical Science, Peking University, Xueyuan Road 38, Beijing 100083, China 2Center for Human Disease Genomics, Health Science Center, Peking University, Beijing 100083, China *Author for correspondence (e-mail:
[email protected]) Accepted 18 November 2003 Journal of Cell Science 117, 1525-1532 Published by The Company of Biologists 2004 doi:10.1242/jcs.00994 Summary Accumulating reports demonstrate that apoptosis does of caspase activation. In addition, TAJ/TROY suppressed not explain all the forms of programmed cell death clonogenic growth of HEK293 and HeLa cells. (PCD), particularly in individual development and Interestingly, overexpression of Programmed cell death 5 neurodegenerative disease. Recently, a novel type of PCD, (PDCD5), an apoptosis-promoting protein, enhanced designated ‘paraptosis’, was described. Here, we show that TAJ/TROY-induced paraptotic cell death. Moreover, overexpression of TAJ/TROY, a member of the tumor cellular endogenous PDCD5 protein was significantly necrosis factor receptor superfamily, induces non- upregulated in response to TAJ/TROY overexpression. apoptotic cell death with paraptosis-like morphology in These results provide novel evidence that TAJ/TROY 293T cells. Transmission electron microscopy studies reveal activates a death pathway distinct from apoptosis and that extensive cytoplasmic vacuolation and mitochondrial PDCD5 is an important regulator in both apoptotic and swelling in some dying cells and no condensation or non-apoptotic PCD.