NF-κB inhibition reveals differential mechanisms of TNF versus TRAIL-induced apoptosis upstream or at the level of caspase-8 activation independent of cIAP2

Abstract

Death ligands not only activate a death program but also regulate inflammatory signalling pathways, for example, through NF-κB induction. Although tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and TNF both activate NF-κB in human keratinocytes, only TRAIL potently induces apoptosis. However, when induction of NF-κB was inhibited with a kinase dead IKK2 mutant (IKK2-KD), TNF- but not TRAIL-induced apoptosis was dramatically enhanced. Acquired susceptibility to TNF-induced apoptosis was due to increased caspase-8 activation. To investigate the mechanism of resistance of HaCaT keratinocytes to TNF-induced apoptosis, we analyzed a panel of NF-κB-regulated effector molecul..