Erythroid differentiation sensitizes K562 leukemia cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis by downregulation of c-FLIP

A1 Journal article (refereed)

Internal Authors/Editors

Publication Details

List of Authors: Hietakangas V, Poukkula M, Heiskanen KM, Karvinen JT, Sistonen L, Eriksson JE
Publication year: 2003
Journal: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Journal acronym: MOL CELL BIOL
Volume number: 23
Issue number: 4
Start page: 1278
End page: 1291
Number of pages: 14
ISSN: 0270-7306


Regulation of the apoptotic threshold is of great importance in the homeostasis of both differentiating and fully developed organ systems. Triggering differentiation has been employed as a strategy to inhibit cell proliferation and accelerate apoptosis in malignant cells, in which the apoptotic threshold is often characteristically elevated. To better understand the mechanisms underlying differentiation-mediated regulation of apoptosis, we have studied death receptor responses during erythroid differentiation of K562 erythroleukemia cells, which normally are highly resistant to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha-, FasL-, and TRAIL-induced apoptosis. However, upon hemin-mediated erythroid differentiation, K562 cells specifically lost their resistance to TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), which efficiently killed the differentiating cells independently of mitochondrial apoptotic signaling. Concomitantly with the increased sensitivity, the expression of both c-FLIP splicing variants, c-FLIPL and c-FLIPS, was downregulated, resulting in an altered caspase 8 recruitment and cleavage in the death-inducing signaling complex (DISC). Stable overexpression of both c-FLIPL and c-FLIPS rescued the cells from TRAIL-mediated apoptosis with isoform-specific effects on DISC-recruited caspase 8. Our results show that c-FLIPL and c-FLIPS potently control TRAIL responses, both by distinct regulatory features, and further imply that the differentiation state of malignant cells determines their sensitivity to death receptor signals.

Last updated on 2019-23-08 at 07:13

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