Transmembrane Protein 214 (TMEM214) mediates endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced caspase 4 enzyme activation and apoptosis.
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Li C, Wei J, Li Y, He X, Zhou Q, Yan J, Zhang J, Liu Y, Liu Y, Shu HB
Transmembrane Protein 214 (TMEM214) mediates endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced caspase 4 enzyme activation and apoptosis.
J Biol Chem. 2013 Jun 14;288(24):17908-17. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M113.458836. Epub 2013 May 9.
- PubMed ID
- 23661706 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress caused by excessive aggregation of misfolded proteins induces apoptosis. Although ER stress-induced apoptosis has been implicated in many diseases, the detailed mechanisms are not well understood. Here, we identified human transmembrane protein 214 (TMEM214) as a critical mediator of ER stress-induced apoptosis. Overexpression of TMEM214 induced apoptosis, whereas knockdown of TMEM214 inhibited ER stress-induced apoptosis. TMEM214 was localized on the outer membrane of the ER and constitutively associated with procaspase 4, which was also critical for ER stress-induced apoptosis. TMEM214-induced apoptosis was abolished by a dominant negative mutant of procaspase 4, whereas caspase 4-induced apoptosis was inhibited by knockdown of TMEM214. Furthermore, knockdown of TMEM214 inhibited the activation and cleavage of procaspase 4 by impairing its recruitment to the ER. Our findings suggest that TMEM214 is essential for ER stress-induced apoptosis by acting as an anchor for recruitment of procaspase 4 to the ER and its subsequent activation.