Caspase-8-mediated cleavage of Bid and protein phosphatase 2A-mediated activation of Bax are necessary for Verotoxin-1-induced apoptosis in Burkitt's lymphoma cells.

Verotoxin (VT-1) is a cytotoxin, produced by Shigella dysenteriae type 1 or by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, which binds specifically to globotriaosylceramide (Gb3). This glycosphingolipid is a B cell differentiation antigen (Gb3/CD77) strongly expressed on Burkitt's lymphoma cells. We have previously shown that, in these cells, VT-1 induces apoptosis via a caspase- and mitochondria-dependent pathway. In this report, we provide new insights into this signal transduction pathway. First, we demonstrate that VT-1-induced apoptosis requires degradation of the caspase-8 inhibitory molecule c-FLIPL and that this degradation occurs through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Furthermore, we show that mitochondrial activation is mainly due to i) cleavage and activation of the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bid by caspase-8 and ii) Bax relocalization to mitochondrial membranes which lead to cytochrome c release. However, tBid is not involved in Bax relocalization, and relocalization is most likely controlled by the extent of Bax phosphorylation: in non-treated BL cells, p38 MAPK participates in the retention of Bax in the cytoplasm in an inactive form whereas in VT-1 treated cells, protein phosphatase 2A is activated and induces Bax relocalization to mitochondria.