Figure 1.

Tricellulin is a target of caspase cleavage in apoptotic cells. (A) MDCKII cells were treated with 1 µM staurosporine or DMSO as solvent control for the indicated times. Cell lysates were analyzed by Western blotting using anti-tricellulin, anti-poly[ADP-ribose] polymerase (PARP) and anti-βactin antibodies. (B) Quantification of tricellulin degradation by densitometric analysis. The graph represents mean values +/− SD of three independent experiments. (C) Loss of endogenous tricellulin detected by immunofluorescence microscopy (scale bar 30 µm). (D) Pre-treatment with 10 µM Z-VAD-FMK or 20 µM Z-DEVD-FMK for 1 h before stimulation with 1 µM staurosporine inhibited tricellulin degradation. Lysates were generated 6 h after induction of apoptosis. (E) Staurosporine-induced cleavage of tricellulin in RT-112 cells is inhibited by caspase inhibitors (10 µM Z-VAD-FMK or 20 µM Z-DEVD-FMK). All experiments are representatives of at least three independent experiments.