To clarify the roles of the X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP), we investigated the effects of XIAP overexpression on taxol-induced cell growth arrest and apoptosis in the prostate cancer cell line (LNCaP). After the transfection of XIAP cDNA into LNCaP cells, we established clonal cell lines that overexpressed XIAP and examined the taxol effects on growth and apoptosis by 2-(4-lodophenyl)-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-(2,4-disulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, monosodium salt and flow cytometric analysis. The effects of XIAP overexpression on caspase-3 were examined by immunoblot analysis and activity assay. The interaction between XIAP and caspase-3 in LNCaP cells was examined by cotransfection with myc-XIAP and caspase-3-HA cDNAs followed by immunoprecipitation and immunoblot analysis. Large amounts of XIAP were expressed in the established cell lines. Although the growth rates were reduced in a dose- and time-dependent manner by taxol, these effects were significantly decreased in XIAP stably overexpressing cell lines. In addition, we found that taxol treatment induced the cleavage of pro-caspase-3, followed by apoptosis, and that the overexpression of XIAP inhibited apoptosis by attenuating the cleavage of pro-caspase-3 and caspase-3 activity. Interestingly, XIAP bound to pro-caspase-3 in LNCaP cells transiently cotransfected with myc-XIAP and caspase-3-HA cDNAs, and this interaction was inhibited by taxol treatment. These results suggest that the overexpression of XIAP inhibits taxol-induced apoptosis through the decrease of caspase-3 activity and inhibition of the processing of pro-caspase-3.
