Spatial differences in active caspase-8 defines its role in T-cell activation versus cell death

Caspase-8, a cysteine-protease, initiates apoptosis when activated by death receptors. Caspase-8 is also essential for initiating T lymphocyte proliferation following T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) signaling. Given these disparate functions of caspase-8, we sought to determine whether this represented only a difference in the magnitude of caspase-8 activation, or different intracellular locations of active caspase-8. We demonstrate by high-resolution multicolor confocal laser scanning microscopy an aggregation of active caspase-8 within membrane lipid rafts in T cells stimulated with anti-CD3. This suggests that following TCR stimulation active caspase-8 physically interacts with lipid raft proteins, possibly to form a signaling platform. In contrast, Fas stimulation of T cells resulted in a much more profound activation of caspase-8 that was exclusively cytosolic. These confocal microscopic findings were confirmed using discontinuous sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation to isolate lipid raft versus cytosolic components. This sequestration model of caspase-8 activation was further supported by the observation that a classic caspase-8 substrate, BID, was not cleaved in CD3-stimulated T cells, but was cleaved after Fas engagement. Our data support a model that the location of active caspase-8 may profoundly influence its functional capacity as a regulator of either cell cycling or cell death.