Mammalian initiator apoptotic caspases

Caspases are a conserved family of cysteine proteases. They play diverse roles in inflammatory responses and apoptotic pathways. Among the caspases is a subgroup whose primary function is to initiate apoptosis. Within their long prodomains, caspases‐2, ‐9 and ‐12 contain a caspase activation and rec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The FEBS journal 2005-11, Vol.272 (21), p.5436-5453
Main Authors: Ho, Po‐ki, Hawkins, Christine J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
activation
Animals
Apoptosis
CARD
Caspase Inhibitors
Caspases - chemistry
Caspases - genetics
Caspases - metabolism
DED
Enzyme Activation
Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic
gene knockout models
human diseases
Humans
initiator caspases
Protein Binding
Substrate Specificity
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Summary:Caspases are a conserved family of cysteine proteases. They play diverse roles in inflammatory responses and apoptotic pathways. Among the caspases is a subgroup whose primary function is to initiate apoptosis. Within their long prodomains, caspases‐2, ‐9 and ‐12 contain a caspase activation and recruitment domain while caspases‐8 and ‐10 bear death effector domains. Activation follows the recruitment of the procaspase molecule via the prodomain to a high molecular mass complex. Despite sharing some common features, other aspects of the biochemistry, substrate specificity, regulation and signaling mechanisms differ between initiator apoptotic caspases. Defects in expression or activity of these caspases are related to certain pathological conditions including neurodegenerative disorders, autoimmune diseases and cancer.
ISSN:1742-464X
1742-4658
DOI:10.1111/j.1742-4658.2005.04966.x