Caspase Activity

Caspases play important roles in apoptosis and cell signaling

Apoptosis is a programmed, cell-autonomous death process. It plays important roles in a variety of physiological and pathological events¹ , ranging from normal fetal development to diseases, such as cancer² , organ failure and neurodegenerative diseases. During apoptosis, caspases execute the disassembly of the cellular components by proteolytic cleavage of a variety of substrates, such as poly-(ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP)³ , DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), topoisomerases, and protein kinase C (PKC)δ. ⁴ At least ten caspases have been discovered. Some of caspases identify and cleave a specific peptide substrate, while others recognize the same peptide substrate⁴ .

References

1. Thornberry, N. A. et al. Science 281, 1312-1316 (1998).
2. Reed, J. C. J. Clin. Oncol. 17, 2941-2953 (1999).
3. Lazebnik, Y. A. et al. Nature 371, 346-347 (1994).
4. Villa, P. et al. Trends Biochem. Sci. 22, 388-393 (1997).