Mechanisms mediating caspase activation in cell death

S Kumar - Cell Death & Differentiation, 1999 - nature.com
S Kumar
Cell Death & Differentiation, 1999nature.com
The initial activation of a caspase in a caspase cascade is a crucial event that determines
whether a cell will ultimately undergo cell death. Although each cell contains a number of
different caspases, only a small subset may be required for apoptosis in response to a
specific stimulus. It now seems that each caspase cascade has two types of caspases
involved, the upstream or class I caspases, and the downstream or class II caspases. Class I
caspases are characterised by long amino-terminal prodomains that carry specific protein …
Abstract
The initial activation of a caspase in a caspase cascade is a crucial event that determines whether a cell will ultimately undergo cell death. Although each cell contains a number of different caspases, only a small subset may be required for apoptosis in response to a specific stimulus. It now seems that each caspase cascade has two types of caspases involved, the upstream or class I caspases, and the downstream or class II caspases. Class I caspases are characterised by long amino-terminal prodomains that carry specific protein–protein interaction domains which mediate oligomerisation of caspases, often assisted by specific adaptor molecules. Oligomerisation appears to be sufficient for autocatalytic activation of class I caspases. Once the first caspase in the pathway has been activated, it processes downstream caspases initiating a cascade of amplifying events that lead to the apoptotic death of a cell. This article reviews our current understanding of mechanisms that mediate the activation of caspases.
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