Apoptosis, a highly controlled mode of cell death, is utilized to eliminate superfluous, aged, injured or infected cells from the body. Caspases, a family of aspartic acid-specific proteases, are the major effectors of apoptosis. To curtail their activity, caspases are normally synthesized as inactive precursors, but become activated at the onset of apoptosis by activation signals. Once active, caspases preside over the ordered dismantling of the cell through restricted proteolysis of hundreds of substrate proteins. Over the last 10 years, intense research has focused upon the pathways that control caspase activation. Although some, such as the apoptosome and death receptor-mediated pathways to caspase activation, are well established, others are less clearly defined. In this review, we discuss current perspectives concerning the diverse pathways to caspase activation.
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February 2008
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January 22 2008
Caspase activation cascades in apoptosis
Susan E. Logue;
Susan E. Logue
1Molecular Cell Biology Laboratory, Department of Genetics, The Smurfit Institute, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland
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Seamus J. Martin
Seamus J. Martin
1
1Molecular Cell Biology Laboratory, Department of Genetics, The Smurfit Institute, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email martinsj@tcd.ie).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
November 12 2007
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2008 Biochemical Society
2008
Biochem Soc Trans (2008) 36 (1): 1–9.
Article history
Received:
November 12 2007
Citation
Susan E. Logue, Seamus J. Martin; Caspase activation cascades in apoptosis. Biochem Soc Trans 1 February 2008; 36 (1): 1–9. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0360001
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