title: Identification and inhibition of the ICE/CED-3 protease necessary for mammalian apoptosis.
abstract: The protease responsible for the cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and necessary for apoptosis has been purified and characterized. This enzyme, named apopain, is composed of two subunits of relative molecular mass (M(r)) 17K and 12K that are derived from a common proenzyme identified as CPP32. This proenzyme is related to interleukin-1 beta-converting enzyme (ICE) and CED-3, the product of a gene required for programmed cell death in Caenorhabditis elegans. A potent peptide aldehyde inhibitor has been developed and shown to prevent apoptotic events in vitro, suggesting that apopain/CPP32 is important for the initiation of apoptotic cell death.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research, Pointe Claire-Dorval, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Nicholson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Thornberry
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Vaillancourt
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gallant
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gareau
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Griffin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Labelle
authors.forename: Y A
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Lazebnik
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D020170:Caspase 1; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D004792:Enzyme Precursors / Q000378:metabolism*; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011065:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors; D004792:Enzyme Precursors; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D011065:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases; C505407:CASP3 protein, human; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; C089223:ced-3 protein, C elegans; D020170:Caspase 1