title: Portrait of an executioner: the molecular mechanism of FAS/APO-1-induced apoptosis.
abstract: Fas/APO-1 is a member of the TNF receptor family and plays a dominant role in the immune system, down-regulating the immune response and contributing to T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Activation of Fas/APO-1 by either natural ligand or agonist antibody initiates apoptosis. Until recently, however, the mechanism by which Fas/APO-1 engages the cell death machinery has been an enigma. Here we describe a proposed molecular mechanism by which this cell surface death receptor signals the suicide response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor 48109, USA.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Chinnaiyan
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Dixit
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000276:immunology*; D020170:Caspase 1; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018448:Models, Immunological; D017385:Sequence Homology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D019014:fas Receptor; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; D020170:Caspase 1