Caspase 8: igniting the death machine.
Intense research into the signaling pathways of apoptosis has revealed a dominant role for proteases belonging to the caspase family, which in humans has 11 members at present. Two papers in the September issue of Structure with Folding & Design have for the first time revealed the structure of the key apoptotic initiator, caspase 8.
Salvesen
G S
GS
Programs in Cell Death and Aging Research The Burnham Institute, 10901 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California, 92037, USA. gsalvesen@burnham.org
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D053181:Caspase 8; D053453:Caspase 9; D020169:Caspases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D020134:Catalytic Domain; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013379:Substrate Specificity
C505530:CASP8 protein, human; C506433:CASP9 protein, human; D053181:Caspase 8; D053453:Caspase 9; D020169:Caspases