title: The Fas signaling pathway: more than a paradigm.
abstract: Apoptosis and related forms of cell death have central importance in development, homeostasis, tumor surveillance, and the function of the immune system. Apoptosis is initiated by two principal pathways. The intrinsic pathway emerges from mitochondria, whereas the extrinsic pathway is activated by the ligation of death receptors. This Viewpoint introduces the basic mechanisms of the extrinsic pathway, using the example of the prototypical death receptor Fas and its role in apoptosis, but it also points out the increasingly understood importance of this receptor as a non-apoptotic signal transducer.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology, Allmandring 31, University of Stuttgart, 70 569 Stuttgart, Germany. harald.wajant@po.uni-stuttgart.de
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wajant
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D053446:CASP8 and FADD-Like Apoptosis Regulating Protein; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D002455:Cell Division; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D053200:Fas-Associated Death Domain Protein; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D009336:Necrosis; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D053422:Receptor-Interacting Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D015398:Signal Transduction; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D053446:CASP8 and FADD-Like Apoptosis Regulating Protein; C506386:CFLAR protein, human; D002352:Carrier Proteins; C505533:FADD protein, human; C505661:FASLG protein, human; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D053200:Fas-Associated Death Domain Protein; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D011506:Proteins; D019014:fas Receptor; C506249:RIPK1 protein, human; D053422:Receptor-Interacting Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D020169:Caspases