title: Caspases, apoptosis and aging.
abstract: Caspases are a group of cysteine dependent aspartate-specific proteases. Originally found as the homolog of Ced-3 in C. elegans, 14 caspases have now been identified in mammals to date. Caspases play important roles in both the intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways and interact with the non-caspase apoptotic pathways. A number of recent published observations have suggested a strong association between apoptosis, age-related diseases and aging. Findings from our group and others reveal a strong correlation between alterations in caspase activity and aging. In this view point, we summarize current knowledge of the connection between caspases and aging observed in a variety of model systems from cultured cells in vitro to the in vivo models of rodents and humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Structural Biology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.
authors.forename: Jian-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yingpei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Herman
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D020169:Caspases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D020169:Caspases