title: Mechanisms of apoptosis through structural biology.
abstract: Apoptosis plays a central role in the development and homeostasis of metazoans. Research in the past two decades has led to the identification of hundreds of genes that govern the initiation, execution, and regulation of apoptosis. An earlier focus on the genetic and cell biological characterization has now been complemented by systematic biochemical and structural investigation, giving rise to an unprecedented level of clarity in many aspects of apoptosis. In this review, we focus on the molecular mechanisms of apoptosis by synthesizing available biochemical and structural information. We discuss the mechanisms of ligand binding to death receptors, actions of the Bcl-2 family of proteins, and caspase activation, inhibition, and removal of inhibition. Although an emphasis is given to the mammalian pathways, a comparative analysis is applied to related mechanistic information in Drosophila and Caenorhabditis elegans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Lewis Thomas Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA. nyan@molbio.princeton.edu
authors.forename: Nieng
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Yigong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D020169:Caspases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D006801:Humans; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008967:Molecular Biology; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D020169:Caspases