title: Role of proteases in activation of apoptosis.
abstract: Programmed cell death, or apoptosis, is a physiological cell suicide mechanism, which is triggered in the cells by different stimuli. It has been shown that proteases play a significant role both in the target cell killing by cytotoxic lymphocytes and in the TNF- or anti-Fas-induced cell death. The proteases involved in the early (induction) and late (cell self-destruction) stages of apoptosis are reviewed. It is suggested that the late stages are connected with the activation of a cascade of intracellular proteases, which leads to massive protein destruction. It is likely that the protein destruction is mainly designed for preventing autoimmune response to proteins released from dying cells.
authors.affiliation: Branch of Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142292 Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Sukharev
authors.forename: O V
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Pleshakova
authors.forename: V B
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Sadovnikov