Caspases leave the beaten track: caspase-mediated activation of NF-kappaB.
The proteolytic activity of the cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteases, named caspases, mainly connotes their central role in apoptosis and inflammation. In this review we report on recent data on the role of caspases in the activation of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB), a transcription factor that fulfils a central role in innate and adaptive immunity, in cellular stress responses and in the induction of anti-apoptotic factors. Two different mechanisms by which caspases activate the NF-kappaB pathway are discussed.
Lamkanfi
Mohamed
M
Unit of Molecular Signaling and Cell Death, Department for Molecular Biomedical Research, Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology, VIB, Ghent University, B-9052 Ghent, Belgium.
Declercq
Wim
W
Vanden Berghe
Tom
T
Vandenabeele
Peter
P
D000818:Animals; D020169:Caspases / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D015854:Up-Regulation
D016328:NF-kappa B; D020169:Caspases