title: Granzymes and cell death.
abstract: Granzymes are cell death-inducing serine proteases released from cytotoxic granules of cytotoxic T lymphocytes and natural killer cells during granule exocytosis in response to viral infection or against transformed cells marked for elimination. A critical cofactor for the granule exocytosis pathway is perforin, which mediates the entry of granzymes into target cells, where they cleave specific substrates that initiate DNA fragmentation and apoptosis. One of the biggest challenges in studying the biology of granzymes has been the functional redundancy of granzymes in animal models making an in vitro experimental system essential. This chapter discusses methods to study granzyme function in vitro under physiologically relevant experimental conditions.
authors.affiliation: Immune Disease Institute and Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martinvalet
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thiery
authors.forename: Dipanjan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chowdhury
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D016367:Baculoviridae / Q000235:genetics; D016923:Cell Death / Q000502:physiology; D002460:Cell Line; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D053804:Granzymes / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D054353:Perforin / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D018411:Spodoptera; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D054353:Perforin; D053804:Granzymes