title: The insect caspases.
abstract: Developmental and tissue homeostasis is a delicate balance between cell proliferation and cell death. The activation of caspases, a conserved family of cysteine proteases, is a main event in the initiation and execution of programmed cell death. While caspases have been characterized from many organisms, comparatively little is known about insect caspases. In Drosophila melanogaster, seven caspases have been characterized; three initiators and four effectors. In mosquitoes, several putative caspases have been identified in the genomes of Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae. A small number of caspases have been identified in the Lepidoptera, the flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, and the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum. The availability of new insect genome sequences will provide a unique opportunity to examine the caspase family across an evolutionarily diverse phylum and will provide valuable insights into their function and regulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The James Hogg iCAPTURE Centre for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research, University of British Columbia, St. Paul's Hospital, 1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada. dcooper@mrl.ubc.ca
authors.forename: Dawn M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Granville
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lowenberger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D020169:Caspases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D017344:Genes, Insect / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D007313:Insecta / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D020169:Caspases