title: Caspase-3 and RasGAP: a stress-sensing survival/demise switch.
abstract: The final decision on cell fate, survival versus cell death, relies on complex and tightly regulated checkpoint mechanisms. The caspase-3 protease is a predominant player in the execution of apoptosis. However, recent progress has shown that this protease paradoxically can also protect cells from death. Here, we discuss the underappreciated, protective, and prosurvival role of caspase-3 and detail the evidence showing that caspase-3, through differential processing of p120 Ras GTPase-activating protein (RasGAP), can modulate a given set of proteins to generate, depending on the intensity of the input signals, opposite outcomes (survival vs death).
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Hadi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khalil
authors.affiliation: Molecular Signaling and Cell Death Unit, Department for Molecular Biomedical Research, VIB, Gent, Belgium; Department of Biomedical Molecular Biology, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Mathieu J M
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bertrand
authors.affiliation: Molecular Signaling and Cell Death Unit, Department for Molecular Biomedical Research, VIB, Gent, Belgium; Department of Biomedical Molecular Biology, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vandenabeele
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: Christian.Widmann@unil.ch.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Widmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D016923:Cell Death; D002470:Cell Survival; D006801:Humans; D020703:ras GTPase-Activating Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020703:ras GTPase-Activating Proteins; D053148:Caspase 3
keywords: RasGAP; apoptosis; caspase-3; cellular stress; sensors