Mechanisms mediating caspase activation in cell death (original) (raw)

Cell Death & Differentiation volume 6, pages 1060–1066 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

The initial activation of a caspase in a caspase cascade is a crucial event that determines whether a cell will ultimately undergo cell death. Although each cell contains a number of different caspases, only a small subset may be required for apoptosis in response to a specific stimulus. It now seems that each caspase cascade has two types of caspases involved, the upstream or class I caspases, and the downstream or class II caspases. Class I caspases are characterised by long amino-terminal prodomains that carry specific protein–protein interaction domains which mediate oligomerisation of caspases, often assisted by specific adaptor molecules. Oligomerisation appears to be sufficient for autocatalytic activation of class I caspases. Once the first caspase in the pathway has been activated, it processes downstream caspases initiating a cascade of amplifying events that lead to the apoptotic death of a cell. This article reviews our current understanding of mechanisms that mediate the activation of caspases.

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  1. Hanson Centre for Cancer Research, Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Frome Road, Adelaide, Australia
    S Kumar
  2. Department of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
    S Kumar

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  1. S Kumar
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Correspondence toS Kumar.

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Edited by D Nicholson

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Kumar, S. Mechanisms mediating caspase activation in cell death.Cell Death Differ 6, 1060–1066 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.cdd.4400600

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