Caspases: the executioners of apoptosis

Caspases: the executioners of apoptosis.

Apoptosis is a major form of cell death, characterized initially by a series of stereotypic morphological changes. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the gene ced-3 encodes a protein required for developmental cell death. Since the recognition that CED-3 has sequence identity with the mammalian cysteine protease interleukin-1 beta-converting enzyme (ICE), a family of at least 10 related cy...

The Executioners‘ Dilemmas

When people learn that I study lethal injection, they are usually curious to know more (or at least they are polite enough to ask questions). Interestingly, the question that arises most often— from lawyers, law students, and laypeople—is why states behave as they do. In the wake of botched executions and ample evidence of lethal injection‘s dangers, why do states fail to address their executio...

Role of caspases in apoptosis and disease.

Apoptosis, a genetically governed process of eliminating cells in response to a variety of stimuli provides protection against cancer and viral infections as well as maintains homeostasis. Recent studies using both molecular and cloning approaches, and in vitro systems have identified a class of highly specific proteases, termed caspases, that appear to have an important role in apoptotic execu...

Involvement of caspases in sympathetic neuron apoptosis.

In order to study the involvement of caspases in neuronal cell death, we have examined the effects of the viral caspase inhibitor p35 and peptide caspase inhibitors on sympathetic neurons isolated from the superior cervical ganglion (SCG). In these neurons, apoptosis can be induced by the withdrawal of nerve growth factor (NGF) and also by the addition of the kinase inhibitor staurosporine. p35...

Caspases in c-Myc-induced apoptosis