New insights into the apoptotic process in mollusks: characterization of caspase genes in Mytilus galloprovincialis.

ABSTRACT: Apoptosis is an essential biological process in the development and maintenance of immune system homeostasis. Caspase proteins constitute the core of the apoptotic machinery and can be categorized as either initiators or effectors of apoptosis. Although the genes encoding caspase proteins have been described in vertebrates and in almost all invertebrate phyla, there are few reports describing the initiator and executioner caspases or the modulation of their expression by different stimuli in different apoptotic pathways in bivalves. In the present work, we characterized two initiator and four executioner caspases in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. Both initiators and executioners showed structural features that make them different from other caspase proteins already described. Evalua

SUBMITTER: Romero A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3037946 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature