Both the caspase CSP-1 and a caspase-independent pathway promote programmed cell death in parallel to the canonical pathway for apoptosis in Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT: Caspases are cysteine proteases that can drive apoptosis in metazoans and have critical functions in the elimination of cells during development, the maintenance of tissue homeostasis, and responses to cellular damage. Although a growing body of research suggests that programmed cell death can occur in the absence of caspases, mammalian studies of caspase-independent apoptosis are confounded by the existence of at least seven caspase homologs that can function redundantly to promote cell death. Caspase-independent programmed cell death is also thought to occur in the invertebrate nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The C. elegans genome contains four caspase genes (ced-3, csp-1, csp-2, and csp-3), of which only ced-3 has been demonstrated to promote apoptosis. Here, we show that CSP-1 is a pr

SUBMITTER: Denning DP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3591282 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature