Heterologous Expression and Auto-Activation of Human Pro-Inflammatory Caspase-1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Comparison to Caspase-8.

ABSTRACT: Caspases are a family of cysteine proteases that play an essential role in inflammation, apoptosis, cell death, and development. Here we delve into the effects caused by heterologous expression of human caspase-1 in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and compare them to those of caspase-8. Overexpression of both caspases in the heterologous model led to their activation and caused mitochondrial hyperpolarization, damage to different organelles, and cell death. All these effects were dependent on their protease activity, and caspase-8 was more aggressive than caspase-1. Growth arrest could be at least partially explained by dysfunction of the actin cytoskeleton as a consequence of the processing of the yeast Bni1 formin, which we identify here as a likely direct substrate of both cas

SUBMITTER: Valenti M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8317575 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature