Cells exposed to extreme physicochemical or mechanical stimuli die in an uncontrollable
manner, as a result of their immediate structural breakdown. Such an unavoidable variant of …

▪ Abstract Apoptosis is a genetically programmed, morphologically distinct form of cell death
that can be triggered by a variety of physiological and pathological stimuli. Studies …

▪ Abstract Caspase activation plays a central role in the execution of apoptosis. The key
components of the biochemical pathways of caspase activation have been recently …

Caspases (cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteinases) mediate highly specific proteolytic
cleavage events in dying cells, which collectively manifest the apoptotic phenotype. The key …

We have identified and purified from HeLa cytosol a protein that induces DNA fragmentation
in coincubated nuclei after it is activated by caspase-3. This protein, designated DNA …

The first proapoptotic caspase, CED-3, was cloned from Caenorhabditis elegans in 1993
and shown to be essential for the developmental death of all somatic cells. Following the …

Caspases are a large family of evolutionarily conserved proteases found from
Caenorhabditis elegans to humans. Although the first caspase was identified as a …

Apoptosis or programmed cell death (PCD) is a genetically regulated, cellular suicide
mechanism that plays a crucial role in development and in the defense of homeostasis …

Certain proteases are not merely degradative enzymes but are highly regulated signaling
molecules that control critical biological processes via specific limited proteolysis. Caspase …

In many metazoans, damaged and potentially dangerous cells are rapidly eliminated by
apoptosis. In Drosophila, this is often compensated for by extraproliferation of neighboring …