Abraham Mary C, Shaham Shai
The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA.
Trends Cell Biol. 2004 Apr;14(4):184-93. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2004.03.002.
Apoptosis is a conserved cell-death process displaying characteristic morphological and molecular changes including activation of caspase proteases. Recent work challenges the accepted roles of these proteases. New investigations in mice and the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans suggest that there could be caspase-independent pathways leading to cell death. In addition, another type of cell death displaying autophagic features might depend on caspases. Recent studies also indicate that caspase activation does not always lead to cell death and, instead, might be important for cell differentiation. Here, we review recent evidence for both the expanded roles of caspases and the existence of caspase-independent cell-death processes. We suggest that cellular context plays an important role in defining the consequences of caspase activation.
细胞凋亡是一种保守的细胞死亡过程，表现出特征性的形态和分子变化，包括胱天蛋白酶蛋白酶的激活。最近的研究对这些蛋白酶的公认作用提出了挑战。对小鼠和线虫秀丽隐杆线虫的新研究表明，可能存在不依赖胱天蛋白酶的细胞死亡途径。此外，另一种具有自噬特征的细胞死亡类型可能依赖于胱天蛋白酶。最近的研究还表明，胱天蛋白酶的激活并不总是导致细胞死亡，相反，可能对细胞分化很重要。在这里，我们综述了关于胱天蛋白酶作用扩展和不依赖胱天蛋白酶的细胞死亡过程存在的最新证据。我们认为细胞环境在定义胱天蛋白酶激活的后果中起着重要作用。
