Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, S. Lucia Foundation, via del Fosso di Fiorano 65, 00143 Rome, Italy.
Trends Neurosci. 2012 Nov;35(11):700-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2012.06.004. Epub 2012 Jul 14.
Caspase-3 has been identified as a key mediator of neuronal programmed cell death. This protease plays a central role in the developing nervous system and its activation is observed early in neural tube formation and persists during postnatal differentiation of the neural network. Caspase-3 activation, a crucial event of neuronal cell death program, is also a feature of many chronic neurodegenerative diseases. This traditional apoptotic function of caspase-3 is challenged by recent studies that reveal new cell death-independent roles for mitochondrial-activated caspase-3 in neurite pruning and synaptic plasticity. These findings underscore the need for further research into the mechanism of action and functions of caspase-3 that may prove useful in the development of novel pharmacological treatments for a diverse range of neurological disorders.
半胱天冬酶-3 已被确定为神经元程序性细胞死亡的关键介质。这种蛋白酶在神经系统发育中起着核心作用，其激活在神经管形成早期就被观察到，并在神经网络的出生后分化过程中持续存在。半胱天冬酶-3 的激活是神经元细胞死亡程序的一个关键事件，也是许多慢性神经退行性疾病的一个特征。最近的研究揭示了线粒体激活的半胱天冬酶-3 在神经突修剪和突触可塑性中具有新的与细胞死亡无关的作用，这对 caspase-3 的传统凋亡功能提出了挑战。这些发现强调了需要进一步研究 caspase-3 的作用机制和功能，这可能有助于开发针对多种神经紊乱的新型药理学治疗方法。
