Inhibitor of apoptosis proteins as E3 ligases for ubiquitin and NEDD8.

The inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) are endogenous inhibitors for apoptosis. Apoptosis is carried out by caspases, which are the family of cystein proteases. IAPs regulate caspases through two conserved regions, the baculovirus IAP repeats (BIRs) and the really interesting new gene (RING) domains. Although the BIRs are responsible for binding to caspases, the RING domain can act as a ubiquitin-E3 ligase, leading to ubiquitylation of IAPs themselves and their pro-apoptotic IAP counterparts such as caspases. Recently, it is reported that another ubiquitin-like protein, neuronal precursor cell-expressed developmentally downregulated protein 8 (NEDD8), is also involved in the regulation of apoptosis through neddylation of caspases mediated by IAPs. On the contrary, the results against the function of IAPs as a NEDD8-E3 ligase are also suggested. This review presents the summary of IAPs, caspases, and the ubiquitin-proteasome system and how their interactions influence the regulation of apoptosis.