Nguyen Trang Thi Minh, Gillet Germain, Popgeorgiev Nikolay
Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Lyon, U1052 INSERM, UMR CNRS 5286, Centre Léon Bérard, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
Hospices Civils de Lyon, Laboratoire d'Anatomie et Cytologie Pathologiques, Centre Hospitalier Lyon Sud, Pierre Bénite, France.
Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021 Jul 16;9:702404. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.702404. eCollection 2021.
The caspase family of cysteine proteases represents the executioners of programmed cell death (PCD) type I or apoptosis. For years, caspases have been known for their critical roles in shaping embryonic structures, including the development of the central nervous system (CNS). Interestingly, recent findings have suggested that aside from their roles in eliminating unnecessary neural cells, caspases are also implicated in other neurodevelopmental processes such as axon guidance, synapse formation, axon pruning, and synaptic functions. These results raise the question as to how neurons regulate this decision-making, leading either to cell death or to proper development and differentiation. This review highlights current knowledge on apoptotic and non-apoptotic functions of caspases in the developing CNS. We also discuss the molecular factors involved in the regulation of caspase-mediated roles, emphasizing the mitochondrial pathway of cell death.
半胱氨酸蛋白酶的半胱天冬酶家族是程序性细胞死亡（PCD）I型或细胞凋亡的执行者。多年来，半胱天冬酶因其在塑造胚胎结构（包括中枢神经系统（CNS）的发育）中的关键作用而为人所知。有趣的是，最近的研究结果表明，除了在清除不必要的神经细胞中发挥作用外，半胱天冬酶还参与其他神经发育过程，如轴突导向、突触形成、轴突修剪和突触功能。这些结果提出了一个问题，即神经元如何调节这一决策过程，从而导致细胞死亡或正常发育和分化。本综述重点介绍了目前关于半胱天冬酶在发育中的中枢神经系统中的凋亡和非凋亡功能的知识。我们还讨论了参与调节半胱天冬酶介导作用的分子因素，重点强调细胞死亡的线粒体途径。
