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Caspase 7
Caspase-7, apoptosis-related cysteine peptidase, also known as CASP7, is a human protein encoded by the ''CASP7'' gene. ''CASP7'' orthologs have been identified in nearly all mammals for which complete genome data are available. Unique orthologs are also present in birds, lizards, lissamphibians, and teleosts. Function Caspase-7 is a member of the caspase (cysteine aspartate protease) family of proteins, and has been shown to be an executioner protein of apoptosis. Sequential activation of caspases plays a central role in the execution-phase of cell apoptosis. Caspases exist as inactive proenzymes that undergo proteolytic processing by upstream caspases (caspase-8, -9) at conserved aspartic residues to produce two subunits, large and small, that dimerize to form the active enzyme in the form of a heterotetramer. The precursor of this caspase is cleaved by caspase 3, caspase 10, and caspase 9. It is activated upon cell death stimuli and induces apoptosis. Alternativ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity and the molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protein-coding genes and noncoding genes. During gene expression, the DNA is first copied into RNA. The RNA can be directly functional or be the intermediate template for a protein that performs a function. The transmission of genes to an organism's offspring is the basis of the inheritance of phenotypic traits. These genes make up different DNA sequences called genotypes. Genotypes along with environmental and developmental factors determine what the phenotypes will be. Most biological traits are under the influence of polygenes (many different genes) as well as g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CASP9
Caspase-9 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the CASP9 gene. It is an initiator caspase, critical to the apoptotic pathway found in many tissues. Caspase-9 homologs have been identified in all mammals for which they are known to exist, such as ''Mus musculus'' and ''Pan troglodytes''. Caspase-9 belongs to a family of caspases, cysteine-aspartic proteases involved in apoptosis and cytokine signalling. Apoptotic signals cause the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria and activation of apaf-1 (apoptosome), which then cleaves the pro-enzyme of caspase-9 into the active dimer form. Regulation of this enzyme occurs through phosphorylation by an allosteric inhibitor, inhibiting dimerization and inducing a conformational change. Correct caspase-9 function is required for apoptosis, leading to the normal development of the central nervous system. Caspase-9 has multiple additional cellular functions that are independent of its role in apoptosis. Nonapoptotic roles of caspase- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MEROPS
MEROPS is an online database for peptidases (also known as proteases, proteinases and proteolytic enzymes) and their inhibitors. The classification scheme for peptidases was published by Rawlings & Barrett in 1993, and that for protein inhibitors by Rawlings ''et al.'' in 2004.Rawlings, N.D., Tolle, D.P. & Barrett, A.J. (2004) "Evolutionary families of peptidase inhibitors." ''Biochem J'' 378, 705-716. The most recent version, MEROPS 12.3, was released in September 2020. Overview The classification is based on similarities at the tertiary and primary structural levels. Comparisons are restricted to that part of the sequence directly involved in the reaction, which in the case of a peptidase must include the active site, and for a protein inhibitor the reactive site. The classification is hierarchical: sequences are assembled into families, and families are assembled into clans. Each peptidase, family, and clan has a unique identifier. Classification Family The families of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caspase
Caspases (cysteine-aspartic proteases, cysteine aspartases or cysteine-dependent aspartate-directed proteases) are a family of protease enzymes playing essential roles in programmed cell death. They are named caspases due to their specific cysteine protease activity – a cysteine in its active site nucleophilically attacks and cleaves a target protein only after an aspartic acid residue. As of 2009, there are 12 confirmed caspases in humans and 10 in mice, carrying out a variety of cellular functions. The role of these enzymes in programmed cell death was first identified in 1993, with their functions in apoptosis well characterised. This is a form of programmed cell death, occurring widely during development, and throughout life to maintain cell homeostasis. Activation of caspases ensures that the cellular components are degraded in a controlled manner, carrying out cell death with minimal effect on surrounding tissues. Caspases have other identified roles in programmed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Proteolysis Map
The Proteolysis MAP (PMAP) is an integrated web resource focused on proteases. Rationale PMAP is to aid the protease researchers in reasoning about proteolytic networks and metabolic pathways. History and funding PMAP was originally created at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, La Jolla, California. In 2004 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) selected a team led by Jeffrey W. Smith, to establish the Center on Proteolytic Pathways (CPP). As part of the NIH Roadmap for Biomedical research, the center develops technology to study the behavior of proteins and to disburse that knowledge to the scientific community at large. Focal point Proteases are a class of enzymes that regulate much of what happens in the human body, both inside the cell and out, by cleaving peptide bonds in proteins. Through this activity, they govern the four essential cell functions: differentiation, motility, division and cell death — and activate important extracellular episo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
XIAP
X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP), also known as inhibitor of apoptosis protein 3 (IAP3) and baculoviral IAP repeat-containing protein 4 (BIRC4), is a protein that stops apoptotic cell death. In humans, this protein (XIAP) is produced by a gene named ''XIAP'' gene located on the X chromosome. XIAP is a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis family of proteins (IAP). IAPs were initially identified in baculoviruses, but XIAP is one of the homologous proteins found in mammals. It is so called because it was first discovered by a 273 base pair site on the X chromosome. The protein is also called human IAP-like Protein (hILP), because it is not as well conserved as the human IAPS: hIAP-1 and hIAP-2. XIAP is the most potent human IAP protein currently identified. Discovery Neuronal apoptosis inhibitor protein ( NAIP) was the first homolog to baculoviral IAPs that was identified in humans. With the sequencing data of NIAP, the gene sequence for a RING zinc-finger domain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Survivin
Survivin, also called baculoviral inhibitor of apoptosis repeat-containing 5 or BIRC5, is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the ''BIRC5'' gene. Survivin is a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family. The survivin protein functions to inhibit caspase activation, thereby leading to negative regulation of apoptosis or programmed cell death. This has been shown by disruption of survivin induction pathways leading to increase in apoptosis and decrease in tumour growth. The survivin protein is expressed highly in most human tumours and fetal tissue, but is completely absent in terminally differentiated cells. These data suggest survivin might provide a new target for cancer therapy that would discriminate between transformed and normal cells. Survivin expression is also highly regulated by the cell cycle and is only expressed in the G2-M phase. It is known that Survivin localizes to the mitotic spindle by interaction with tubulin during mitosis and may play a contributing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caspase 8
Caspase-8 is a caspase protein, encoded by the ''CASP8'' gene. It most likely acts upon caspase-3. ''CASP8'' orthologs have been identified in numerous mammals for which complete genome data are available. These unique orthologs are also present in birds. Function The ''CASP8'' gene encodes a member of the cysteine- aspartic acid protease (caspase) family. Sequential activation of caspases plays a central role in the execution-phase of cell apoptosis. Caspases exist as inactive proenzymes composed of a prodomain, a large protease subunit, and a small protease subunit. Activation of caspases requires proteolytic processing at conserved internal aspartic residues to generate a heterodimeric enzyme consisting of the large and small subunits. This protein is involved in the programmed cell death induced by Fas and various apoptotic stimuli. The N-terminal FADD-like death effector domain of this protein suggests that it may interact with Fas-interacting protein FADD. This ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isoform
A protein isoform, or "protein variant", is a member of a set of highly similar proteins that originate from a single gene or gene family and are the result of genetic differences. While many perform the same or similar biological roles, some isoforms have unique functions. A set of protein isoforms may be formed from alternative splicings, variable promoter usage, or other post-transcriptional modifications of a single gene; post-translational modifications are generally not considered. (For that, see Proteoforms.) Through RNA splicing mechanisms, mRNA has the ability to select different protein-coding segments (exons) of a gene, or even different parts of exons from RNA to form different mRNA sequences. Each unique sequence produces a specific form of a protein. The discovery of isoforms could explain the discrepancy between the small number of protein coding regions genes revealed by the human genome project and the large diversity of proteins seen in an organism: differ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alternative Splicing
Alternative splicing, or alternative RNA splicing, or differential splicing, is an alternative splicing process during gene expression that allows a single gene to code for multiple proteins. In this process, particular exons of a gene may be included within or excluded from the final, processed messenger RNA (mRNA) produced from that gene. This means the exons are joined in different combinations, leading to different (alternative) mRNA strands. Consequently, the proteins translated from alternatively spliced mRNAs will contain differences in their amino acid sequence and, often, in their biological functions (see Figure). Biologically relevant alternative splicing occurs as a normal phenomenon in eukaryotes, where it increases the number of proteins that can be encoded by the genome. In humans, it is widely believed that ~95% of multi-exonic genes are alternatively spliced to produce functional alternative products from the same gene but many scientists believe that most o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CASP10
Caspase-10 is an enzyme that, in humans, is encoded by the ''CASP10'' gene. This gene encodes a protein that is a member of the cysteine-aspartic acid protease (caspase) family. Sequential activation of caspases plays a central role in the execution-phase of cell apoptosis. Caspases exist as inactive proenzymes that undergo proteolytic processing at conserved aspartic residues to produce two subunits, large and small, that dimerize to form the active enzyme. This protein cleaves and activates caspases 3 and 7, and the protein itself is processed by caspase 8. Mutations in this gene are associated with apoptosis defects seen in type II autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome. Three alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been described for this gene. Interactions Caspase 10 has been shown to interact with FADD, CFLAR, Caspase 8, Fas receptor, RYBP, TNFRSF1A and TNFRSF10B. See also * The Proteolysis Map * Caspase References Further reading * * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
