Journal
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-MOLECULAR CELL RESEARCH
Volume 1867, Issue 6, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2020.118688
Keywords
Caspase; Cancer; Apoptosis; IAPs; Mitochondria
Categories
Funding
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health [R01GM121389]
- Texas Children's Cancer and Hematology Centers
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Members of the caspase family of proteases play essential roles in the initiation and execution of apoptosis. These caspases are divided into two groups: the initiator caspases (caspase-2, -8, -9 and -10), which are the first to be activated in response to a signal, and the executioner caspases (caspase-3, -6, and -7) that carry out the demolition phase of apoptosis. Many conventional cancer therapies induce apoptosis to remove the cancer cell by engaging these caspases indirectly. Newer therapeutic applications have been designed, including those that specifically activate individual caspases using gene therapy approaches and small molecules that repress natural inhibitors of caspases already present in the cell. For such approaches to have maximal clinical efficacy, emerging insights into non-apoptotic roles of these caspases need to be considered. This review will discuss the roles of caspases as safeguards against cancer in the context of the advantages and potential limitations of targeting apoptotic caspases for the treatment of cancer.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available