Regulation of Caspase Activation

Caspase 激活的调节

• 批准号: G1000089/1
• 负责人: Pascal Meier
• 金额: $ 44.39万
• 依托单位: Institute of Cancer Research
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2010 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=G1000089%2F1
• 关键词: Regulation; Caspase; Activation

In animals, the behaviour of the cells that make up the body must be tightly controlled in time and space. Part of this control stems from a built-in ?auto-destruct mechanism?, called apoptosis. This mechanism is carried within each cell, and through it the cell is instructed to die if it becomes potentially harmful or is no longer required. In order for an animal to remain healthy, apoptosis must be tightly regulated. Indeed, numerous human diseases result from the loss of this regulation. In cancer, for example, mutated cells escape apoptosis, allowing them grow and divide inappropriately; the consequence is a tumour. On the other hand, when brain cells undergo apoptosis inappropriately, neurodegenerative disease results. Thus maintenance of the correct balance of apoptosis is vital, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this process are not well understood. Our aim, therefore, is to unravel the molecular machinery that controls apoptosis. Our work concentrates on a group of highly specialised enzymes called caspases, which function as the engines of the apoptotic programme. By elucidating how caspases become activated under normal conditions, we will gain a better understanding of how apoptosis becomes deregulated in human diseases.

在动物中，必须在时间和空间上严格控制组成身体的细胞的行为。该控制的一部分源于内置的自动毁灭机制，称为凋亡。该机制在每个细胞中都携带，如果细胞可能有害或不再需要，则指示细胞死亡。为了使动物保持健康，必须严格调节凋亡。确实，许多人类疾病是由于失去了这种法规而导致的。例如，在癌症中，突变的细胞逃脱了凋亡，使它们生长并不适当地分裂。结果是肿瘤。另一方面，当脑细胞不适当地凋亡时，神经退行性疾病会产生。因此，维持正确凋亡的正确平衡至关重要，但是该过程的分子机制尚不清楚。因此，我们的目标是揭示控制凋亡的分子机制。我们的工作集中在一组称为caspase的高度专业的酶，它们充当凋亡程序的引擎。通过阐明胱天蛋白酶在正常条件下如何激活，我们将更好地了解凋亡如何在人类疾病中失控。