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Non-apoptotic role of caspase-3 in synapse refinement

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Abstract

Caspases, a family of cysteine proteases, mediate programmed cell death during early neural development and neurodegeneration, as well as following neurotoxic insults. Notably, accumulating lines of evidence have shown non-apoptotic roles of caspases in the structural and functional plasticity of neuronal circuits under physiological conditions, such as growth-cone dynamics and axonal/dendritic pruning, as well as neuronal excitability and plasticity. Here, we summarize recent progress on the roles of caspases in synaptic refinement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China

    Jin-Yuan Wang & Zhen-Ge Luo

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  1. Jin-Yuan Wang
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  2. Zhen-Ge Luo
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Correspondence to Zhen-Ge Luo.

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Wang, JY., Luo, ZG. Non-apoptotic role of caspase-3 in synapse refinement. Neurosci. Bull. 30, 667–670 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12264-014-1454-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12264-014-1454-4

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