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Mechanisms of Procaspase-8 Activation in the Extrinsic Programmed Cell Death Pathway

  • MATHEMATICAL AND STRUCTURAL IMMUNOLOGY
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Abstract

Caspase-8 performs initiatory functions during the induction of apoptosis through the extrinsic pathway. Apoptosis is a type of programmed cell death that plays an important role in regulating embryogenesis and maintaining homeostasis in the tissue of an adult organism, as well as differentiating and removing damaged cells. Dysregulation of the apoptosis mechanisms is associated with the pathogenesis and progression of a number of oncological and neurodegenerative diseases. Caspase-8 (also called СAP4, FLICE, MACH, MCH5) is one of two members of the death effector domain (DED)-containing caspases. Despite the fact that the role of caspase-8 in apoptosis has been well known since the mid 1990s, we are only now beginning to understand the subtle mechanisms of its activation and regulation in response to the activation of death receptors (DRs). In particular, it was demonstrated that the activation of caspase-8 requires the formation of specific oligomeric structures, which are named DED filaments. In this review, the recent data on the mechanisms of activating initiator caspase-8 in DED filaments are considered that allow us to better understand the subtle mechanisms of the initiation of the programmed cell death.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant no. 18-04-00207) and by the budget no. 0324-2019-0040.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Federal Research Center Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090, Novosibirsk, Russia

    N. V. Ivanisenko & I. N. Lavrik

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  1. N. V. Ivanisenko
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  2. I. N. Lavrik
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Correspondence to I. N. Lavrik.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. This article does not contain any studies involving animals or human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Translated by A. Barkhash

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Ivanisenko, N.V., Lavrik, I.N. Mechanisms of Procaspase-8 Activation in the Extrinsic Programmed Cell Death Pathway. Mol Biol 53, 732–738 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0026893319050091

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0026893319050091

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