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1: FEBS Lett. 1997 Feb 10;403(1):61-9.Click here to read Links

Characterization of seven murine caspase family members.

Van de Craen M, Vandenabeele P, Declercq W, Van den Brande I, Van Loo G, Molemans F, Schotte P, Van Criekinge W, Beyaert R, Fiers W.

Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology and University of Ghent, Belgium.

Seven members of the murine caspase (mCASP) family were cloned and functionally characterized by transient overexpression: mCASP-1 (mICE), mCASP-2 (Ich1), mCASP-3 (CPP32), mCASP-6 (Mch2), mCASP-7 (Mch3), mCASP-11 (TX) and mCASP-12. mCASP-11 is presumably the murine homolog of human CASP-4. Although mCASP-12 is related to human CASP-5 (ICErel-III), it is most probably a new CASP-1 family member. On the basis of sequence homology, the caspases can be divided into three subfamilies: first, mCASP-1, mCASP-11 and mCASP-12; second, mCASP-2; third, mCASP-3, mCASP-6 and mCASP-7. The tissue distribution of the CASP-1 subfamily transcripts is more restricted than that of the CASP-3 subfamily transcripts, suggesting that the transcriptional regulation of the CASP members within one subfamily is related, but is quite different between the CASP-1 and the CASP-3 subfamilies. Transient overexpression of each of the seven CASPs induced apoptosis in mammalian cells. Only two, mCASP-1 as well as mCASP-3, were able to process precursor interleukin (IL)-1beta to biologically active IL-1beta. In addition, mCASP-3 is the predominant PARP-cleaving enzyme in vivo.

PMID: 9038361 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]