Death effector domain, repeat 2, of initator caspases 8 and 10
Death Effector Domain (DED) found in caspase-8 and caspase-10, repeat 2. Caspases are aspartate-specific cysteine proteases with functions in apoptosis and immune signaling. Initiator caspases are the first to be activated following death- or inflammation-inducing signals. Caspase-8 and -10 are the initiators of death receptor mediated apoptosis, and they play partially redundant roles. Together with FADD and the pseudo-caspase c-FLIP, they form the death-inducing signaling complex (DISC), whose formation is triggered by the activation of type 1 tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptors such as Fas, TNF receptor 1, and TRAIL receptor. Caspase-8 and -10 also play important functions in cell adhesion and motility. They contain two N-terminal DED domains and a C-terminal caspase domain. DEDs comprise a subfamily of the Death Domain (DD) superfamily. DDs are protein-protein interaction domains found in a variety of domain architectures. Their common feature is that they form homodimers by self-association or heterodimers by associating with other members of the DD superfamily including PYRIN and CARD (Caspase activation and recruitment domain). They serve as adaptors in signaling pathways and can recruit other proteins into signaling complexes.
Comment:Based on the structure of the tandem DED domains of v-FLIP.
Comment:The tandem DED domains, DED1 and DED2, in FLIP are associated rigidly to form a single compact structure, with each domain playing a unique structural role and is not interchangeable with the other.