Apoptosis and autophagy: regulation of caspase-9 by phosphorylation

Lindsey A. Allan, Paul R. Clarke

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    193 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Cell death by the process of apoptosis plays important roles in development, tissue homeostasis, diseases and drug responses. The cysteine aspartyl protease caspase-9 plays a central role in the mitochondrial or intrinsic apoptotic pathway that is engaged in response to many apoptotic stimuli. Caspase-9 is activated in a large multimeric complex, the apoptosome, which is formed with apoptotic peptidase activating factor 1 (Apaf-1) in response to the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria. Once activated, caspase-9 cleaves and activates the effector caspases 3 and 7 to bring about apoptosis. This pathway is tightly regulated at multiple steps, including apoptosome formation and caspase-9 activation. Recent work has shown that caspase-9 is the direct target for regulatory phosphorylation by multiple protein kinases activated in response to extracellular growth/survival factors, osmotic stress or during mitosis. Here, we review these advances and discuss the possible roles of caspase-9 phosphorylation in the regulation of apoptosis during development and in pathological states, including cancer.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)6063-6073
    Number of pages11
    JournalFEBS Journal
    Volume276
    Issue number21
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Nov 2009

    Keywords

    • apoptosis
    • caspase
    • mitosis
    • phosphorylation
    • protein kinase
    • SPINDLE ASSEMBLY CHECKPOINT
    • DEATH PROTEASE CASPASE-9
    • CYTOCHROME-C
    • CELL-DEATH
    • HYPEROSMOTIC STRESS
    • INHIBITORY SITE
    • KINASE DYRK1A
    • ACTIVATION
    • PATHWAY
    • APAF-1

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