Apoptosome and caspase activation

Apoptosis is an evolutionarily conserved form of cell death that executes programmed cell death during development and tissue homeostasis. Insufficient levels of apoptosis can contribute to the development of cancer, whereas excessive apoptosis is implicated in degenerative diseases, such as stroke, cardiac failure, and neurological pathologies. Since the beginning of the 1990s, our knowledge on apoptotic signaling pathways has increased tremendously. The caspase family of aspartate-specific cysteine proteases is conserved in many species and incorporates key proteases involved in initiation and execution of apoptosis. Together with the discovery and better understanding of their activation complexes, such as the apoptosome, new strategies to modulate cell death in pathological conditions are being developed