2fp3
From Proteopedia
Crystal structure of the Drosophila initiator caspase Dronc
Structural highlights
Function[ICENC_DROME] Involved in the activation cascade of caspases responsible for apoptosis execution. Effector of steroid-mediated apoptosis during insect metamorphosis. Overexpression promotes programmed cell death. Interaction with th is required to suppress Nc-mediated cell death; via th-mediated ubiquitination of Nc. Rate-limiting caspase in rpr and W death pathway.[1] [2] [3] [4] Evolutionary Conservation Check, as determined by ConSurfDB. You may read the explanation of the method and the full data available from ConSurf. Publication Abstract from PubMedActivation of an initiator caspase is essential to the execution of apoptosis. The molecular mechanisms by which initiator caspases are activated remain poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that the autocatalytic cleavage of Dronc, an important initiator caspase in Drosophila, results in a drastic enhancement of its catalytic activity in vitro. The autocleaved Dronc forms a homodimer, whereas the uncleaved Dronc zymogen exists exclusively as a monomer. Thus the autocatalytic cleavage in Dronc induces its stable dimerization, which presumably allows the two adjacent monomers to mutually stabilize their active sites, leading to activation. Crystal structure of a prodomain-deleted Dronc zymogen, determined at 2.5 A resolution, reveals an unproductive conformation at the active site, which is consistent with the observation that the zymogen remains catalytically inactive. This study revealed insights into mechanism of Dronc activation, and in conjunction with other observations, suggests diverse mechanisms for the activation of initiator caspases. Structure and activation mechanism of the Drosophila initiator caspase Dronc.,Yan N, Huh JR, Schirf V, Demeler B, Hay BA, Shi Y J Biol Chem. 2006 Mar 31;281(13):8667-74. Epub 2006 Jan 30. PMID:16446367[5] From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. See AlsoReferences
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