Caspase 1 is a cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteinase involved in the maturation of inflammatory cytokines such as pro-IL-1β (interleukin-1β) and pro-IL-18. Caspase 1 clusters phylogenetically together with human caspases 4, 5 and 12 and murine caspases 11 and 12, and forms the group of the so-called inflammatory caspases. Caspase 1 consists of an N-terminal CARD (caspase recruitment domain) and a proteolytic domain containing the catalytic residues. The CARD-containing prodomain is involved in the formation of the protease-activating inflammasome complex. We have also found that the prodomain is necessary and sufficient for the activation of NF-κB (nuclear factor κB). The human genome also contains three caspase-1-related CARD-only decoy proteins [COP (CARD-only protein), INCA (inhibitory CARD) and ICEBERG], which are located near the caspase 1 locus. In this mini-review, we focus on the evolutionary aspects of the inflammatory caspase locus in the human, chimpanzee, Rhesus monkey, mouse and rat. Furthermore, we discuss the functional characteristics of the caspase-1-related CARD-only proteins in relation to caspase-1-mediated IL-1β maturation and NF-κB activation.
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December 2007
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Conference Article|
November 23 2007
A phylogenetic and functional overview of inflammatory caspases and caspase-1-related CARD-only proteins
K. Kersse;
K. Kersse
*Department for Molecular Biomedical Research, VIB, Ghent, Belgium
†Department of Molecular Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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T. Vanden Berghe;
T. Vanden Berghe
*Department for Molecular Biomedical Research, VIB, Ghent, Belgium
†Department of Molecular Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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M. Lamkanfi;
M. Lamkanfi
1
*Department for Molecular Biomedical Research, VIB, Ghent, Belgium
†Department of Molecular Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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P. Vandenabeele
P. Vandenabeele
2
*Department for Molecular Biomedical Research, VIB, Ghent, Belgium
†Department of Molecular Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
2To whom correspondence should be addressed, at Unit of Molecular Signalling and Cell Death, Department for Molecular Biomedical Research, Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnologie (VIB), Ghent University, Technologiepark 927, B-9052, Ghent (Zwijnaarde), Belgium (email peter.vandenabeele@dmbr.ugent.be).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
August 08 2007
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2007 Biochemical Society
2007
Biochem Soc Trans (2007) 35 (6): 1508–1511.
Article history
Received:
August 08 2007
Citation
K. Kersse, T. Vanden Berghe, M. Lamkanfi, P. Vandenabeele; A phylogenetic and functional overview of inflammatory caspases and caspase-1-related CARD-only proteins. Biochem Soc Trans 1 December 2007; 35 (6): 1508–1511. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0351508
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