News and Views
Nature Cell Biology 5, 97 - 99 (2003)
doi:10.1038/ncb0203-97
Mitochondria, AIF and caspases — rivaling for cell death execution
Josef M. Penninger1 & Guido Kroemer2
- Josef Penninger is at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria.
-
Guido Kroemer is at the Apoptosis, Cancer & Immunity Laboratory associated with the National League against Cancer, CNRS-UMR8125, Institut Gustave Roussy, 39 rue Calmette Desmoulins, F-94805 Villejuif, France.
e-mail: kroemer@igr.fr.
Abstract
In both the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and mammals, two proteins released from the mitochondrion — apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) and endonuclease G — cooperate in executing programmed cell death. Although both factors can kill cells in a caspase-independent fashion, new studies indicate that their translocation from mitochondria depends, in part, on caspase activation. Together, these data raise new questions about the functional hierarchy between caspases, AIF and mitochondrial membrane permeabilization.
|
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated REVIEWS NEWS AND VIEWS RESEARCH |
neuronal cell death in C. elegans and vertebrates
