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Caspase 2 in apoptosis, the DNA damage response and tumour suppression: enigma no more?

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 9, pages 897–903 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Aberrations in proteins that control apoptosis and cell survival are common in cancer. These aberrations often reside in signalling proteins that control the activation of the apoptotic machinery or in the Bcl-2 family of proteins that control caspase activation. Recent evidence suggests that caspase 2, one of the most evolutionarily conserved caspases, may have multiple roles in the DNA damage response, cell cycle regulation and tumour suppression. These findings are unexpected and have important implications for our understanding of tumorigenesis and the treatment of cancer.

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Figure 1: Caspase 2-mediated and caspase 2-independent apoptotic pathways.
Figure 2: Caspase 2 function in DNA damage signalling.
Figure 3: A caspase 2-mediated apoptotic pathway in response to double-strand DNA breaks in CHK1-inhibited cells.
Figure 4: A speculative model of apoptotic and non-apoptotic functions of caspase 2.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Donna Denton, Martin Lavin and Loretta Dorstyn for helpful comments. The work in my laboratory is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and the Cancer Council of South Australia.

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  1. Department of Haematology, Sharad Kumar is at the Centre for Cancer Biology, SA Pathology, Frome Road, Adelaide, SA5000, Australia. sharad.kumar@health.sa.gov.au,

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Kumar, S. Caspase 2 in apoptosis, the DNA damage response and tumour suppression: enigma no more?. Nat Rev Cancer 9, 897–903 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc2745

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