Proteasomes in apoptosis: Villains or guardians?

C. Wójcik

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

75 Scopus citations

Abstract

The proteasome (multicatalytic proteinase complex, prosome) is a major cytoplasmic proteolytic enzyme, responsible for degradation of the vast majority of intracellular proteins. Proteins degraded by the proteasome are usually tagged with multiple ubiquitin moieties, conjugated to the substrates by a complicated cascade of enzymes. Over the last years, evidence has accumulated that changes in the expression and activity of the different components of the ubiquitin-proteasome system occur during apoptosis. Proteasome inhibitors have been used to induce apoptosis in various cell types, whereas in others, these compounds were able to prevent apoptosis induced by different stimuli. The proteasome mediated step(s) in apoptosis is located upstream of mitochondrial changes and caspase activation, and can involve in different systems Bcl-2, Jun N-terminal kinase, heat shock proteins, Myc, p53, polyamines and other factors.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)908-917
Number of pages10
JournalCellular and Molecular Life Sciences
Volume56
Issue number11-12
DOIs
StatePublished - 1999
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Apoptosis
  • Caspases
  • Programmed cell death
  • Proteasome
  • Ubiquitin

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Medicine
  • Molecular Biology
  • Pharmacology
  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
  • Cell Biology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Proteasomes in apoptosis: Villains or guardians?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this