Gene:
caspase 5, apoptosis-related cysteine protease
Gene ID:
201189
Symbol:
CASP5
Species:
1000
Description:
This gene encodes a member of the cysteine-aspartic acid protease (caspase) family. Sequential activation of caspases plays a central role in the execution-phase of cell apoptosis. Caspases exist as inactive proenzymes which undergo proteolytic processing at conserved aspartic residues to produce 2 subunits, large and small, that dimerize to form the active enzyme. Overexpression of the active form of this enzyme has been shown to induce apoptosis in fibroblasts. Max, a central component of the Myc/Max/Mad transcription regulation network important for cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis, was reported to be cleaved by this protein, which required Fas-mediated dephosphorylation of Max. The expression of this gene was found to be regulated by interferon-gamma and lipopolysaccharide.