Isolation and analysis of novel caspases.

细胞凋亡是一个进化上保守的细胞过程，必须严格控制正常发育和避免疾病。近年来，细胞凋亡通路的研究取得了长足的进展，但许多重要的组成部分可能仍然是未知的。半胱天冬酶是细胞凋亡信号通路的效应臂，其中一些成员在细胞因子成熟过程中起重要作用。我们的目标是使用一种创新的技术来鉴定新型半胱天冬酶，并阐明它们的功能和调节。本项目中鉴定的分子可能是调节细胞凋亡以治疗或预防疾病的疗法或诊断试剂开发的候选靶标。

Apoptosis is an evolutionarily conserved cellular process which must be tightly controlled for normal development and to avoid disease. Rapid progress has been made recently in the elucidation of apoptotic pathways, but many important components are likely still unknown. The caspases constitute the effector arm of apoptotic signalling pathways and some members play important roles in cytokine maturation. We aim to identify novel caspases using an innovative technique, and to characterise their function and regulation. Molecules identified in this project may be candidate targets for therapies which modulate apoptosis for treatment or prevention of disease, or diagnostic reagent development.