Caspases & Death Receptors

Question 1

What are caspases and what is their primary function in cells?

Question 2

How many distinct mammalian caspases are there, and how many in humans specifically?

Question 3

What are the two main functional subgroups of caspases?

Question 4

What distinguishes initiator caspases from effector caspases structurally?

Question 5

What is the mechanism of activation for initiator caspases?

Question 6

Name the four main activation platforms for initiator caspases.

Question 7

What is the DISC and which caspases does it activate?

Question 8

Describe the structure of the apoptosome and its role in caspase activation.

Question 9

What is the role of Cytochrome C in apoptosome formation?

Question 10

How do caspases contribute to the physical manifestations of apoptosis?

Question 11

Name three types of cellular substrates cleaved by caspases during apoptosis.

Question 12

What is ICAD and how does its cleavage contribute to apoptosis?

Question 13

Describe the structure of pro-caspases.

Question 14

What are death receptors and to which protein family do they belong?

Question 15

Name two well-characterized death receptors.

Question 16

What is the death domain (DD) and why is it important?

Question 17

How are death receptors typically activated?

Question 18

Describe the formation of the Fas DISC.

Question 19

What is the role of FADD in death receptor signaling?

Question 20

What are the three main physiological functions of the Fas/FasL system in the immune system?

Question 21

Describe the phenotype of lpr and gld mutant mice.

Question 22

What human disease is associated with defects in Fas genes?

Question 23

How do cytotoxic T lymphocytes use the Fas/FasL system?

Question 24

What are the core components of the mammalian cell death pathway?

Question 25

Name the C. elegans genes and their mammalian homologues involved in apoptosis.

Question 26

What determines cell fate in terms of survival or death?

Question 27

Describe the two main apoptotic pathways in mammalian cells.

Question 28

What is the role of Bid in connecting the extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways?

Question 29

How can caspase activity be detected in dying cells?

Question 30

Name two types of caspase inhibitors.

Question 31

What is the inflammasome and how does it relate to caspase-1?

Question 32

Describe the role of caspase-1 in inflammation.

Question 33

What are PAMPs and DAMPs, and how do they relate to inflammasome activation?

Question 34

Name two types of receptors involved in recognizing PAMPs and DAMPs.

Question 35

What is the difference between reversible and irreversible caspase inhibitors?

Question 36

How does overexpression of caspases affect cells?

Question 37

What is the role of caspases in neurodegenerative diseases?

Question 38

Name three caspase substrates involved in cell cycle regulation.

Question 39

How do caspases affect the cytoskeleton during apoptosis?

Question 40

What is the role of caspases in DNA fragmentation during apoptosis?

Question 41

Describe the activation mechanism of effector caspases.

Question 42

What is the significance of the CARD and DED domains in caspases?

Question 43

How does dimerization contribute to initiator caspase activation?

Question 44

What is the PIDDosome and which caspase does it activate?

Question 45

Describe the role of adaptor molecules in caspase activation.

Question 46

What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways?

Question 47

How do viral inhibitors like CRM and p35 affect caspase activity?

Question 48

What is the role of Bcl-2 family proteins in the apoptotic pathway?

Question 49

Describe the process of proximity-induced dimerization in caspase activation.

Question 50

How do inflammasomes contribute to the innate immune response?