| First Author | Inohara N | Year | 1999 |
| Journal | J Biol Chem | Volume | 274 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 270-4 |
| PubMed ID | 9867840 | Mgi Jnum | J:51798 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:1326942 | Doi | 10.1074/jbc.274.1.270 |
| Citation | Inohara N, et al. (1999) Identification of regulatory and catalytic domains in the apoptosis nuclease DFF40/CAD. J Biol Chem 274(1):270-4 |
| abstractText | The DNA fragmentation factor (DFF) is composed of two subunits, the 40-kDa caspase-3-activated nuclease (DFF40/CAD) and its 45-kDa inhibitor (DFF45/ICAD). During apoptosis, DFF-40/CAD is activated by caspase-3-mediated cleavage of DFF45/ICAD. Mutational analysis of DFF40/CAD revealed that DFF40/CAD is composed of a C-terminal catalytic domain and an N-terminal regulatory domain. Deletion of the catalytic domain (residues 290-345) abrogated the caspase-3-induced nuclease activity of DFF40/CAD but not its ability to interact with DFF45/ICAD. Conversely, removal of the regulatory domain (residues 1-83) yielded a constitutively active DFF40/CAD nuclease that neither bound to its inhibitor nor required caspase-3 for activation. Amino acid alignment revealed that the regulatory domain of DFF40/CAD has homology to the N-terminal region of mammalian and Drosophila DFF45/ICAD and CIDE-N, a regulatory domain previously identified in pro-apoptotic CIDE proteins. Mutational analysis of the N-terminal region revealed mutants with diminished nuclease activity but with intact ability to bind DFF45/ICAD. Thus, CIDE-N represents a new type of domain that is associated with the regulation of the apoptosis/DNA fragmentation pathway. |
