Millions of cells in our bodies die every day by a process called apoptosis. This death is essential for our survival because it maintains the number of cells in our bodies constant and also removes damaged and defective cells. If this process does not occur the consequences can be catastrophic resulting in cancer and other diseases. In many types of cancer, proteins that are key regulators of apoptosis are often mutated or defective. Thus cancer cells have developed means to prevent apoptosis, which allows them to continue to grow. Key regulators of apoptosis include a family of enzymes called caspases. Their deregulation can underlie many human diseases and a number of caspases, particularly caspase-2, have been reported to have tumor suppressor functions. Emerging evidence suggests that caspases do not just function to induce cell death but also have non-apoptotic functions including regulation of innate immunity and cell proliferation. Caspases therefore have diverse roles in protecting the body from disease. This webinar will discuss imaging based tools developed to interrogate caspase pathways and will discuss recent data from our group and others showing that caspase-2 acts as a tumor suppressor.
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