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Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Measuring Caspase Activity Using a Fluorometric Assay or Flow Cytometry
Published on: March 24, 2023
Cell-autonomous and non-cell-autonomous functions of caspase-8
Tehila Ben Moshe1, Tae-Bong Kang, Andrew Kovalenko
1Department of Biological Chemistry, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
Abstract:
Cells in vivo do not act in isolation. Therefore, when attempting to predict the results of pharmaceutical modulation of the function of a protein, we must also take into account the non-cell-autonomous consequences of such modulation. Studies of caspase-8 initially indicated that it serves as the proximal enzyme in cellular self-destruction dictated through the extrinsic cell-death pathway. Later studies revealed that it also participates in mechanisms affecting cell growth and survival. This essay presents a brief account of a study indicating that, apart from functional changes that are cell autonomous, tissue-specific deletion of caspase-8 in mice also has non-cell-autonomous effects with consequences that might even be the opposite of the cell-autonomous ones.
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