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Updated: May 28, 2026

Quantification of Immunostained Caspase-9 in Retinal Tissue
Published on: July 25, 2022
Caspase-6 and neurodegeneration
Rona K Graham1, Dagmar E Ehrnhoefer, Michael R Hayden
1Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V5Z 4H4.
Abstract:
Caspases are cysteine-aspartic proteases that post-translationally modify their substrates through cleavage at specific sites, which causes either substrate inactivation or a gain of function through the generation of active fragments. Currently, each caspase is categorized as either an initiator of apoptosis or an end-stage executioner. Caspase-6 was originally identified as an executioner caspase owing to its role in cleavage of nuclear lamins. However, it has since been shown that caspase-6 cleaves caspases-2, 3 and 8. Furthermore, active caspase-6 is present in post mortem brains of Huntington and Alzheimer disease subjects that do not yet display apoptotic morphology, which suggests a function distinct from its well-validated executioner role. In this review, we discuss evidence to date regarding the role of caspase-6 in neurodegeneration. The findings suggest that selective inhibitors of caspase-6 may have therapeutic potential for various neurodegenerative disorders.
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