[Ice/ced-3 family gene and apoptosis]

Apoptosis is a process by which cells carry out their own execution by activating an orderly set of genetic and biochemical program. A genetic pathway of apoptosis has been identified in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The ced-3 gene is required for all programmed cell death in C. elegans. Mammalian homolog of ced-3 has been identified as Ice family which is newly identified cysteine protease. Overexpression of Ice/ced-3 family gene can induce apoptosis in a variety of mammalian cells, and inhibitors of Ice/ced-3 family effectively prevent apoptosis induced by a variety of stimulus. Several housekeeping genes have been shown to be targets of Ice/ced-3 family gene, indicating that activation of Ice/ced-3 can induce irreversible fatal changes of cells.