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Science 23 August 2002:
Vol. 297. no. 5585, pp. 1290 - 1291
DOI: 10.1126/science.1076118
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Perspectives

APOPTOSIS:
A Cinderella Caspase Takes Center Stage

Sharad Kumar and David L. Vaux

It has been thought that permeabilization of mitochondria and release of cytochrome c is an ea rly event in apoptosis that is required for activation of caspases, the enzyme executioners of the apoptotic cascade. However, in a Perspective, Kumar and Vaux explain new findings (Lassus et al.) that implicate an often ignored caspase, caspase-2, in the early stages of apoptosis prior to mitochondrial permeabilization.

S. Kumar is at the Hanson Institute, Frome Road, Adelaide 5000, Australia. E-mail: sharad.kumar{at}imvs.sa.gov.au D. L. Vaux is at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne 3050, Australia.

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